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Timbercorp Cup Tour of the Murray River - NE
Australia, August 26-September 2, 2007
Main Page Results Overall standings Next Stage
Stage 1 - August 26: Echuca criterium, 25.5 km
Olympic champion claims Murray River opener
By Rod Morris in Barham, Victoria
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Olympic and Commonwealth Games gold medalist Brett Aitken turned back the hands of time to display his daunting sprinting skills in the opening stage of the tour by winning the Echuca Criterium. The 36 year-old won the Madison gold medal at the 2000 Sydney Olympics and was a member of the winning pursuit team and won the points score race at the 1994 New Zealand Commonwealth Games. On top of that the popular South Australian has also won Olympic silver and bronze medal and silver at Commonwealth level.
Aitken's Echuca win emulated his 2006 Tour of the Murray River start, but he belied any chance of winning General Classification honours. "I'm nowhere near fit enough or well enough to worry about that," he said. "I've been really crook lately, so to win the opening race is a real bonus for me."
"I won't be aiming for the GC, but if I can pick up a few stage wins and sprint bonuses along the way that'll be good for me," he added.
Aitken kept himself in a handy position out of harm’s way but showed his true colours at the business end of the race. He was quick to praise the work of his Savings and Loans teammates, David Pell, Will Dickeson and Tom Middleton. "They all did a power of work throughout the race and it made my job a lot easier at the end," Aitken said.
Photography
For a thumbnail gallery of these images, click here
Images by Shane Goss/www.licoricegallery.com
- How much? …Peter Milostic's bike; Going cheap is it Pete?
- Robert Cater (NSWIS/FRF) relaxes pre-stage in Echuca.
- The Timbercorp Cup National Road Cycling Series is finger licking good.
- Nicholas Walker (VIS) …nice gloves Nic!
- They're off…The Tour of the Murray River gets underway in Echuca.
- Riders head into the home straight during the 25.5 km stage one criterium in Echuca.
- Jack Bobridge (SAIS) from South Australia corners in Echuca.
- Cameron Hughes (Ord Minnett/Triple Play) leans into a bend in Echuca.
- Tom Middleton (Savings & Loans) accelerates out of a corner during stage one.
- David Kemp (centre) from Queensland has only just stepped of a plane from Europe to compete in the Tour.
- Samuel Rix from Victoria out of the saddle during stage one.
- Reuben Meneaud-Young (Ord Minnett/Triple Play) from South Australia powers down the home straight.
- The peloton gets the bell-lap on the first stage of the Tour in Echuca.
- Brett Aitken (Savings & Loans) takes the first stage of the Tour in Echuca.
- The stage one podium (L-R): Grant Irwin (Ord Minnett/Triple Play), Brett Aitken (Savings & Loans), and Nic Sanderson (SouthAustralia.com/AIS).
- Miles Watson (Specialized) is the RoadSafe Mildura Sprint Points leader after stage one.
- Grant Irwin (Ord Minnett/Triple Play), the Tour leader after stage one.
Results
1 Brett Aitken 34.54 (43.839 km/h) 2 Grant Irwin 3 Nicholas Sanderson 4 Russell Gill 5 Patrick Shaw 6 Robert Mclachlan 7 Darcy Rosenlund 8 Peter Dawson 9 Tom Middleton 10 Will Dickeson 11 Matthew Sherwin 12 John Ebeling 13 Robert Lyte 14 Nicholas Walker 0.03 15 Ben Mather 16 Brad Edmunds 17 Peter Mcdonald 18 Craig Mccartney 19 Gary Mueller 20 Nathan Wise 21 Cameron Hughes 22 Peter Johnstone 0.05 23 David Kemp 24 Michael Stallard 25 Gilbert Gutowski 26 Benjamin King 27 David Pell 28 Chris Steffanoni 29 Samuel Rix 30 Sean Finning 31 Tony Mann 32 Daniel Mcculloch 33 Daniel Johnston 34 Travis Frisby 35 David Tozer 36 Peter Smith 37 Brendon Sharratt 38 Leigh Howard 39 Peter Milostic 40 Jacob Lea 41 Hayden Josefski 42 Vaughan Bowman 43 Miles Watson 44 Timothy Decker 45 Brendan Schultz 46 Matt King 47 Evan Corry 48 Jack Bobridge 49 Daniel Furmston 50 Mark Jamieson 51 Steven Robb 52 Jason Hegert 53 Chris Jory 54 Jarrod Harman 55 Daniel Braunsteins 56 Craig Robertson 57 Lachlan Stewart 58 Malcolm Rudolph 59 Douglas Repacholi 60 Matt Sillars 61 Re Meneaud-Young 0.20 62 Shaun Higgerson 0.22 63 Miles Olman 0.25 64 Joe Mcdonnell 0.35 65 Josh Page 0.40 66 Jamie Crass 0.41 67 Gavin Nicholls 1.08 68 Simon Brown 1.10 69 Jonathan Coulter 70 Nigel Sullivan 71 Stephen Price 2.20 72 Grant Webster 3.30 73 Will Wettenhall 74 Jack Hudson 4.40 75 Jeremy Hills 76 Glen Peterson 5.50 77 Thomas Baxter 78 Alexander Machin 79 Luke Aggett DNS Shaun Mccarthy DNS Christos Winter DNS William Ford DNS Nigel Dunstone DNS Damien Turner DNS Malcolm Hart DNS Scott Kilmartin Sprints Lap 6 1 Brad Edmunds 3 pts 2 David Pell 2 3 Darcy Rosenlund 1 Lap 8 1 Patrick Shaw 3 pts 2 Brad Edmunds 2 3 David Pell 1 Lap 10 1 David Pell 3 pts 2 Darcy Rosenlund 2 3 Peter Mcdonald 1 Lap 12 1 Miles Watson 3 pts 2 Peter Mcdonald 2 3 Sean Finning 1 Lap 14 1 Miles Watson 3 pts 2 Peter Mcdonald 2 3 Sean Finning 1 Lap 16 1 Grant Irwin 3 pts 2 Peter Mcdonald 2 3 Leigh Howard 1 Lap 18 1 Leigh Howard 3 pts 2 Sean Finning 2 3 Peter Mcdonald 1 Lap 20 1 Miles Watson 3 pts 2 Peter Mcdonald 2 3 Sean Finning 1 Lap 22 1 Patrick Shaw 3 pts 2 Miles Watson 2 3 Gilbert Gutowski 1 Lap 24 1 David Pell 3 pts 2 Brad Edmunds 2 3 Cameron Hughes 1 Lap 26 1 Brad Edmunds 3 pts 2 Gilbert Gutowski 2 3 Darcy Rosenlund 1 Criterium championships 1 Brett Aitken 10 pts 2 Grant Irwin 9 3 Nicholas Sanderson 8 4 Russell Gill 7 5 Patrick Shaw 6 6 Robert Mclachlan 5 7 Darcy Rosenlund 4 8 Peter Dawson 3 9 Tom Middleton 2 10 Will Dickeson 1 Most Aggressive rider 1 David Pell 2 pts General classification after stage 1 1 Grant Irwin 34.43 2 Brett Aitken 0.01 3 Patrick Shaw 0.03 4 Brad Edmunds 0.04 5 Peter Mcdonald 6 Nicholas Sanderson 0.05 7 Miles Watson 8 Russell Gill 0.07 9 Darcy Rosenlund 10 David Pell 11 Robert Mclachlan 0.11 12 Peter Dawson 13 Tom Middleton 14 Will Dickeson 15 Matthew Sherwin 16 John Ebeling 17 Robert Lyte 18 Sean Finning 19 Leigh Howard 0.12 20 Cameron Hughes 0.13 21 Gilbert Gutowski 22 Nicholas Walker 0.14 23 Ben Mather 24 Craig Mccartney 25 Gary Mueller 26 Nathan Wise 27 Peter Johnstone 0.16 28 David Kemp 29 Michael Stallard 30 Benjamin King 31 Chris Steffanoni 32 Samuel Rix 33 Tony Mann 34 Daniel Mcculloch 35 Daniel Johnston 36 Travis Frisby 37 David Tozer 38 Peter Smith 39 Brendon Sharratt 40 Peter Milostic 41 Jacob Lea 42 Hayden Josefski 43 Vaughan Bowman 44 Timothy Decker 45 Brendan Schultz 46 Matt King 47 Evan Corry 48 Jack Bobridge 49 Daniel Furmston 50 Mark Jamieson 51 Steven Robb 52 Jason Hegert 53 Chris Jory 54 Jarrod Harman 55 Daniel Braunsteins 56 Craig Robertson 57 Lachlan Stewart 58 Malcolm Rudolph 59 Douglas Repacholi 60 Matt Sillars 61 Re Meneaud-Young 0.31 62 Shaun Higgerson 0.33 63 Miles Olman 0.36 64 Joe Mcdonnell 0.46 65 Josh Page 0.51 66 Jamie Crass 0.52 67 Gavin Nicholls 1.19 68 Simon Brown 1.21 69 Jonathan Coulter 70 Nigel Sullivan 71 Stephen Price 2.31 72 Grant Webster 3.41 73 Will Wettenhall 74 Jack Hudson 4.51 75 Jeremy Hills 76 Glen Peterson 6.01 77 Thomas Baxter 78 Alexander Machin 79 Luke Aggett Sprints classification 1 Miles Watson 11 pts 2 Brad Edmunds 10 3 Peter Mcdonald 10 4 David Pell 9 5 Patrick Shaw 6 6 Sean Finning 5 7 Darcy Rosenlund 4 8 Leigh Howard 4 9 Gilbert Gutowski 3 10 Grant Irwin 3 11 Cameron Hughes 1 Criterium championships classification 1 Brett Aitken 10 pts 2 Grant Irwin 9 3 Nicholas Sanderson 8 4 Russell Gill 7 5 Patrick Shaw 6 6 Robert Mclachlan 5 7 Darcy Rosenlund 4 8 Peter Dawson 3 9 Tom Middleton 2 10 Will Dickeson 1 Most Aggressive Championship - After Stage 1 David Pell 2 pts
