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Results and Reports from Australia
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Mt Baw Baw Classic
Victoria, April 1, 2006
From Warragul to Whiteout
3rd place in A grade
Photo ©: Carl Brewer
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A grade winner
Photo ©: Carl Brewer
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Bradley Clark
Photo ©: Carl Brewer
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Charging home
Photo ©: Carl Brewer
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Dirt Rider Adrian Jackson
Photo ©: Carl Brewer
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Its just too damn steep
Photo ©: Carl Brewer
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Ken Ford leads Ian Blackie
Photo ©: Carl Brewer
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Lisa Friend
Photo ©: Carl Brewer
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Pete Mullens
Photo ©: Carl Brewer
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Ryan Worn (Bendigo) and Tom McDonough
(Coburg)
Photo ©: Carl Brewer
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Time to get back on
Photo ©: Carl Brewer
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Warragul rider
Photo ©: Carl Brewer
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Womens winner Helen Kelly
Photo ©: Carl Brewer
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Andrew Gannon
Photo ©: Laurie Noonan
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Powering up the final sections
Photo ©: Laurie Noonan
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Waiting patiently
Photo ©: Laurie Noonan
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Warragul marshall
Photo ©: Laurie Noonan
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Judges at the finish line
Photo ©: Laurie Noonan
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Julian Dutton (Bike Now)
Photo ©: Laurie Noonan
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Peter Barnett
Photo ©: Laurie Noonan
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Peter O'Callaghan
Photo ©: Laurie Noonan
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Peter O'Callaghan
Photo ©: Laurie Noonan
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A three-inch snow dump, rain, sleet and sub-zero temperatures greeted riders
for the 6th annual Mt Baw Baw Classic on Saturday, aptly marking the start of
the Victorian winter road racing season. It was hard to imagine conditions ahead
from the Warragul race start where the weather was mild with an occasional shower,
so when Race Director Chris Beales announced to riders to prepare for extreme
cold and snow many thought it was a cruel April Fools Day joke. Overnight, the
Mt Baw Baw tourist road had received three inches of snow which required clearing
by Mt Baw Baw Resort staff before racing commenced. Combined with Antarctic
south westerly winds, heavy patches of rain and snow flurries, the race became
a question of survival for the 126 starters.
There were many extraordinary efforts during the race, including Masters 2/3
category winner, Tom Crebbin, who defied the odds to make a back-to back win.
Undoubtedly the most notable effort in any racing category was found in the
Masters 4 and above section where Ken Ford continued his amazing streak by claiming
the win in another sprint finish to Ian Blackie. Ford has now won every Masters
prize since the race inception in 2001. Canberra's Michael Tolhurst was the
standout rider in A grade who after bridging to a mid-race breakaway, climbed
clear from St Kilda's Ashley Hayat to surge up the final 6km. Tolhurst was part
of the inaugural Mt Baw Baw Classic in 2001, finishing 11th overall and since
then has made the interstate journey three times to improve his results. Until
this year his best placing was back in 2003 with 4th place.
A grade
The A grade bunch were the first to roll out from Warragul's Wets Gippsland
Arts Centre, and even encountered a chance sun period through Glen Cromie before
the temperature plummeted and the rain returned. After the Vespers Hill KOM
climb, led by Nick Walker of Brunswick, Tolhurst made the decision to get across
to the break. 'It was all or nothing,' he described after the race, 'we had
a group of three working together and just before the Toll Gate (the start of
the final 6km ascent averaging 12%) I made my move.' With race radio giving
feedback on his time gap to the chase bunch, Tolhurst described the feeling
as 'horrible', as the bunch closed in from 2min 30 at the toll gate to just
20 seconds by the finish. The conditions deteriorated further with sleet and
snow flurries greeting all riders at the mountain top, but Tolhurst dug deep
to hold off the late charge led by Hawthorn's Daniel Braunsteins. The Classic
had been a race Tolhurst always wanted to win, but given the conditions he was
understandably uncertain on coming back to defend his title in 2007. Spaced
apart by 20 second intervals behind Braunsteins were Josh Wilson (Launceston)
and William Ford (VIS).
Women
The women's race start was combined with the Masters group, enabling the pack
to largely remain together until the Vespers Hill climb. From here, Latrobe
Valley local Peta Mullens (Carnegie Caulfield) took hold of the women's race,
continuing solo until the Toll Gate and establishing a considerable lead. But
tragedy struck as her legs came unstuck on the steep ascent. Forced to walk
the steepest sections, she could only watch on as Carnegie Caulfield club-mates
Helen Kelly and 16 year old Lisa Friend pinned back her lead and passed her
in the final sections. The win was an excellent result for Kelly who is in her
final preparations for another racing season in Europe. Mullens was able to
cross the line in third position ahead of Bairnsdale and Riviera's Simone Spykers.
B grade
An attack by Bradley Clark (Albury-Wodonga) and Adrian Jackson (Dirt Riders)
at Rokeby, only 10km from the start, at first wasn't given much respect by the
B grade peloton. But as the race progressed and conditions deteriorated, the
Clark-Jackson alliance proved unstoppable. Behind them, the chase was impeded
by a six-rider fall on the descent outside of Jindivick which hospitalised two
riders, but ahead of the bunch only Jarrod Harman from Mersey Valley Devonport
was able to bridge across to the two escapees. His presence was short-lived,
as Clark and Jackson continued on their way with Clark claiming the KOM prize
on Vespers Hill and going on to take out overall honours. Jackson finished second,
mountain biker Daryl Burns third and Brunswick rider Jordan Sutherland fourth.
C grade
The C grade bunch stayed together until a five-man break formed after Vespers
Hill, whose prize was claimed by Leongatha's Brett Franklin. Franklin, along
with good mate Mark Ferguson (Carnegie Caulfield) pushed ahead on the final
climb, with Ferguson taking the win. 'It was just a case of riding at your own
pace in these conditions', noted Ferguson afterwards, 'but I really thought
that Brett was going to take it out'. Sutherland Shire rider Dion Blair finished
third and Brunswick rider Paul Munro fourth.
Masters 2/3
The Masters 2/3 field allowed an early breakaway by Coburg's Tom McDonough
to work solo for the first 50km. His effort was rewarded by the sprint and KOM
prizes, but he was reeled in shortly after Vespers Hill by a small bunch. Within
this pack sat 2005 winner Tom Crebbin (Hawthorn), who saved his best for the
final charge to repeat his effort and claim back-to-back honours. The pace in
the Masters field was high as they caught the C grade bunch ahead of them. Aaron
Field (Blackburn) was second in the Masters 2/3, followed by Paul Logan (Coburg)
and Matt Colston (St Kilda).
Masters 4 and above
The Masters race once again proved to be a classic race with an early three
man breakaway led by race favourites Ray Jarratt (Cobram Barooga), Ian Blackie
(Ararat) and Ken Ford (Carnegie Caulfield). By the start of the toll gate the
pace had proved too taxing for Jarrat, but it was Blackie who led the charge
up the final 6km with Ford hanging on for dear life. It seemed that after finished
second to Ford the past two years that 2006 would be the year for Blackie. With
the crowd cheering on, the pair rounded the bend into the carpark side by side,
sprinting for the finish. With both riders throwing everything for the line,
it was Ford who managed to steal the fairytale from Blackie, crossing a heartbreaking
½ wheel in front of the Ararat rider. Completing his own fairytale, Ford
has now claimed every Masters prize for Mt Baw Baw - a staggering six year winning
streak - and the worthy namesake of the Ken Ford Perpetual Masters Trophy.
Photography
Results
A Grade
1 Michael Tolhurst (Canberra Cycling Club) 3.16.50
2 Daniel Braunsteins (Hawthorn Citizens Youth Club) 0.20
3 Joshua Wilson (Launceston City CC) 0.40
4 William Ford (VIS) 1.02
5 Casey Munro (Brunswick Cycling Club Inc) 2.15
6 Murray Spink (Dirt Riders) 2.25
7 Jacob Sutherland (Fitzroy Cycles) 4.35
8 Stephen Isbel (Canberra Cycling Club) 5.46
9 Christopher Fry (De Grandi Cycle & Sport / Enervit) 8.03
10 Ashley Hayat (The Freedom Machine) 9.13
11 Christian McDonald (Cobram Barooga C C) 10.18
12 Charles Howlett (Latrobe City Cycling Club) 13.19
13 Ricky Peoples (Inexa Sport) 14.17
14 Stuart Grimsey (Rapido Cycles) 16.30
15 Andrew Ward (Coburg Cycling Club Inc) 17.46
16 Josh Akarsu (Warragul Cycling Club Inc) 25.49
17 Nicholas Walker (VIS)
18 James Devonshire (Canberra Cycling Club) 42.26
19 Julian Dutton (bikeNOW) 45.44
20 Raymond Forbes (Carnegie Caulfield CC) 52.24
B Grade
1 Bradley Clark (Bicycle Superstore) 3.26.52
2 Adrian Jackson (Dirt Riders) 5.07
3 Daryl Burns (MTBA) 5.40
4 Jordan Sutherland (Brunswick Cycling Club Inc) 5.50
5 Michael Forbes (St Kilda Cycling Club Inc) 9.54
6 Marc Loecherer (Italo Australian C C) 11.46
7 Wayne Evans (Le Tour Cycles) 12.31
8 Jarrod Harman (Mersey Valley Devonport CC) 13.33
9 Luke Hanley (QuickCycle Coaching) 14.34
10 Dylan Hately (Bicycle Superstore) 15.27
11 Brendan Washington (Lavington Panthers) 23.19
12 Shaun Gatter (Salter Cycles) 24.11
13 Richard Reynolds (Great Doherty) 26.07
14 Ryan Mannix (Coburg Cycling Club Inc) 31.15
15 Danny Cohen (The Freedom Machine) 31.46
16 Glen Peterson (St Kilda Cycling Club Inc) 38.49
17 Brett Loney (Broadford Seymour Cycling Club) 45.35
18 Matthew Wood (Kangaroo Point C C) 46.23
19 Ben Ledwidge (Carnegie Caulfield CC) 51.46
20 James Henry (Warragul Cycling Club Inc) 58.00
21 Errol Schmidt (Mildura-Coomealla C.C.) 1.18.39
C Grade
1 Mark Ferguson (Carnegie Caulfield CC ) 3.47.43
2 Brett Franklin (Leongatha Cycling Club Inc) 1.05
3 Dion Blair (Sutherland Shire CC) 3.03
4 Paul Munro (Brunswick Cycling Club Inc) 4.40
5 Ryan Worn (Castlemaine Cycles) 9.22
6 Adrian Fry (Geelong Cycle Club) 14.42
7 John Kohlar (Carnegie Caulfield CC) 16.14
8 John Anderson (Hamilton Cycling Club Inc) 24.06
9 Thomas Langstaff (Latrobe City Cycling Club) 25.55
10 David Ogilvie (Ballarat/Sebastopol C C) 27.05
11 Kregan Connarty (Ararat&District Cycling Club) 27.22
12 Andrew Burke (O'Mara Cycles) 33.30
13 John Finley (Carnegie Caulfield CC) 39.26
14 Nicholas Robinson (O'Mara Cycles) 42.13
Masters 2 & 3
1 Tom Crebbin (Hawthorn Citizens Youth Club) 3.39.02
2 Aaron Field (Croydon Cycleworks) 0.40
3 Paul Logan (Coburg Cycling Club Inc) 1.57
4 Matt Colston (St Kilda Cycling Club Inc) 12.11
5 Michael Villani (Anaconda) 13.01
6 Tom McDonough (Coburg Cycling Club Inc) 15.43
7 Michael Hay (Pitcher Partners) 15.53
8 Andrew Nicholls (Croydon Cycleworks) 17.15
9 Roy Clark (Croydon Cycleworks) 21.16
10 Simon Nettleton (Hamilton Cycling Club Inc) 21.57
11 Andrew Gannon (Brunswick Cycling Club Inc) 25.10
12 Michael Hartman (Preston Cycling Club Inc) 25.39
13 Peter O'Callaghan (Croydon Cycleworks) 27.42
14 Bruce Tallon (St Kilda Cycling Club Inc) 29.10
15 Tony McGann (Colac Cycling Club Inc) 32.47
16 David Shanahan (Latrobe City Cycling Club) 33.33
17 Allen Timmer-Arends (Latrobe City Cycling Club) 39.18
18 David Gafa (Latrobe City Cycling Club) 43.08
19 Wayne Hately (Camperdown Cycling Club Inc) 46.13
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21 Terence Walsh (Brunswick Cycling Club Inc) 49.11
Masters 4/5/6/7
1 Ken Ford (Carnegie Caulfield CC) 3.43.24
2 Ian Blackie (Ararat&District Cycling Club)
3 Raymond Jarratt (Cobram Barooga C C) 2.05
4 James Timmer-Arends (Latrobe City Cycling Club) 12.30
5 Geoff Thomson (Warragul Cycling Club Inc) 19.19
6 Peter Barnett (Broadford Seymour Cycling Club) 23.12
7 Les Tokolyi (St Kilda Cycling Club Inc) 27.15
8 Robert Kelly (Rapido Cycles) 35.11
9 Mark Oakley-Browne (Warragul Cycling Club Inc) 35.52
Chris Dungey (Bairnsdale & Riviera C C)
dnf Roland Elsdon (Latrobe City Cycling Club)
Women
1 Helen Kelly (VIS) 4.03.50
2 Lisa Friend (Giramondo Sportswear) 7.13
3 Peta Mullens (VIS) 14.45
4 Simone Spykers (Bairnsdale & Riviera C C) 16.06
Local results 2006
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