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Photo ©: Bettini

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Tattersall's Cup Tour of the Murray River - NE

Australia, August 29-September 3, 2006

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Stage 9 - September 2: Merbein To Wentworth , 80.4 km

Stage to Kemp, but McLachlan still leads

By Rod Morris in Wentworth

Queenslander David Kemp gets the stage win
Photo ©: Shane Goss
(Click for larger image)

Defending Tattersall's Cup champion, Robert McLachlan will carry a five second lead into the final day of the 2006 Subaru Tour of the Murray River. McLachlan continued his exciting prizefight battle with Toowoomba's David Kemp in yesterday's dual stage day at Merbein and Wentworth (NSW).

South Australian Brett Aitken won his third stage of the tour, claiming the Merbein Criterium, but then in stark contrast, finished last in the afternoon stage from Merbein to Wentworth, complaining of leg cramps.

Kemp, who had started the day wearing the leader's yellow jersey, was reeled in by McLachlan in the morning stage, but then gained a little revenge in the afternoon when he won his first stage of the tour,

It is an intriguing and entertaining match McLachlan and Kemp are staging and outside of today's stage bonuses, there will be 23 intermediate sprints as well for McLachlan and Kemp to fight over. The first nine stages of this tour have produced a little bit of everything and with just five seconds separating the two leaders, the final day will almost certainly be just as entertaining.

How it unfolded

The race split up into four groups
Photo ©: Shane Goss
(Click for larger image)

"The Thriller in the Murray" continued into NSW with David Kemp and Robert McLachlan slugging it out on the road from Merbein to Wentworth. Whilst neither rider featured in any of the five intermediate sprints along the 80.5 km journey, the cat and mouse tactics employed by both continued to add intrigue and suspense to this tour.

The original field of 120 riders has now been reduced to 95, but Stage 9 again had an impact. After winning the morning criterium in Merbein, Adelaide's Brett Aitken limped home in last place, 19'23 behind the leaders. A bigger contrast you could not have imagined.

But the real interest was out the front of the bike race. The field had broken up into four distinct groups and of the GC challengers, nine of the top 10 ensured they were in the front bunch. The odd one out was Victorian Commonwealth Games medalist, Sean Finning, who missed a vital break and was unable to get across. Finning ended up finishing in the second bunch, 2'41 behind Kemp and in the GC, he fell to 16th, with his top 10 place being taken by Jason Hegert (NSW).

Crossing the Victorian – NSW border, the lead group stepped up the tempo even further and attack after attack had everybody guessing as to where the winner would come from. The finish line straight at Wentworth was about 600 m long and on either side of the road were the two main tour protagonists, Kemp and McLachlan. Less than a wheel length separated the pair in the final lunge, but it was Kemp who took the honours. Despite his tremendous battle with McLachlan for the overall lead, this was Kemp's first stage victory of the tour.

Tour leader Robert McLachlan
Photo ©: Shane Goss
(Click for larger image)

"Its nice to finally crack it for a win," Kemp said. "I've got myself into a position in the tour that I have to race a smart tactical race and that includes watching everything Robbie (McLachlan) does," Kemp said. "I'm leading the sprint championship as well and am pretty keen to win both that and GC, but I have to do everything right or Robbie is going to get me."

The final sprint was made a little easier for Kemp when McLachlan and his lead-out man, Zakkari Dempster both went on the outside line of a traffic island just before the turn into the home straight. "It was a pretty dumb move on my behalf, but don't take anything away from David's ride, he deserved the win, he rode very well," McLachlan said.

McLachlan turned his overnight deficit of four seconds into a seven second lead after the Merbein Criterium, but saw that reduced to five seconds after the road stage into Wentworth. "It's a handy lead, but it hasn't got me over the line yet, there's still plenty of work to do."

Taking third in the stage was 19-year-old Victorian Johnny Walker, younger brother of international star, William Walker.

McLachlan also crept a little closer to Wesley Sulzberger in the overall points tally in the Tattersall's Cup. From 21 races – with 13 remaining – Sulzberger has scored 160 points and leads McLachlan on 119. McLachlan is the defending champion in the Tattersall's Cup but missed the recent Australian Cycling Grand Prix in Ballarat.

"I was sick when the Grand Prix was on and I didn't ride all that well in the Tour of Gippsland, which Wes won, so while it would be nice to win the Tattersall's Cup again, I'm not sure whether I can get enough points to get to Wes," McLachlan said.

There are still two stages of the Tour of the Murray River to be raced, while the 11-stage Tour of Tasmania will be held from October 24-29. The Tour of the Murray River concludes on Sunday with two kermesses, one in Cardross and then in Mildura in the afternoon.

Photography

For a thumbnail gallery of these images, click here

Images by Shane Goss/www.licoricegallery.com

Results

1 David Kemp                      1.50.10 (43.79 km/h)
2 Robert McLachlan                       
3 Johnnie Walker                         
4 Daniel Newnham                     0.02
5 Joe McDonnell                          
6 Jason Hegert                           
7 Nicholas Walker                        
8 Brendan Hill                           
9 Ricky Peoples                          
10 Casey Munro                           
11 Stuart Shaw                           
12 Peter McDonald                        
13 Chris Jongewaard                      
14 Joshua Marden                         
15 Craig McCartney                       
16 Zakkari Dempster                      
17 Wesley Sulzberger                     
18 Brad Edmunds                          
19 Scott Peoples                     0.23
20 Matthew Wood                      2.34
21 Darren Harry                          
22 Jacob Sutherland                      
23 Gary Mueller                          
24 Craig Mackie                          
25 Jai Crawford                          
26 Gilbert Gutowski                      
27 Adrian Hanson                         
28 Robert Cater                          
29 Richie Porte                          
30 Peter Ladd                        2.39
31 Luke Pledger                          
32 Kym Howard                        2.41
33 Cameron Peterson                      
34 Daniel Burtt                          
35 Chris Steffanoni                      
36 Stephen Cunningham                    
37 Brendan Rowbotham                     
38 Jack Anderson                         
39 Jeremy Betts                          
40 Peter Barnett                         
41 Nicholas Sanderson                    
42 Patrick Shaw                          
43 Fabio Calabria                        
44 Sean Finning                          
45 Mark O'Brien                          
46 Leigh Egan                            
47 Peter Herzig                          
48 Brendan Brooks                        
49 James Hannam                          
50 David Tozer                           
51 Steven Pilson                         
52 Kyle Marwood                          
53 Michael Ford                          
54 Simon Pearson                         
55 Damien Turner                     7.13
56 Brett Franklin                   12.04
57 Matthew Sherwin                       
58 Peter Smith                           
59 David Hiley                           
60 Andrew Ward                           
61 Will Wettenhall                       
62 Bradley Clark                         
63 Jarrod Harman                         
64 Nigel Sullivan                        
65 Phillip Stokes                        
66 Joshua Gundry                         
67 Matthew Jensen                        
68 Timothy Decker                        
69 Hamish Mackirdy                       
70 Daniel Furmston                       
71 Nick Culvenor                         
72 Tom Middleton                         
73 Will Dickeson                    12.20
74 Peter Milostic                        
75 Tremain Permewan                 14.32
76 Christopher Wilding              14.34
77 James Fitzgerald                 14.39
78 Cameron Irwin                         
79 Thomas Baxter                         
80 James Robinson                        
81 Matthew Kennett                       
82 Grant Webster                         
83 Matthew Davis                         
84 Simon Van Der Aa                      
85 Benjamin Juzwin                       
86 Marcus Wettenhall                     
87 Damon De Angelis                      
88 Glen Peterson                         
89 Tim Hucker                            
90 Jamie Kelly                           
91 William Murray                   18.06
92 Brett Aitken                     19.23
 
Sprints
 
Red Cliffs Lawn Cemetary
1 Peter McDonald                        3 pts
2 Brad Edmunds                          2
3 Patrick Shaw                          1
 
Koorlong Primary School
1 Brad Edmunds                          3 pts
2 Peter McDonald                        2
3 Joe McDonnell                         1
 
Lido Lodge
1 Peter McDonald                        3 pts
2 Brad Edmunds                          2
3 Stuart Shaw                           1
 
Merbein Mushrooms
1 Joe McDonnell                         3 pts
2 Peter McDonald                        2
3 Joshua Marden                         1
 
Yelta Silos
1 Joe McDonnell                         3 pts
2 Brad Edmunds                          2
3 Joshua Marden                         1
 
General classification after stage 9
 
1 Robert McLachlan               12.00.44
2 David Kemp                         0.05
3 Casey Munro                        1.04
4 Brad Edmunds                       1.32
5 Joshua Marden                      1.35
6 Chris Jongewaard                   2.09
7 Wesley Sulzberger                  2.11
8 Johnnie Walker                     3.04
9 Zakkari Dempster                   3.20
10 Jason Hegert                      3.24
11 Peter McDonald                    3.37
12 Joe McDonnell                     3.48
13 Stuart Shaw                       3.55
14 Nicholas Walker                   4.02
15 Ricky Peoples                     4.16
16 Sean Finning                      5.43
17 Brendan Hill                      5.53
18 Craig McCartney                   6.21
19 Scott Peoples                     6.27
20 Robert Cater                      6.31
21 Nicholas Sanderson                6.36
22 Kyle Marwood                      6.52
23 Brendan Brooks                    7.02
24 James Hannam                      7.08
25 Stephen Cunningham                7.10
26 Peter Ladd                        7.15
27 Daniel Newnham                    7.18
28 Daniel Burtt                      7.27
29 Leigh Egan                        8.02
30 Patrick Shaw                      8.24
31 Craig Mackie                      8.37
32 Brendan Rowbotham                 8.38
33 Peter Barnett                     8.47
34 Gilbert Gutowski                  8.49
35 Jacob Sutherland                  8.51
36 Mark O'Brien                      8.58
37 Kym Howard                        9.13
38 Darren Harry                      9.37
39 Richie Porte                     10.27
40 Gary Mueller                     10.28
41 Fabio Calabria                   10.30
42 Michael Ford                     10.41
43 Chris Steffanoni                 10.42
44 Jack Anderson                    10.49
45 Luke Pledger                     11.42
46 Adrian Hanson                    11.57
47 Jeremy Betts                     12.02
48 Jai Crawford                     13.55
49 David Tozer                      15.45
50 Timothy Decker                   18.01
51 Joshua Gundry                    19.56
52 Nick Culvenor                    19.57
53 David Hiley                      20.05
54 Andrew Ward                      20.06
55 Tim Hucker                       21.36
56 Will Wettenhall                  22.10
57 Marcus Wettenhall                22.22
58 Thomas Baxter                    23.42
59 Christopher Wilding              23.50
60 Tom Middleton                         
61 Brett Franklin                   24.09
62 Matthew Jensen                   24.52
63 Peter Milostic                   25.09
64 Bradley Clark                    25.15
65 Hamish Mackirdy                  25.25
66 Phillip Stokes                   26.08
67 Cameron Peterson                 26.14
68 Cameron Irwin                    26.15
69 Steven Pilson                    26.26
70 Simon Pearson                    26.58
71 Matthew Davis                    27.19
72 Brett Aitken                     28.59
73 Jamie Kelly                      29.07
74 Daniel Furmston                  31.33
75 Jarrod Harman                    31.40
76 Will Dickeson                    31.53
77 Glen Peterson                    32.32
78 Peter Smith                      34.14
79 Nigel Sullivan                   34.40
80 Peter Herzig                     36.11
81 Matthew Sherwin                  37.21
82 Matthew Kennett                  39.02
83 Matthew Wood                     39.03
84 Grant Webster                    43.51
85 Tremain Permewan                 44.31
86 Damien Turner                    48.05
87 Benjamin Juzwin                  49.50
88 Damon De Angelis                 51.26
89 James Fitzgerald                 57.56
90 Simon Van Der Aa               1.14.19
91 William Murray                 1.19.18
92 James Robinson                 1.22.48
 
Sprints classification
 
1 David Kemp                           51 pts
2 Joshua Marden                        41
3 Brad Edmunds                         39
4 Chris Jongewaard                     36
5 Wesley Sulzberger                    35
6 Casey Munro                          32
7 Patrick Shaw                         27
8 Peter McDonald                       26
9 Robert McLachlan                     24
10 Joe McDonnell                       22
11 Zakkari Dempster                    17
12 Scott Peoples                       13
13 Peter Barnett                       11
14 Craig Mackie                        10
15 Marcus Wettenhall                   10
16 Sean Finning                         7
17 Stuart Shaw                          7
18 Johnnie Walker                       6
19 Brendan Hill                         6
20 Jeremy Betts                         5
21 Gary Mueller                         5
22 Craig McCartney                      4
23 Daniel Furmston                      3
24 Will Dickeson                        3
25 Robert Cater                         3
26 Kyle Marwood                         3
27 Ricky Peoples                        3
28 Michael Ford                         2
29 Jason Hegert                         2
30 Peter Milostic                       2
31 Adrian Hanson                        2
32 Nicholas Walker                      1
33 Chris Steffanoni                     1
34 Tom Middleton                        1
35 Brendan Brooks                       1
36 Nicholas Sanderson                   1
37 David Hiley                          1
38 James Hannam                         1
39 Brett Aitken                         1
40 Peter Herzig                         1
41 Joshua Gundry                        1
 
Mountains classification
 
1 Casey Munro                          17 pts
2 Chris Jongewaard                     16
3 Robert McLachlan                      6
4 Brad Edmunds                          5
5 Joshua Marden                         3
6 David Kemp                            2
7 Matthew Wood                          1
8 Stuart Shaw                           1
9 Brendan Brooks                        1
10 Zakkari Dempster                     1
11 Wesley Sulzberger                    1
 
Criterium Championship
 
1 Robert McLachlan                     42 pts
2 Brett Aitken                         39
3 Leigh Egan                           35
4 Wesley Sulzberger                    26
5 David Kemp                           25
6 Gary Mueller                         20
7 Joshua Marden                        19
8 Jeremy Betts                         15
9 Robert Cater                          9
10 Chris Jongewaard                     9
11 Brendan Rowbotham                    8
12 Johnnie Walker                       6
13 Daniel Furmston                      5
14 Sean Finning                         4
15 Darren Harry                         4
16 Nicholas Sanderson                   4
17 Casey Munro                          3
18 Brad Edmunds                         1
19 Jacob Sutherland                     1
20 Ricky Peoples                        1
 
Most aggressive rider
 
1 Wesley Sulzberger                     4 pts
2 David Kemp                            3
3 Peter McDonald                        2
4 Chris Jongewaard                      2
5 Zakkari Dempster                      2
6 Brad Edmunds                          2
7 Peter Barnett                         2
8 Robert McLachlan                      1