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Carnegie Caulfield Cycling Club
Phillip Island, Victoria, July 3, 2005
By Mal Sawford
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CCCC made its long awaited debut at the Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit,
with the venue proving, as expected, ideal for non-motorised bike racing. The
five kilometre circuit is perched on the side of a hill overlooking Bass Strait,
and is renowned for the strong winds that sweep across it. The weather gods
were kind, with a steady breeze blowing down the main straight, and no sign
of rain.
Many riders made the trek from Melbourne for a chance to test their legs, and
the race was also well supported by the local Leongatha, Latrobe, Warragul and
Bairnsdale clubs, with 150 riders in total for the afternoon. Although the circuit
features the famous climb up to Lukey Heights, which steepens approaching the
summit, with the wind from the north, it was the twisting section around the
Southern Loop and Bass Strait through to Honda Corner and Siberia that would
prove most difficult, exposing riders to strong cross winds.
Shortly after the A Grade bunch set off from under the TAC - Share the Road
inflatable kite for their eighteen laps, veteran strongman David Sturt (Pro-Motion/Giant
Bicycles), who revels in tough conditions, jumped away, joined by O'Mara Cycles
team mates Justin Davis and Scott Brown. Davis couldn't stay with the pace long
but Brown hung tough with the rampaging Sturt. It took the best part of five
laps for the bunch to almost get on terms with the two leaders - before eight
riders including Tommy Nankervis and Brendan Rowbotham (Fitzroy Cycles) and
Junior World Pursuit Champion Michael Ford jumped across the gap before the
bunch could reform.
Sturt clearly wasn't happy with the mix, however, and attacked again with another
of the O'Mara riders in Mark Howard. Once again, the pair powered away, opening
a maximum advantage of 45 seconds with eight laps to race, before the chase
finally began to close the gap. Sturt's long day out finally came to an end
six laps from home, but after a short rest he made one last effort with Davis.
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Nankervis and Nathan Wise (Richmond Cyclery) slipped the chase group on the
climb to join the leaders, but their dangerous move prompted a quick reaction
and the bunch regrouped for the final time. The winning break was launched at
two to go, with Nankervis following a move from Pat Shaw (VIS) and Darren Lapthorne
(Lloyd Morgan), to form a trio that had plenty of allies in the bunch to disrupt
any chase.
The leaders finished well clear, with Nankervis taking the front position for
the downhill and tailwind sprint. Clearly, he thought Shaw was the one to watch,
looking over his left shoulder for the youngster to make his move - and was
nearly caught out when Lapthorne kicked hard on his right. Monstering a big
gear, Nankervis just got back on terms with his unexpected rival, and the two
hit the line shoulder to shoulder, but Nankervis forced his wheel over the line
just in front to take the win.
Vaughan Bowman (Le Tour Cycles) attacked the bunch on the final corner to pinch
fourth place, while Ford kept the bunch on his hip for the length of the straight
to lead the main field home.
The huge B Grade bunch saw a number of early aggressors, with Matt Jensen (Kathy
Watt's Personal Training) and Tim Campbell prominent. There were plenty of willing
chasers, however, and the early moves were generally quickly neutralised.
With another big turn out, the Anaconda squad were keen to do well after coming
away virtually empty handed a fortnight earlier at the Holden Proving Grounds.
Anthony Smith tried his hand at half distance, marked by Richard Cormick, representing
the next biggest team; Burnley Finance/Aqua-Pure.
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At seven to go, Smith had ridden Cormick off his wheel, but had Josh Morrison
in pursuit for the Burnley boys. Chasing Morrison was Ken Ford (Gran Prix) and
Peter Howard, but once Morrison had reached Smith the two leaders quickly pulled
away. Approaching the final two laps, Morrison went solo, and with an impressive
effort kept the bunch at bay for a good win.
Big Richard Read salvaged things for Anaconda with a powerful sprint to lead
the bunch home ahead of team mate Cameron Hunter and Ewin Williams. Read's effort
came after he was caught up in the only fall of the day just before the start
of the final two laps, but after his free lap out he was able to make his way
through the bunch with surprising ease.
Chris Beales (Cycle Science) looked to have slipped under the Handicapper's
guard after he raced away from the C Grade bunch with Warragul club mate Luke
Hanley and Nigel Kimbar (O'Mara) on the opening lap. Beales quickly decided
he was faster on his own, and with little apparent effort rode further and further
away from the bunch.
Ten laps later, and staring down the barrel of a promotion straight to A Grade,
Beales finally ran out of steam and was quickly reeled in. Despite a number
of surges, the bunch stayed intact to the finish, with the sprint well taken
out by Warragul youngster James Henry, from Geoff Pyman and Adam Pyke.
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Monique Hanley showed the benefits of regular Thursday night winter endurance
track racing at Melbourne's new indoor velodrome with a good sprint to take
the Women's division, ahead of Tarna Schmidt and Michelle Murrell.
The D Grade race over 12 laps proved a race of attrition; with riders losing
contact on the Lukey Heights climb every lap. Only four riders survived in the
lead group to hear the bell; and Evan Rotton proved too strong for the visiting
veteran trio of Stephan Jansen, Robert de Bernardi and Philip Hanley. Luke Petrie
took out the E Grade event from Gayle Burke.
Blackburns juniors dominated the junior omnium, taking out the first three places.
Dale Reith came away with wins in both the 1 Lap Time Trial and the 10km Handicap,
after wearing down Peter Vlahos in a long sprint to the line. Aaron Eynaud kept
Reith from a clean sweep with a great sprint to hold off his older rival in
the Scratch race, but there was no denying Reith the overall win on the day.
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Race day officials Gemma Goyne and Leigh De Luca helped Chief Judge Doug Moody on the finish line and also kept track of the lap count - no mean feat with six bunches splintering on the testing circuit! Dennis Bowen-Day, Ron Kent, Phil Johns and Ryan Kelly had the best seats in the house as lead car drivers, with entry table duties shouldered by Tammy and Katie Sawford. Thanks also to Luke James and Scott Orchard for erecting the TAC finish line kite and helping sign the long queue of riders and spectators into the circuit; and finally to Chris White, Tim Greeks and Karina Kennedy at PI Operations for their assistance in making the fantastic event possible.
Next week's racing for the Southern Region is a Crit at the Metec Driving training
circuit next Sunday morning hosted by Blackburn, before a return to the open
road for Chelsea's popular Crib Point circuit on the 16th. CCCC's next event
is the annual Jack McGowan Handicap over the flat Modella course on July 30.
All holders of 2005 Cycling Australia licenses are welcome (don't forget to
bring your license or receipt!) and non-members can have a go by taking out
a day license for $20. For further details, including the full regional race
calendar, go to www.carnegiecycling.com.au.
Photography
For a thumbnail gallery of these images, click here
Images by Mal Sawford
- And they’re off in the inaugural Phillip Island Cycling Grand Prix
- Mark Howard and David Sturt power away in the early A Grade break
- Eighteen times up the climb to Lukey Heights sure seems to hurt
- Pat Shaw leads Darren Lapthorne and eventual winner Tommy Nankervis in the closing stages
- Nathan Wise rode an attacking but unsuccessful race
- Matt Jensen was aggressive early in B Grade but couldn’t shake off the bunch
- Josh Morrison and Andrew Smith opened a handy gap
- Any sign of the leaders slowing?
- Smith was swept up by the chase
- While Morrison rode to an impressive solo victory
- Local Warragul riders well represented in C Grade
- D Grade lost riders each time up the climb
- How many are left this time?
- Dale Reith took out the junior time trial and handicap on his way to the overall win
- Action from the junior scratch race
Results
A Grade - 90km 1 Tommy Nankervis (Carnegie Caulfield) 2 Darren Lapthorne (Coburg) 3 Patrick Shaw (Ballarat/Sebastapol) 4 Vaughan Bowman (Blackburn) 5 Michael Ford (Carnegie Caulfield) 6 Nathan Wise (Carnegie Caulfield) B Grade - 80km 1 Josh Morrison (Carnegie Caulfield) 2 Richard Read (Blackburn) 3 Cameron Hunter (Blackburn) 4 Ewin Williams (Brunswick) 5 Ken Ford (Carnegie Caulfield) C Grade - 70km 1 James Henry (Warragul) 2 Geoff Pyman (Hawthorn) 3 Adam Pyke (Mornington) 4 Nigel Kimbar (Carnegie Caulfield) 5 Michael Burke (Preston) Women 1 Monique Hanley (Warragul) 2 Tarna Schmidt (Carnegie Caulfield) 3 Michelle Murrell (Mornington) D Grade - 60km 1 Evan Rotton (Carnegie Caulfield) 2 Stephan Jansen (Leongatha) 3 Robert de Bernardi (Preston) 4 Philip Hanley (Leongatha) E Grade - 50km 1 Luke Petrie (Blackburn) 2 Gayle Burke (Preston) Junior Omnium 1 Dale Reith (Blackburn) 2 Aaron Eynaud (Blackburn) 3 Peter Vlahos (Blackburn) 4 Rowan Feely (Leongatha)
