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Cairns Cycling Club
Great Northern Cycling Classic, October 9-10, 2004
The inaugural Great Northern Cycling Classic was held under clear but hot skies on the Tablelands over the weekend of 9 & 10 October with $8,000 in prizemoney on offer. Starting in Herberton on Saturday morning riders braved hot conditions and a headwind as they made their way over a 105km course through Malanda, Yungaburra and Atherton to Mareeba.
World Team Pursuit Champion Ashley Hutchinson took out the bunch sprint in a small but classy A Grade field ahead of Gilbert Gutowski and Cairns local Clayton Hackwood. In B Grade Marreba riders Simon Hamill and Andrei Tonello made it a Tablelands quinella by filling the first two places ahead of James Grant.
In the ride of the day, C Grade riders John Williams and Kalon Adoberg broke away from a strong bunch midway through the stage and opened an advantage that fluctuated between 30 seconds and 1 minute which they held on to all the way in to the Mareeba finish line where barrel-chested speedster Simon Schembri won the bunch sprint for third narrowly edging out former Irish professional Colin Eribo.
The D Grade stage saw a splintered bunch come to the finish with Tony Pappas taking the win from Andrew Spooner and Stuart Mayhill.
Weather conditions had eased by the start of the Mareeba town centre Criteriums which were raced on a tight but fast city centre course in front of a small enthusiastic crowd late Saturday afternoon. Hutchinson took out the win narrowly in A Grade which set him up for a clean sweep of A Grades 4 stages and the Classic's overall win ahead of top local Clayton Hackwood.
The race continued on Sunday with criterium racing in Malanda in the morning before the final stage, a tough 8 kilometre Time Trial at Tolga in the afternoon.
Organisers, local authorities and competitors alike were pleased with the outcome of the race which attracted high praise from all quarters and has laid the groundwork for a bigger, truly elite sporting event on the Tablelands in 2005 which is expected to attract a big name field following this year's success and for which planning has already begun.
Organisers wish to thank the Classic's sponsors (particularly Telstra Countrywide, Neverfail Springs, 4AM Radio and the Tablelands Advertiser) and the media for their support and assistance in helping to deliver the great success that the Classic has now become.
