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Queensland Road Race Championship
Hill Wins Queensland Road Race Championship
By John Michael Flynn in Toowoomba, Australia
The width of a tyre, a blade of grass, a tally-ho paper….
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Whatever the unit measure, the final margin and one-two placings in the elite men's division at the Queensland Road Race Championships will surely be the subject of vigorous debate for at least the next twelve months in Australia's Sunshine State. Frothy Lattés will be sipped and raisin toast chewed as the result is discussed at early morning café post-mortems, yet nothing will change the honour roll of Queensland Cycling, which will feature the name Brendan Hill (Lifecycle Club) as the 2006 State Road Race Champion.
At the end of 156 kilometres and six laps of the undulating (yet deceptively challenging) course on Queensland's Darling Downs, 30 year old Hill and 37 year old veteran Stuart Cowin emerged to contest the sprint for gold. As convincing as his lunge for the line may have appeared to the crowd in the thrilling downhill finish, Cowin couldn't sway the judges, who awarded the race to Hill just as convincingly, without hesitation.
"Disappointed with the finish obviously," Cowin told Cyclingnews when the verdict was handed down. "Everybody in the crowd thought I got it, I thought I got it, and obviously I didn't." Lamenting the lack of a finish-line video replay he added, "Perhaps a video would have fixed all that up."
Certainly, the Cyclingnews photograph of the race finish did nothing to harm Cowin's claim for the title. But in the end, without a definitive side-on view of the final lunge, it was left to the judges to make the ultimate call, on a day when you'd turn down any pay packet to become a cycling official. "I don't know, the judges have given it to me," was Brendan Hill's assessment of the result. "There was a tyre width in it if that."
How it Unfolded
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Controversial the final outcome may have been, but there was no questioning Brendan Hill's right to be in the contest at the death, after emerging as one of the major players in the fight for the Queensland Road Race Championship.
Contested in dry, windy conditions, the race through the normally lush downs country near Toowoomba took on more of an Australian outback feel, thanks to a persistent drought which has gripped much of the Island continent for years on end.
Waiting patiently in the pack of fifty riders during the first half of the race, Hill made his move with three and a half laps to go in the six lap, 156 kilometre event and for a time, it appeared the solo breakaway might just succeed.
"The first couple of laps (alone) I wasn't even looking behind," Hill said. "With a lap to go, I kind of was feeling quite strong, hit the headwind and it knocked the wind out of my legs a little bit."
Smelling a fresh roadkill, Stuart Cowin and David Betts managed to bridge across from the main bunch. Betts, the leader of the local SEQ Tour series, involved in his second move for the race after being part of an early breakaway. "I used a lot of petrol in the first three laps when we were away," Betts said after missing the final kick to finish in third. "It was a big effort for Stuey (Cowin) and I to reel in Hilly, he rode really well. Stuey was the strongest at the end."
Hill's sprint victory capped off a logical progression at the Queensland Road Championships; third in 2004, second in 2005 and first in 2006.
Hibberd Uninhibited in Women's Event
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The size of the field (9 riders) may have been disappointing for organizers, but there was no dampening the enthusiasm of Brisbane's Carly Hibberd (Balmoral - HIT Racing), who broke through on the day to win the Elite Women's event at the Queensland Road Race Championships.
Racing alongside in-form Balmoral clubmate Kate Mercer (recently returned from AIS duties in Europe), Hibberd produced a gutsy ride to remain in contention against a strong contingent of cyclists from the University of Queensland Q.A.S. talent search program.
Although Hibberd disagreed with the decision by commissaires to reduce the race length from four laps (104 kilometres) to three laps (78 kilometres), the emerging Queensland talent had no problem with the ultimate result - victory in a sprint finish. "I'm pretty happy with the result," an elated Hibberd said at race end. "I broke my collarbone about two or three months ago, I missed State's last year, and the year before that I got second."
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Hibberd admitted to being surprised at the pace of the race in the first lap, but held on through the pinch climbs on the second and third laps to stay in contention. Planning the downhill, crosswind sprint with her coach pre-race turned out to be a good move for the Balmoral Club cyclist, who waited patiently until the final 200 metres to pounce. Clubmate Mercer held on to claim second. Her race not exactly going to plan. "It was hard, it was really really windy out the back," Mercer said of the on-course conditions. "I got a flat tyre in the second lap and had to chase back on. Stuffed up the sprint a little bit, it was always going to be hard with eight girls.
Club Road Nationals Next
Mercer and Hibberd will both target the up-coming Australian Club Road Cycling Championships on the Sunshine Coast in two weekend's time as their next major objective. The pair will compete in a Women's Grand Prix event, which will be staged alongside a new elite team's championship for men.
David Betts, who placed third in the Queensland Elite Men's Road Race, will take a confident attitude into the event. "I'd like to give it a nudge," said a determined Betts. "I haven't lost on the Sunshine Coast yet, so hopefully we can do the same thing to the boys down south as when they came up at the start of the year."
Photography
For a thumbnail gallery of these images, click here
Images by John Flynn/Cyclingnews.com
- Carly Hibberd and Kate Mercer in Toowoomba - spiritual home of the Southern Cross Windmill
- Tongues wagging as the Elite Women hit the climb
- The QAS women keeping the pace high
- Matthew Wood Riding through the Downs country
- Carly Hibberd wins the sprint with ease
- All smiles Queensland Champion Carly Hibberd with her coach
- Brendan Hill Makes a bold solo move
- Stuart Cowin Chasing down the break
- Brendan Hill Foreground - about to be caught by Betts and Cowin
- Brendan Hill Riding in the Wilson HTM Colours
- Stuart Cowin and David Betts on the chase
- Close one! You be the judge .. Cowin or Hill?
- Stuart Cowin Perplexed
Results
Elite Men 1 Brendan Hill (Lifecycle) 2 Stuart Cowin (Ffast) 3 David Betts (Lifecycle) Elite Women 1 Carly Hibberd (Balmoral) 2 Kate Mercer (Balmoral) 3 Louise Kerr ( Queensland University) Masters 2 1 Dean Heathcote (C.A.T.S.) 2 Paul Butler (Hamilton Pine Rivers) 3 Andrew Morgan (Ffast) Masters 3 1 William Ayres (Hamilton Pine Rivers) 2 Kenneth French (Hamilton Pine Rivers) 3 Alan Robinson (Lifecycle) Masters 4 1 Craig Taylor (Ipswich) 2 Brett Youdan (Balmoral) 3 Greg Sands (Goldstars) Masters 5 1 Michael Rawlin (Hamilton Pine Rivers) 2 Frans De Beurs (Wynnum Redlands) 3 Richard Watson (Toowoomba) Masters 6. 1 Byron Humphries (Victor Cycle Club) 2 Roy Jelley (Victor Broncos) 3 Bryan Ferris (Hamilton Pine Rivers) Masters 7 1 Mick Patton (Sunshine Coast) 2 Chass Matters (Victor Broncos) 3 Peter White (Lifecycle) Masters 8 1 Anthony Bolter (Hamilton Pine Rivers) 2 Allan Van (Victor Broncos) 3 Larry Greenhalgh (Sunshine Coast) Masters Women 1 Helen Griffiths (C.A.T.S.) 2 Linda White (Ffast) 3 Melissa Anderson (Hamilton Pine Rivers)
