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Carnegie Caulfield Cycling Club
Glenvale Crescent Criteriums, Sunday October 29, 2006
By Malcolm Sawford
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The first day of day light savings always catches a few, so the handful of B Grade riders who had forgotten to wind their clocks forward an hour got a forced taste of the A Grade action, contributing to a bumper field of 75 in the premier race. Making his first appearance at Glenvale was reigning Australian road champion Russell Van Hout (Savings and Loans), along with South Australian Crit champ Chris Luxton (Orbea) - the pair were in town to celebrate the engagement of CCCC riders Anthony Smith and Cath Allen.
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With such a big field and a still day, the high speed circuit was crying out for a gutter to gutter field sprint, but there were also plenty of riders desperate to break things up a bit. Michael Ford (South Australia.com/AIS) jumped up the road early on, and other early aggressors included Matt Shea and Leigh Howard (both Inexa Race Frames/Naughty Boy), Van Hout and Brendan Rowbotham (SHM).
The bunch was never more than a few seconds behind any of the attacks until the final ten minutes, when twenty riders ripped clear; within two laps the group was out of sight and looked like stealing the race. With the previous week's winner Peter Johnstone (Inexa), David Sturt (Giant/Pro-Motion), Smith, Cam Carlyle, Danny Kah and Vaughan Bowman (Le Tour Cycles) driving the split, the bunch was in serious danger, but thanks to some huge turns from Justin Davis (O'Mara Cycles), Rowbotham and Van Hout (before an untimely puncture), the bunch reformed on the final lap.
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Sixteen-year-old Johnstone, this week named to the Australian team to contest the Youth Olympics, still managed to out-kick the fresher sprinters to take his second win on the trot, just ahead of Smith, Malaysian sprinter Mohd Ruslan and Howard. Mountain biker Jenni King (Spoke'n) handled the step-up to A Grade with ease, and finished comfortably in the bunch.
Bob Kelly is clearly a marked man in B Grade: his three attacks were all quickly chased down. The most promising break came from Cameron Wall (Prime Estate), who escaped solo after forty minutes, and was only reeled in with five minutes to go.
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With a bunch sprint looming, Dennis Toce (Le Tour) attacked on the final lap, and rounded the final corner with a handy lead. The sprinters came close, but Toce had timed his burst well, and held on to take the win ahead of Wall, Manuel Lawrence and Nick Palecek (Richmond Cyclery). Nicole Whitburn (Mainline Cycles) sprinted home in an impressive sixth place to take out the women's section.
Malaysian visitor Hafiz Suffian denied Fabio Angelini the C Grade win, with a convincing sprint. The large Malaysian contingent is in Melbourne to train with super coach John Beasley and clearly enjoy the racing south of the city. Brunswick junior Ren Clavey took third ahead of another international visitor, Peter Markey of the USA.
Clare Vlahopolous capped off a good sprint with a well timed throw to take a competitive women's division ahead of Rachel Rademaker (Cycle Link) and Michelle Murrell.
D Grade also came down to a bunch sprint, with Anthony Vaughan too good for Blackburn veteran Doug Reynolds, who is returning to form after a nasty accident, Daniel Andrews and Michael Mather. Another strong women's field saw the top placings go the way of two up and coming juniors, with Latrobe City's Shannon McCurley holding off Bendigo's Carly McCoombe and Bev Thomas.
Photography
For a thumbnail gallery of these images, click here
Images by Mal Sawford
- Steve Morrow powers away from B grade
- Cameron Wall speeds along on his long solo break
- IPC world champion Michael Gallagher attacks a class A Grade field
- Aussie pro champ Russell Van Hout showed his strength
- Michael Ford and Leigh Howard were among the early attackers
- Davern White shows his classic retro Ralrigh colours in the C Grade bunch
- Not the ideal ending for Van Hout's day
- Pete Johnstone leaves nothing to chance in his second successive A Grade win
- Darren Cathie helps keep things safe in D Grade
Results
A Grade 1 Pete Johnstone (Chelsea & Peninsula) 2 Anthony Smith (Carnegie Caulfield) 3 Mohd Ruslan (Malaysia) 4 Leigh Howard (Geelong) 5 Dylan Boone (Western Australia) 6 Danny Kah (Carnegie Caulfield) B Grade 1 Dennis Toce (Carnegie Caulfield) 2 Cameron Wall (St Kilda) 3 Manuel Lawrence (Blackburn) 4 Nick Palecek (Carnegie Caulfield) 5 Ben MacNee (Brunswick) Women 1 Nicole Whitburn (Warragul) 2 Nicky Matthews (Carnegie Caulfield) C Grade 1 Hafiz Sufian (Malaysia) 2 Fabio Angelini (Carnegie Caulfield) 3 Reb Clavey (Brunswick) 4 Peter Markey (USA) Women 1 Clare Vlahopolous (Carnegie Caulfield) 2 Rachel Rademaker (Blackburn) 3 Michelle Murrell (Mornington) D Grade 1 Anthony Vaughan (Carnegie Caulfield) 2 Doug Reynolds (Blackburn) 3 Daniel Andrews (Carnegie Caulfield) 4 Michael Mather (Carnegie Caulfield) Women 1 Shannon McCurley (Latrobe City) 2 Carly McCoombe (Bendigo) 3 Bev Thomas (Footscray) 4 Radelle Berriman (Carnegie Caulfield) E Grade 1 Ben Doggett (Carnegie Caulfield) 2 Will Thomas (Blackburn) 3 Rick Sanders (Carnegie Caulfield) 4 Stuart Proposch (Carnegie Caulfield)
