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Tour de Vineyards - NE
New Zealand, January 1-4, 2007
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Stage 3 - January 3: Richmond - Marble Mountain, 130 km
General classification reshuffled
As predicted, Day 3 of the Tour de Vineyards saw some major changes in the general classification in most grades, with the challenging stage finishing up New Zealand's longest paved climb – the steep, twisting 16km long Takaka Hill.
How it unfolded
Another mild sunny day greeted riders on the start line; with the harsh New Zealand sun turning tan lines a deeper shade of red. In comparison, the top of Takaka Hill was cold and misty with poor visibility causing a nightmare for race officials attempting to identify numbers.
The action came thick and fast in Race 1 with Team Subway ensuring Hayden Godfrey kept the sprinter's jersey on his shoulders by leading out Godfrey for the first sprint at Brightwater. Gordon McCauley was keen to head to the hill with a time buffer and rode in his typical aggressive style – instigating attacks and following every move. However, despite his best efforts, a breakaway formed without him, containing major GC threat Heath Blackgrove. With two crashes before the base of the climb interrupting the flow of the chasing bunch, the break had three minutes at the base of the climb and no one was going to threaten US based Toyota United rider Blackgrove, who danced his way up the climb to claim the $1000 purse at the top and the leader’s jersey.
The most impressive ride of the day belonged to New Plymouth youngster Michael Torckler who, although not part of the initial break, put his lean ex-runners frame to good use, climbing into second on GC and taking the Under 23 leaders jersey.
Ashley Whitehead also climbed well to move to third on GC, followed by Shane Archibald forth (and first under 19 rider) and Steve Stannard fifth.
Race Two began with a battle of the sprinters as Karen Fulton and Annelies Baston went head to head fighting for the sprint points in Brightwater and Wakefield, putting leadout compatriots Dale Tye and Serena Sheridan to good use. The contest is shaping up to be a battle to the wire with the sprints on tomorrow’s Hill Street circuit to be the deciding factor in the Green Jersey contest.
Ten riders remained in the leading bunch at the base of the climb, with Sheridan setting a steady pace and only four others able to respond – Tye, Basten, Gina Waibl and Brenda Clapp remained together until Waibl upped the pace at the half way mark, dislodging talented Nelson Mountain biker Brenda Clapp. Another burst from Waibl 1500m from the top dislodged Tye, with Sheridan timing her effort well to take the $750 purse from Basten and Waibl.
Nelson riders dominated Races Three and Four. Max Riley had a stunning ride taking out Race Three and is the new race leader, taking the stage convincingly from Chris Nicolson and Brian Fowler. Grant Stirling retains the leader’s jersey in Race Four with a brilliant display of consistency throughout the Tour ensuring the yellow jersey has not left his shoulders; easily taking the stage from Mike Sim and local hard man Gary Overand.
Tomorrow, the final day of the Tour, will take the riders on the challenging Hill Street Circuit in Richmond. Those riders who were unable to compete with the mountain goats on the slopes of Takaka hill today will surely to be looking for a stage win on Richmond's flatter territory.
Results
Race 1 1 Heath Blackgrove 3.36.30 2 Michael Torckler U23 0.59 3 Ashley Whitehead 2.16 4 Shane Archbold U19 2.55 5 Steve Stannard 2.59 6 Joshua Barley U23 7 Gordon Mccauley 8 Ryan Wills U23 3.45 9 Daniel Barry U23 4.07 10 Richard Speer 4.41 11 Matthew Haydock U23 4.53 12 Henry Sommerville U19 5.05 13 George Bennett U19 14 Sam Horn 15 Alastair Stewart 16 Luc Van Es 5.12 17 Thijs Hubber 5.21 18 James Dobson U19 19 Felix Laufkotter U23 5.40 20 Wayne Hiscock 5.45 21 Bevan Eyles 5.50 22 James Williamson U19 6.20 23 Mike Northcott 24 Johnathon Gee 6.45 25 Sam Steele U19 7.05 26 Justin Price 7.16 27 Scott Wilder 7.21 28 Rodney Wallace 7.33 29 Josh Brannigan U23 8.05 30 Don Oakly 31 Jason Christy U19 32 James Gibson 8.30 33 Lee Poston U23 8.35 34 Edward Barrett U23 9.40 35 Brad Tilby 36 Jono Hailstone U23 10.05 37 Mike Milner Snrb 10.40 38 Leon Hextall U19 10.50 39 Nick Emery 11.12 40 Clinton Avery U23 11.40 41 Michael Kingan 42 Aaron Tuckerman 43 Mark Langlands U23 44 Brett Dawbler 12.15 45 Bucky Schafer 12.20 46 Sam Horgan U23 12.44 47 Thomas Libby U19 13.18 48 Josh Brown U19 13.25 49 Ross Stewart U23 13.30 50 Michael Naylor U23 14.25 51 Olly Pearce U23 15.03 52 Andrew Mcfarlane 15.10 53 Paul Odlin 15.22 54 Hayden Godfrey 16.10 55 Jeff Best Snrb 17.14 56 Glenn Rewi 18.01 57 Carl Jones U23 19.17 58 Tom Pearce U19 19.34 59 Myron Simpson U19 21.37 60 Nicholas Hextall U19 22.00 61 Daniel Carruthers 23.54 62 Andrew Ellis 33.04 63 Tim Vincent 34.19 64 David Ayre U23 37.48 65 Rob Creasy Snrb 39.08 66 Cris Lovell-smith 49.04 DNF Steven Armstrong DNF Brady Gibbons DNF Aaron Lawson U23 DNF Chris Sanson U23 DNF Gordon Walker DNS Julian Mitchell DNS Andrew Curnow U19 Race 2 1 Serena Sheridan 4.16.20 2 Annelies Basten Sw 3 Gina Waibl Sw 4 Dale Tye Sw 0.34 5 Brenda Clapp Sw 2.00 6 Kerri-Anne Torkler 4.02 7 Jeannie Kuhajek Sw 5.06 8 Tracy Clark M1 5.54 9 Karen Fulton Sw 7.38 10 Donna Sibley Sw 15.14 11 Mary Jones M1 23.14 12 Bridget Robertshawe M1 23.36 13 Lauren Ellis U19 23.37 DNF Dorette Prinsloo U23 DNF Carissa Wilkes Race 3 1 Max Riley M1 4.00.59 2 Chris Nicholson M2 0.59 3 Brian Fowler M2 4 Greg Atkins M2 2.14 5 William Ayres M2 3.04 6 Brian Grant M1 3.22 7 Simon Yarrell M1 3.25 8 Stuart Lowe M1 3.51 9 Mark Mcginley M2 4.07 10 Nick Batt M1 4.37 11 Bruce Boardman M2 4.56 12 Glenn Gould M1 5.00 13 Simon White M2 6.08 14 Mark Washington M1 7.16 15 Chris Charles M1 9.08 16 Pete Sheed M1 10.18 17 Jimmy Griffiths M1 10.33 18 Darryl Taylor M2 10.42 19 John Baddeley M2 12.36 20 Kevin Donnell M1 13.09 21 Darrell Kircher M2 22 Thomas Pettersson M2 13.46 23 David Priscott M1 16.57 24 Nigel Veiese M2 17.58 25 David Comerford M1 23.35 26 Michael Ferigo M2 46.12 DNF Lester Settle M2 Race 4 1 Grant Stirling M3 4.16.13 2 Mike Sim M3 3 Gary Overend M4 4 Steve Chapman M4 0.24 5 Brent Harris M4 1.51 6 Richie Howes M4 2.41 7 Paul Berg M3 3.08 8 Malcolm Perry M3 3.33 9 Malcolm Pearce M4 4.06 10 Tim Webb M4 4.31 11 Mark Ferguson M3 4.47 12 Peter Alder M3 5.01 13 Malcolm Allen M3 6.11 14 Trevor Macdonald M3 6.32 15 Bruce Jones M4 7.46 16 Martyn Williamson M3 8.47 17 Richie Van Vugt M3 10.34 18 Tony Berggren M3 10.49 19 Peter Maich M3 11.01 20 Steven Sanderson M3 11.15 21 Brian Lippers M3 14.47 22 Peter James M4 23.34 23 Richard Clark M4 26.07 24 Karl Van Hoppe M4 40.39 DNF Denis Cooper M3 DNF Peter White M4 General classification after stage 3 Race 1 1 Heath Blackgrove 7.15.43 2 Michael Torckler U23 2.26 3 Gordon Mccauley 3.00 4 Steve Stannard 3.36 5 Ashley Whitehead 3.44 6 Shane Archbold U19 5.37 7 Daniel Barry U23 5.38 8 Joshua Barley U23 6.09 9 Matthew Haydock U23 6.24 10 Bevan Eyles 7.21 11 James Williamson U19 7.49 12 Richard Speer 7.51 13 Ryan Wills U23 9.45 14 Wayne Hiscock 9.52 15 Scott Wilder 9.56 16 George Bennett U19 11.10 17 Henry Sommerville U19 12.19 17 Sam Horn 17 Alastair Stewart 20 Luc Van Es 12.26 21 Felix Laufkotter U23 12.54 22 Mike Northcott 13.34 23 Clinton Avery U23 13.51 24 Josh Brannigan U23 13.56 25 Johnathon Gee 13.59 26 Thijs Hubber 14.19 26 Sam Steele U19 28 Rodney Wallace 14.47 29 Brett Dawbler 14.59 30 Don Oakly 15.19 31 Olly Pearce U23 15.39 32 Edward Barrett U23 16.54 33 Jono Hailstone U23 17.19 34 Michael Kingan 17.50 35 Aaron Tuckerman 18.23 36 Mark Langlands U23 18.54 36 Lee Poston U23 38 Bucky Schafer 19.47 39 Sam Horgan U23 19.58 40 Josh Brown U19 20.39 41 Jason Christy U19 21.19 42 Paul Odlin 22.05 43 Hayden Godfrey 22.08 44 Andrew Mcfarlane 22.24 45 James Dobson U19 24.05 46 Michael Naylor U23 24.59 47 Brad Tilby 25.14 48 Leon Hextall U19 26.24 49 James Gibson 29.14 50 Carl Jones U23 29.51 51 Justin Price 30.00 52 Daniel Carruthers 31.08 53 Mike Milner Snrb 31.43 54 Thomas Libby U19 32.12 55 Jeff Best Snrb 32.17 56 Tom Pearce U19 35.08 57 Glenn Rewi 36.55 58 Nick Emery 38.16 59 Ross Stewart U23 38.17 60 Myron Simpson U19 38.55 61 Andrew Ellis 48.38 62 David Ayre U23 52.02 63 Nicholas Hextall U19 52.04 64 Tim Vincent 59.13 65 Rob Creasy Snrb 1.09.12 66 Cris Lovell-smith 1.31.34 DNF Steven Armstrong DNF Brady Gibbons DNF Aaron Lawson U23 DNF Chris Sanson U23 DNF Gordon Walker DNS Julian Mitchell DNS Andrew Curnow U19 Race 2 1 Serena Sheridan 8.40.55 1 Annelies Basten Sw 3 Gina Waibl Sw 0.07 4 Dale Tye Sw 0.42 5 Brenda Clapp Sw 2.08 6 Kerri-Anne Torkler 4.08 7 Jeannie Kuhajek Sw 5.14 8 Karen Fulton Sw 7.42 9 Tracy Clark M1 10.56 10 Donna Sibley Sw 20.21 11 Bridget Robertshawe M1 28.43 11 Lauren Ellis U19 13 Mary Jones M1 41.29 DNF Dorette Prinsloo U23 DNF Carissa Wilkes Race 3 1 Max Riley M1 7.42.31 2 Brian Fowler M2 0.53 3 Chris Nicholson M2 0.57 4 Greg Atkins M2 2.12 5 William Ayres M2 3.09 6 Brian Grant M1 3.28 7 Simon Yarrell M1 3.31 8 Stuart Lowe M1 3.57 9 Mark Mcginley M2 4.13 10 Nick Batt M1 4.43 11 Bruce Boardman M2 5.02 12 Glenn Gould M1 5.04 13 Simon White M2 6.14 14 Mark Washington M1 8.18 15 Chris Charles M1 9.14 16 Darrell Kircher M2 13.10 17 Darryl Taylor M2 16.24 18 Nigel Veiese M2 18.04 19 Thomas Pettersson M2 19.28 20 David Comerford M1 23.41 21 Pete Sheed M1 24.59 22 Jimmy Griffiths M1 25.13 23 Kevin Donnell M1 27.31 24 John Baddeley M2 28.30 25 David Priscott M1 34.08 26 Michael Ferigo M2 49.42 DNF Lester Settle M2 Race 4 1 Grant Stirling M3 8.00.28 2 Mike Sim M3 0.11 3 Gary Overend M4 0.12 4 Steve Chapman M4 0.37 5 Brent Harris M4 2.04 6 Richie Howes M4 2.50 7 Paul Berg M3 3.21 8 Malcolm Pearce M4 4.11 9 Tim Webb M4 4.44 10 Mark Ferguson M3 4.58 11 Peter Alder M3 5.07 12 Malcolm Allen M3 6.23 13 Bruce Jones M4 7.59 14 Malcolm Perry M3 8.24 15 Trevor Macdonald M3 15.18 16 Martyn Williamson M3 17.33 17 Richie Van Vugt M3 19.20 18 Tony Berggren M3 19.35 19 Peter Maich M3 19.47 20 Steven Sanderson M3 20.01 21 Brian Lippers M3 23.33 22 Peter James M4 23.47 23 Richard Clark M4 34.53 24 Karl Van Hoppe M4 52.39 DNF Denis Cooper M3 DNF Peter White M4
