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Timbercorp Cup Tour of the Murray River - NE
Australia, August 26-September 2, 2007
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Stage 12 - September 1: Loxton kermesse, 66 km
McDonald struts his stuff while Olman breaks through
By Rod Morris in Loxton (Sa)
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Peter McDonald has one hand firmly on the Fishers IGA Tour of the Murray River trophy and is now also a clear leader in the Timbercorp Cup after a successful day in South Australia yesterday. McDonald (28) won Stage 11, a criterium in Loxton and then scored a top 10 in the afternoon kermes race to extend his overall lead to a comfortable 1'23" minutes with only 44 kilometres of the eight-day tour remaining. From a reluctant entrant who didn't think he could handle flat and fast tracks of the Murray River tour, McDonald has been the undoubted star after winning the Moama to Barham stage last Sunday afternoon and holding the leader's jersey ever since. "My win at Loxton has just about assured me of victory now," McDonald said. "My team-mates have done a fantastic job in defending every attack and we'll celebrate tomorrow, but there's still one race left before that happens."
Yesterday afternoon's penultimate stage, a 70-kilometre kermesse around the Loxton waterfront was arguably the tour's toughest race with many riders becoming casualties after the constant climbing – a racing discipline they have not been used to this week. The surprise result in the stage was the performance of Tasmanian Daniel Furmston, who won the Tourism Victoria King of the Mountain Championship…….and just for good measure was also presented with the MADEC Most Aggressive rider award as well. Former New Zealander Miles Watson is assured of winning the RoadSafe Mildura Sprint Championship, while Grant Irwin (Qld) needs only to finish in the top 10 in the final stage to win the WHK Thomsons Criterium Championship.
How it unfolded
Without doubt the Loxton Kermesse proved to be the toughest stage of this week's tour with the 63 riders strung out over various parts of the 3.5-kilometre circuit. Riders were asked to tackle an 800-metre climb no less than 20 times and many were simply unable to withstand the pressure. Little known Tasmanian Daniel Furmston intent was on claiming as many points in the Tourism Victoria King of the Mountain Championship as possible and recognized Queensland pair Tony Mann and Miles Olman as his biggest threats.
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Olman started the stage one point in front of Furmston in the KOM title and for the early bonuses, honours were shared. Eventually, a four man break group, including Furmston, Olman, Victorian David Pell and NSW veteran Peter Milostic settled down for their own little show of warfare. That quarter broke clear of a chasing pack of 16 riders and were able to establish a lead of just under a minute after 50 kilometres of the stage.
Once the race narrowed down, lapped riders were shunted off the course by alert commissaries, ensuring the lead protagonists had a clear run to the sprint lines. When the last of the intermediate KOM bonus sprints had been completed and Furmston had assured himself of the climbers' title, he lost contact with the other escapees and not long after that, Pell also lost his grip at the front. That left Olman and Milostic to stage a match race to the end.
The younger Olman (21) had fresher sprint legs and up the picturesque home straight on the Loxton waterfront enjoyed a 2-second winning margin over Milostic, who is racing in his ninth Tour of the Murray River (nee Tour of Sunraysia). "This feels tremendous, I didn't expect to get a stage win, particular one with a hill like that in it," Olman said. Olman is a former junior world track champion and still regards himself as a track specialist over the discipline of the road.
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"My goals are still based on the track instead of the road and I am really only using these tours for basic training, so getting a win is an unexpected bonus," he said. Olman, a carpenter by trade, is also one of Australia's best young cycling talents and rides for the southaustralia.com team, which in this tour has now won five of the completed 12 stages.
Outside of Olman's success yesterday, the team's other wins have come from Peter Dawson, Mark Jamieson (x2) and Sean Finning, while Nicholas Sanderson has placed three times. Tour leader Peter McDonald was safe in the bunch, finishing in ninth place behind Olman, 1'16" minutes behind, but lost no time to any of his main challengers in the afternoon. In fact, McDonald watched all of his opponents with eagle eyes and will carry a lead of 1'23" minutes into the final stage, a 44-kilometre kermesse at Waikerie in South Australia.
Photography
For a thumbnail gallery of these images, click here
Images by Shane Goss/www.licoricegallery.com
- The peloton beside the Murray River in Loxton for stage twelve of the Tour
- Choice seats as the leaders go by beneath the trees along-side the Murray River in Loxton
- Riders among the trees in Loxton on the 70km stage twelve kermesse
- The chasing group on the climb that saw the field splinter into several groups
- Hey Shirley we struggled to get the Datsun up this hill and these guys ride their bikes up it!
- Daniel Furmston (Praties) takes centre of attention as Peter Milostic (L) and Peter Dawson climb either side
- Riders roll along beside the Murray River on the penultimate stage of the Tour in Loxton, South Australia
- The chasing group with the yellow jersey at the top of the climb in Loxton
- Miles Olman (SouthAustralia.com/AIS) wins stage twelve with Peter Milostic (Penrith Panthers CC) coming in second
- The stage twelve podium (L-R): Peter Milostic 2nd (Penrith Panthers CC), Miles Olman 1st (SouthAustralia.com/AIS), and David Pell 3rd (Savings and Loans)
- Tasmanian Daniel Furmston (Praties) has won the Tourism Victoria King of the Mountains Championship of the Tour
- Daniel Furmston (Praties) was awarded the MADEC Most Aggressive rider of the stage jersey
- Peter McDonald (NSWIS/FRF) puts on another yellow jersey as Tour leader with one stage remaining in Waikerie, South Australia
Results
1 Miles Olman 1.47.09 (36.96 km/h) 2 Peter Milostic 0.02 3 David Pell 0.20 4 Jack Bobridge 1.16 5 Russell Gill 6 Leigh Howard 7 Patrick Shaw 8 David Kemp 9 Peter McDonald 10 Grant Irwin 11 Peter Dawson 12 Cameron Hughes 13 Benjamin King 14 Matt Sillars 1.38 15 Robert Cater 16 Tony Mann 17 Jason Hegert 2.53 18 Tom Middleton 3.30 19 Brad Edmunds 20 David Tozer 21 Simon Brown 22 Gavin Nicholls 23 Daniel Furmston 4.30 24 John Ebeling 4.32 25 Daniel Braunsteins 5.22 26 Lachlan Stewart 27 Brendan Jones 28 Matthew Sherwin 29 Ben Mather 30 Craig Robertson 31 Peter Smith 10.44 32 Daniel McCulloch 33 Miles Watson 34 Darcy Rosenlund 35 Brendon Sharratt 16.06 36 Samuel Rix 37 Travis Frisby 38 Thomas Baxter 39 Gary Mueller 40 Nathan Wise 41 Nigel Sullivan 42 Chris Steffanoni 43 Michael Stallard 44 Will Dickeson 45 Will Wettenhall 46 Jarrod Harman 47 Brendan Schultz 48 Matt King 49 Chris Jory 50 Nicholas Sanderson 51 Sean Finning 52 Shaun Higgerson 53 Brett Aitken 54 Re Meneaud-Young 21.28 55 Stephen Price 56 Grant Webster 57 Douglas Repacholi 58 Glen Peterson 59 Luke Aggett 26.50 60 Gilbert Gutowski 61 Jeremy Hills 32.12 DNF Vaughan Bowman DNS Hayden Josefski Sprints Lap 1 1 Tony Mann 3 pts 2 Daniel Furmston 2 3 Brendon Sharratt 1 Lap 3 1 Brendon Sharratt 3 pts 2 Tony Mann 2 3 Nicholas Sanderson 1 Lap 5 1 Tony Mann 3 pts 2 Brendon Sharratt 2 3 David Pell 1 Lap 7 1 Brendon Sharratt 3 pts 2 David Pell 2 3 Tony Mann 1 Lap 9 1 Benjamin King 3 pts 2 Patrick Shaw 2 3 Robert Cater 1 Lap 11 1 Peter Milostic 3 pts 2 Miles Olman 2 3 Daniel Furmston 1 Lap 13 1 David Pell 3 pts 2 Peter Milostic 2 3 Daniel Furmston 1 Lap 15 1 Peter Milostic 3 pts 2 David Pell 2 3 Miles Olman 1 Lap 17 1 Peter Milostic 3 pts 2 Miles Olman 2 3 David Pell 1 Mountains Lap 2 1 Tony Mann 3 pts 2 Daniel Furmston 2 3 Brendon Sharratt 1 Lap 4 1 Brendon Sharratt 3 pts 2 Nicholas Sanderson 2 3 Tony Mann 1 Lap 6 1 Tony Mann 3 pts 2 Brendon Sharratt 2 3 Daniel Furmston 1 Lap 8 1 Tony Mann 3 pts 2 Daniel Furmston 2 3 Benjamin King 1 Lap 10 1 Daniel Furmston 3 pts 2 Peter Milostic 2 3 Miles Olman 1 Lap 12 1 Daniel Furmston 3 pts 2 Peter Milostic 2 3 Miles Olman 1 Lap 14 1 Daniel Furmston 3 pts 2 Peter Milostic 2 3 Miles Olman 1 Lap 16 1 Daniel Furmston 3 pts 2 Peter Milostic 2 3 Miles Olman 1 Lap 18 1 Miles Olman 3 pts 2 Peter Milostic 2 3 David Pell 1 Most aggressive rider 1 Daniel Furmston General classification after stage 12 1 Peter McDonald 16.44.48 2 Jack Bobridge 1.23 3 Grant Irwin 1.33 4 Patrick Shaw 1.38 5 Cameron Hughes 1.47 6 Benjamin King 1.55 7 David Kemp 8 Leigh Howard 2.08 9 Tom Middleton 4.42 10 John Ebeling 5.45 11 David Pell 10.28 12 Brad Edmunds 13.22 13 Peter Dawson 13.27 14 Miles Watson 16.06 15 Tony Mann 16.36 16 Miles Olman 19.36 17 Robert Cater 23.32 18 Darcy Rosenlund 23.38 19 Gavin Nicholls 25.31 20 Nicholas Sanderson 26.31 21 Michael Stallard 36.40 22 David Tozer 37.09 23 Daniel McCulloch 37.40 24 Matt Sillars 38.42 25 Peter Milostic 39.10 26 Daniel Furmston 39.24 27 Ben Mather 40.20 28 Russell Gill 42.42 29 Jarrod Harman 43.16 30 Daniel Braunsteins 45.43 31 Chris Jory 45.47 32 Chris Steffanoni 46.29 33 Matt King 46.53 34 Craig Robertson 46.54 35 Lachlan Stewart 48.18 36 Brendan Schultz 50.19 37 Gilbert Gutowski 51.11 38 Jason Hegert 52.52 39 Will Dickeson 53.44 40 Matthew Sherwin 54.00 41 Shaun Higgerson 54.07 42 Brett Aitken 58.58 43 Peter Smith 59.19 44 Sean Finning 59.25 45 Nathan Wise 1.00.34 46 Samuel Rix 1.03.48 47 Douglas Repacholi 1.06.30 48 Gary Mueller 1.12.00 49 Glen Peterson 1.12.17 50 Brendan Jones 1.12.58 51 Travis Frisby 1.13.09 52 Re Meneaud-Young 1.17.20 53 Will Wettenhall 1.18.22 54 Luke Aggett 1.20.22 55 Nigel Sullivan 1.24.54 56 Thomas Baxter 1.31.27 57 Stephen Price 1.41.44 58 Simon Brown 1.48.30 59 Grant Webster 1.51.22 60 Brendon Sharratt 1.59.45 61 Jeremy Hills 2.58.35 Sprints classification 1 Miles Watson 106 pts 2 Peter McDonald 60 3 David Pell 46 4 Darcy Rosenlund 46 5 Patrick Shaw 39 6 Brendon Sharratt 37 7 Sean Finning 35 8 Benjamin King 34 9 Peter Dawson 23 10 Robert Cater 20 11 Cameron Hughes 20 12 Jack Bobridge 17 13 Grant Irwin 17 14 Tony Mann 16 15 Chris Jory 14 16 Brad Edmunds 13 17 Peter Milostic 11 18 Brendan Jones 9 19 Nathan Wise 9 20 Daniel Furmston 9 21 Leigh Howard 7 22 Miles Olman 6 23 John Ebeling 5 24 Gilbert Gutowski 5 25 David Kemp 4 26 Michael Stallard 4 27 Lachlan Stewart 2 28 Matthew Sherwin 2 29 Gavin Nicholls 2 30 Vaughan Bowman 2 31 Shaun Higgerson 1 32 David Tozer 1 33 Tom Middleton 1 34 Matt Sillars 1 35 Nicholas Sanderson 1 36 Daniel McCulloch 1 37 Will Dickeson 1 38 Chris Steffanoni 1 Mountains classification 1 Daniel Furmston 25 pts 2 Miles Olman 16 3 Tony Mann 15 4 Peter Milostic 10 5 Brendon Sharratt 6 6 David Kemp 6 7 Gilbert Gutowski 3 8 Benjamin King 3 9 Nathan Wise 2 10 Daniel Braunsteins 2 11 Darcy Rosenlund 2 12 Nicholas Sanderson 2 13 David Pell 1 14 Miles Watson 1 15 Patrick Shaw 1 Criterium championships classification 1 Grant Irwin 34 pts 2 Nicholas Sanderson 25 3 Robert Cater 25 4 Miles Watson 23 5 Patrick Shaw 22 6 Peter McDonald 21 7 Peter Dawson 20 8 Leigh Howard 18 9 Sean Finning 18 10 Russell Gill 17 11 Gary Mueller 17 12 Brett Aitken 13 13 Jack Bobridge 12 14 Douglas Repacholi 12 15 Darcy Rosenlund 12 16 Brendon Sharratt 10 17 Tony Mann 8 18 Cameron Hughes 8 19 Jarrod Harman 7 20 David Pell 7 21 David Kemp 6 22 Matt King 5 23 John Ebeling 4 24 Michael Stallard 4 25 Peter Smith 4 26 Miles Olman 3 27 Tom Middleton 3 28 Will Dickeson 1 29 Daniel Braunsteins 1 30 Matthew Sherwin 1 31 Nathan Wise 1 Most aggressive rider classification 1 Mark Jamieson 4 pts 2 David Pell 2 3 Peter Smith 2 4 Brendon Sharratt 2 5 Daniel Furmston 2 6 Miles Watson 2 7 Cameron Hughes 2 8 Miles Olman 2 9 Sean Finning 2 10 Peter McDonald 2 11 Robert McLachlan 2
