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Eastern Suburbs Cycling Club
Trek Summer Series #8 - Heffron Park, Sydney, February 22, 2005
Spain 1- Portugal 0, as Rodriguez outclasses quality field
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Jose Manuel Rodriguez (Caravello-Colnago) pulled off a blistering sprint finish to outclass a high quality A grade bunch in round 8 of the Trek Bike Summer Series at Heffron Park last night. The A graders completely decimated the 90 strong field, as any hopes Eastern Suburbs Club Presidente Francesco Alcino Conceicao had of influencing the race result were completely thrown out the window. This was due to the international quality A grade field that signed up, including Aussie pro Trent Wilson (Colombia Selle Italia), World Track Champion Steve Wooldridge (Comnet-Segnes), English TT Olympian Stuart Dangerfield (Easts), three Australian MTB champs - Paul Rowney (Easts), Perron Delacour (Yeti Bikes) and Peter Hatton (Clarence St), not to mention the MG Xpower powerhouses of Troy Glennan and Shaun Higgerson, plus all the usual local suspects.
The presence of such a quality field didn't go unnoticed on the 70 plus B and C grade bunches who were almost resigned to their inevitable fate before the race even started - certainly there would have been a steward's enquiry into the handicapping if C grade had managed to hold off such a stellar A grade.
A grade didn't disappoint as they broke out of the blocks and had B grade lined up in their sights after only five laps - not a good feeling if you're in B grade and hoping to pick up some valuable early sprint points. With a brisk south-westerly wind blowing for a change, the pace was frantic the entire lap of the course. Softening up the bunch relentlessly were the MG-Xpower duo of Troy Glennan and Shaun Higgerson, then as soon they swung up, Trent Wilson and Steve Wooldridge would calmly roll through and up the tempo even further. Not surprisingly, some of the local A grade riders never made the last 5 lap cut the most notable absentee being King Spurge (Colnago - Caravello) who was struggling with stomach cramps.
The battle for sprint primes was almost forgotten in the mad scramble to hang on to the A grade runaway locomotive, however, after C grade were caught with four laps to go, Liam Kelly (Randwick Botany/FRF Couriers) snatched another five points to take a commanding 11 point lead in the Sprint King comp.
Down to the final two laps and the pace and the attacks didn't let up with Paul Rowney, then Stuart Dangerfield trying to set it up for Computer to take maximum points now that King Spurge was out of the race. Were Easts going to be able to deliver their series leader to the line, or were the Colnago-Caravello and MG-Xpower juggernauts going to have the upper hand? One crack had already appeared in the Easts race plan when their B grade bloc had dismantled with Scotty Callum the lone B grade Easts rider left in the front group, along with John Sunde (St George/sqaudra.us). Also hanging on was Joel Xereub (Randwick Botany/FRF Couriers) who rode the last laps superbly to completely gap his C grade rivals.
In the sprint, Kelly thought he made the winning move from 300 out, but then Rodriguez kicked in with a devastating finish to take the win from teammate Isaksen, who also showed impressive form all night. Kelly held on for third and Easts riders, Dangerfield and Campbell completed the top five, with Computer's fifth place giving him a valuable point to go one point clear of King Spurge in the race for the series first prize of a Trek Madone 5.9 frame. Scotty Callum and John Sunde battled it out on their own for B grade honours with Sunde showing there's still some life left in his legs to take the coveted B grade envelope. Joel Xuereb rode in alone to win C grade well in front of the remaining C grade riders which included last week's winner Chris Reynolds who won the bunch gallop.
A great turnout and a great nights racing with riders and spectators alike thrilled to experience such a high quality display. Four races left in the Series and it's still all up for grabs. Will Spurge bounce back, is Rodriguez going to make a late charge, is Computer going to hang on to his lead or is C grade going to get a 'gift' handicap? Anything could happen - it's Heffron Park.
Results
1 Jose Rodriguez (Colnago - Caravello) 2 Ben Isaksen (Colnago - Caravello) 3 Liam Kelly (Randwick Botany/FRF Couriers) 4 Stuart Dangerfield (Easts) 5 Stewart Campbell (Easts) 1st B Grade John Sunde (St George/squadra.us) 1st C Grade Joel Xuereb (Randwick Botany/FRF Couriers) Trek Bikes Poinstcore 1 Stewart Campbell 19 pts 2 Anthony Spurgeon 18 3 Chris Reynolds 11 4 Ben Isaksen 8 5 Steve Wooldridge 7 5 Matthew White 7 5 Tom Reid 7 5 Liam Kelly 7 5 Jose Rodriguez 7 10 John Kenny 6 11 Mark Renshaw 4 11 Sam Lee 4 11 Luke Davison 4 14 Mathew Lucas 3 14 Chris Jenkins 3 14 Adam Shepherd 3 14 Richard Dodds 3 18 Peter McDonald 2 18 Brian Appleyard 2 18 Sam Carroll 2 18 Todd Dunn 2 18 Stuart Dangerfield 2 23 Jeff Jones 1 23 Louis Treuba 1 23 Scott Callum 1 23 Rodney Mendes 1 23 Jonathon Cridland 1 A/B Grade Sprint King 1 Liam Kelly 50 pts 2 Stewart Campbell 39 3 Anthony Iannacito 28 4 Nic Rathborne 20 5 Steve Wooldridge 18 6 Troy Glennan 16 7 Anthony Spurgeon 14 8 John Kenny 13 9 Brent Jenkins 9 9 Scott Callum 9 11 Alan Bozunovic 7 12 Mark Renshaw 6 12 Ben Isaksen 6 14 Matthew White 5 14 Sam Lee 5 14 Jose Rodriguez 5 17 Steve Orfanos 4 17 Stuart Dangerfield 4 19 Dave Treacy 3 19 Mark Stoneham 3 19 Andrew Kilday 3 19 Shaun Higgerson 3 19 Peter McDonald 3 24 John Sunde 2 25 Charlie O Brien 1 25 Mathew Lucas 1 25 Chris Jenkins 1 25 Paddy Jones 1 25 Mark Wall 1 25 Gavin Bates 1 25 Perron Delacour 1 C Grade Poinstcore 1 Todd Dunn 17 pts 2 Tom Reid 16 3 Chris Reynolds 13 4 Joel Xuereb 10 5 Andrew Hall 5 6 Adam Shepherd 3 6 Luke Davison 3 8 Roger Shackleton 2 9 Sam Carroll 1 9 Richard Dodds 1 9 Jeff Gray 1 Sprint Primes 7 laps to go 1 Steve Wooldridge 2 Alan Bozunovic 3 John Kenny 5 laps to go 1 Troy Glennan 2 Stuart Dangerfield 3 Peter McDonald 3 laps to go 1 Liam Kelly 2 Troy Glennan 3 Perron Delacour Final 1 Jose Rodriguez 2 Ben Isaksen 3 Liam Kelly
