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Carnegie Caulfield Cycling Club
Glenvale Crescent Criteriums - Sunday, February 18, 2007
By Mal Sawford
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Back to hot weather in Melbourne this weekend, with the temperature already past 30 degrees at 9am, and at 37 for the closing stages of the A Grade race. With the women's pro season kicking off in Geelong in less than two weeks, there was a great turn out of international women to contest the A and B Grade races, while new Australian road champion Darren Lapthorne (Drapac Porsche Cycling Team) was also on the start line complete with his brand new green and gold team issue Giant.
For the second week in a row, the majority of the A Grade bunch had an early day, with a strong group riding away after twenty minutes, and taking only another twenty to lap most of the seventy odd starters. Eleven riders were left in contention: Lapthorne, Michael Gallagher (VIS), Nick Walker (CBD Cycles), Damien Turner, Peter Barnett (SHM Cycles), Leigh De Luca (Jamis), Andrew Stalder (Promains), Warren Knevitt (O'Mara Cycles), Murray Spink (Giant), Adrian Hanson and Peter Johnstone (Inexa Race Frames).
An attack by Lapthorne with fifteen minutes remaining saw the lead group drop to just seven, with Johnstone, Knevitt, Spink and Hanson unable to bridge the gap. Walker jumped away with five minutes remaining and opened a five second advantage, which he held for four laps, before Lapthorne shook off the rest of the chasers to join him for the final three laps.
Once Lapthorne had reached Walker, the group of five left chasing seemed resigned to racing for third place, allowing the lead pair to build a twenty second lead at the bell. Lapthorne led through the final turn and opened the sprint, while a patient Walker waited until the final fifty metres to come off his wheel and take the win. Barnett attacked the rest at the bell but couldn't shake off his shadows, allowing De Luca to mop up the minor places ahead of Stalder and Turner.
The international women kept the B Grade bunch on its toes with a constant stream of attacks, and defensive riding in support of the girls up the road. World number one Nicole Cooke (Raleigh - Lifeforce Creations) was particularly aggressive, and featured in the most promising move of the day along with Helen Kelly (Webcor), Larissa Kleinmann (Raleigh) and Darren Cathie (Datacom/Burnley Finance) with twenty minutes remaining.
Russell Newnham (Pro-Motion Bicycles), Shannon Hall (BikeNOW) and Russell Johnston reached the leaders a few laps later, but had the bunch hot on their heels, allowing the field to briefly regroup, before Newnham kicked clear again. Still clear at three to go, Newnham was joined by Emma Rickards (Raleigh) at three to go, but the pair was brought back early in the penultimate lap.
Kleinmann escaped soon after, but had no chance of holding off the lead out train that formed at the head of the bunch, with Cathie finishing the job perfectly to take the win ahead of Fabio Angelini (Bicycle Superstore), Paul Groves (Croydon Cycleworks) and Mark Whyman. Cooke missed the top three places by a bike length, but was a convincing winner of the women's division, with Nicole Whitburn (Mainline Cycles) taking second just ahead of Rickards and Tanja Slater (Raleigh).
A break of four rode away with the C Grade race midway through their fifty minutes, with Phil Bertolus, Jay Heather (Hampton Cycles), Davern White and Ike Collings combining well in the heat. Clearly the strongest, Bertolus may have done too much too soon and wasn't a factor in the sprint to the line, which saw Heather take the win just ahead of White and Collings. Clare Vlahopolous sprinted to the women's win ahead of Carly McCoombe and Melissa Kah.
A similar scenario unfolded in D Grade, with the bunch splitting into three main groups at the half way mark. Andrew Cullen (CBD Cycles), Ben Hibbs, Richard Carnibella and Mark Mennen made the front group and pulled further ahead with each lap. Mennen lost contact in the final laps but hung on to finish fourth, with the win taken by Hibbs ahead of Cullen and Carnibella. Livia Gluchowska (BSP/Cell Biology) took the women's win with a good sprint ahead of Andrea Bishop at the head of the main chase group, and Penny Charles.
A record field of twenty-one greeted Mick Hollinworth for the E Grade novice clinic, and the big bunch, mainly made up of young juniors maintained a tight paceline until the final three laps, when Peter Quibell, Sam Crosbie and Dimitri Vlahos powered away. Daniel Barrett set off in solo pursuit, and while there was no catching Quibel, the youngster came within metres of pinching second off Crosbie.
Also on the circuit earlier in the morning was a keen group of women introduced to the sport through Kennedy Cycles ‘Pink Inc' training program. The girls had their second competitive hit out under the supervision of former Australian champion Brigid Farrell and Ike Collings, with Kathryn Hennig taking the win ahead of Michelle Rowe and Bernadette Wise.
Next week sees the running of the $700 Kelly Cycle Coaching GP de Glenvale - women's only graded criteriums at 10am, which will be held after the completion of the Club's normal B, D and E Grade races. Elite women will race for forty five minutes, and the Sport girls will race for thirty minutes. The A and C Grade races will start at 11am to accommodate the women's GP, and women can opt to back up and join one of these races at no additional charge.
A great series of photos from today's races will be posted at www.Velophoto.net, courtesy of leading cycling photo journalist CJ Farquharson.
Carnegie Caulfield Criteriums continue every Tuesday evening at Sandown Raceway. Entry is via the Sandown Road entrance (Melways map 80 B6), from 6pm, with all grades racing at 6.30. Sundays are at Glenvale Crescent (Melways map 80 B2). B, D and E Grades start at 9am, while A and C Grade ride at 10am.
All holders of 2007 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. Licenses are now available at all CCCC events. All returning riders must resume in the grade they last raced in, unless prior arrangement has been made.
For first time competitors and the younger juniors, Tokyo Olympian Mick Hollingsworth conducts novice racing clinics within the E Grade race at Glenvale Crescent. For further details, go to www.carnegiecycling.com.au.
Results
A Grade (50 minutes + 3 laps, 72 starters) 1 Nick Walker (Brunswick) 2 Darren Lapthorne (Coburg) 3 Leigh De Luca (Carnegie Caulfield) 4 Andrew Stalder (Carnegie Caulfield) 5 Damien Turner (Ballarat Sebastapol) 6 Peter Barnett (Carnegie Caulfield) B Grade (1 hour + 3 laps, 59 starters) 1 Darren Cathie (Carnegie Caulfield) 2 Fabio Angelini (Carnegie Caulfield) 3 Paul Groves (Carnegie Caulfield) 4 Mark Whyman (Carnegie Caulfield) 5 Jarrod Anderson (Carnegie Caulfield) Women 1 Nicole Cooke (Wales) 2 Nicole Whitburn (Carnegie Caulfield) 3 Emma Rickards (Carnegie Caulfield) 4 Tanja Slater (Great Britain) C Grade (45 minutes + 3 laps, 36 starters) 1 Jay Heather (Carnegie Caulfield) 2 Davern White (Carnegie Caulfield) 3 Ivan Collings (Carnegie Caulfield) 4 Phil Bertolus (Carnegie Caulfield) Women 1 Clare Vlahopolous (Carnegie Caulfield) 2 Carly McCoombe (Bendigo) 3 Melissa Kah (Carnegie Caulfield) D Grade (45 minutes + 3 laps, 32 starters) 1 Ben Hibbs (Carnegie Caulfield) 2 Andrew Cullen (Blackburn) 3 Richard Carnibella (Carnegie Caulfield) 4 Mark Mennen (Carnegie Caulfield) Women 1 Livia Gluchowska (Carnegie Caulfield) 2 Andrea Bishop (Carnegie Caulfield) 3 Penny Charles (Carnegie Caulfield) E Grade (45 minutes + 3 laps, 11 starters) 1 Joshua Krause (Carnegie Caulfield) 2 Sam Crosbie (Carnegie Caulfield) 3 Dimitri Vlahos (Carnegie Caulfield) 4 Lloyd Dowling (Carnegie Caulfield) Women 1 Tania Sturt (Carnegie Caulfield) 2 Stephanie Hansen (Carnegie Caulfield) Novice women (30 minutes, 21 starters) 1 Kathryn Hennig (Carnegie Caulfield) 2 Michelle Rowe (Carnegie Caulfield) 3 Bernadette Wise (Carnegie Caulfield) 4 Gayle Ilievski (Carnegie Caulfield)
