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Carnegie Caulfield Cycling Club
Casey Fields Criteriums, Saturday, May 5, 2007
By Mal Sawford
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Fittingly, the first of Carnegie's winter races saw heavy rain falling thirty minutes before racing at Casey Fields, Melbourne's dedicated 'off road' road cycling venue, was due to kick off. The rain cleared before racing started however, and the circuit was largely dry once racing was underway.
The wet weather kept numbers down and saw the A and B Grade fields combined. Paul Groves (Croydon Cycleworks) threw caution to the wind with an attack in the opening lap which saw him race away to a thirty second lead. Groves' escape lasted twenty minutes, but after a short spell in the bunch he was off again.
His second attack was short lived, but set up a counter from team mate Stefan Kirsch. Monstering a huge gear, and cheered on by his young daughter, Kirsch went well clear and looked to be heading to the win before fading a little and being picked up by a chase group containing Bruce Will, Andrew Rolland, Scott Berry (Terry Hammond Cycles), Russell Nelson and Russell Johnston with two laps of the 2.2km circuit to travel.
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Rolland attacked in the back straight, but couldn't break free, and turning onto the short home straight it was Russell Johnston who showed the quickest sprint, taking the win ahead of Nelson and Will.
The C Grade race saw the day's smallest field tackle the blustery conditions at a steady tempo until the closing stages when Ike Collings launched a number of attacks. He couldn't shake off the sprinters however, and a patient Peter Ballas powered to the win ahead of Ashley Duncan and Andy Cameron.
One of Blackburn's up and coming juniors, Brent Nelson, raced away from the D Grade field at three laps to go and was never headed. A tight sprint for the minor places saw Rebecca Domange (Kennedy's Pink Inc) lead out but fade in the final metres, allowing Nick Kleiss and Shae Thomas to step onto the podium.
Next weekend, CCCC heads to the amazing Phillip Island Grand Prix circuit. Club racing on arguably the best racing circuit in Victoria kicks off at 2pm, and follow the Degani Café Bakery Team's Classic which starts at 11am. Entry is off Back Beach Road, with the venue open from 9.30am.
Photography
For a thumbnail gallery of these images, click here
Images by Mal Sawford
- Paul Groves comes back to the pack
- C Grade winner Peter Ballas bides his time in 3rd wheel
- Rebecca Domange and George Pezaros lead the D Grade group
- James Cummings and David Koroknai learn the ropes in E Grade
Results
A & B Grade (1 hour + 3 laps) 1 Russell Johnston (Chelsea & Peninsula) 2 Russell Nelson (Blackburn) 3 Bruce Will (Carnegie Caulfield) 4 Andrew Rolland (Blackburn) 5 Stefan Kirsch (Blackburn) C Grade (55 minutes + 3 laps) 1 Peter Ballas (Carnegie Caulfield) 2 Ashley Duncan (Carnegie Caulfield) 3 Andy Cameron (Carnegie Caulfield) 4 Gary Doggett (Carnegie Caulfield) D Grade (45 minutes + 3 laps) 1 Brent Nelson (Blackburn) 2 Nick Kleiss (Carnegie Caulfield) 3 Shae Thomas (Carnegie Caulfield) 4 Alex Rigo (Carnegie Caulfield) Women 1 Shae Thomas (Carnegie Caulfield) 2 Rebecca Domange (Carnegie Caulfield) E Grade (45 minutes + 3 laps) 1 Barry Thomas (Carnegie Caulfield) 2 James Cummings (Carnegie Caulfield) 3 David Koroknai (Carnegie Caulfield) Women 1 Miranda Koroknai (Carnegie Caulfield)
