Recently on Cyclingnews.com |
 Mont Ventoux Photo ©: Sirotti |
Results and Reports from Australia
Promoters wishing to submit results should send them to Cyclingnews
Norwood CC Weekend Series #17
Gumeracha, South Australia, March 7, 2004
The point series is really hotting up as we come down to the last three weekend races culminating in the very rich Whitmore Square Criteriums on the 28th March 04 in Adelaide. Any rider from the top 20 can still take out the season series, so expect to see some competitive racing in the coming weeks.
Once again a road race was scheduled for a weekend in the summer month of March and the riders responded well to the change with almost 100 riders fronting on the day.
In E grade Gino Delfino wanted to take advantage of the hills and the riders that had sat on him in the sprints for the criteriums by attacking hard after the first lap on the hills. With a big smile on his face he rode past the finish to get one lap to go and was away. Chasing hard was new rider Andrew Roe and Michael Davis who combined to chase but could not catch Delfino. Delfino easily took the win with Davis sprinting hard for second in front of Roe.
A few new dark horses had their first races in D grade today after wanting to start lower and ended up taking the win and third place. Simon Pearson and Beattie Dickson rode well to outwit their more experienced opponents and showed they had strength in the dash to the line. Splitting the two was Giac Cirillo who is also showing his ability at the end of the bike race.
Scott Maney took the win in C grade by attacking over the last hill to hold the bunch of fast finishing riders off by just one bike length. Riverland rider Casey Danvers won the group sprint in front of ex New Zealand A grader Michael Lampp.
The large group of B grade riders rode a very controlled race with Brad Simpson doing a lot of work on and off the front. Heading into the finishing straight it was all Steve Sabines race until Daryl Margate thought otherwise and started to sprint. Margate came up alongside Sabine and Sabine looked in shock to see his younger opponent by his side and tried to kick again but his legs would not respond. There was nothing he could do as Margate cruised pass to take him a metre before the line. New sensation Damon Stefani from the Coomealla Club in Mildura took third place and has booked himself a ride in A grade.
The Rio Coffee/ Main North Nissan team of riders today proved just how strong and dominant they are is South Australian cycling. After two laps of their 75km race Kristen Lewis and Adrian Laidler went on the attack with Alan Gill. Peter Mueller was between them and the main bunch which now blew to pieces over the climbs. Now seven riders still tried to chase for the rest of the race but Laidler, Lewis and Gill rode away. Lewis and Laidler tried the old one two on Gill and certainly wore him down for the finish as he was not able to respond to Lewis who launched to the line followed by Laidler and Gill. Mueller led the rest of the riders over the line followed by James Russell and another Rio rider in Luke Bettany.
Results
A Grade, 75 km 1 Kristen Lewis (Rio Coffee/Main North Nissan) 2 Adrian Laidler (Rio Coffee/Main North Nissan) 3 Alan Gill (Polar Heart Rate Monitors) 4 Peter Mueller (Rio Coffee/Main North Nissan) 5 James Russell (Herb Valley/Art Ceramics) B Grade, 75 km 1 Daryl Margate (Bianco Cycling Team) 2 Stephen Sabine (JT Cycles Salisbury) 3 Damon Stefani 4 Brad Simpson (Bicycle Express) 5 Damien Hall (Bicycle Express) C Grade, 57 km 1 Scott Maney 2 Casey Danvers (Bianco Cycling Team) 3 Michael Lampp 4 Daniel Smith (Bicycle Express) 5 Bryce Alexander D Grade, 57 km 1 Simon Pearson 2 Giac Cirillo 3 Beattie Dickson 4 Greg Stanyer 5 Matt Sanders E Grade, 40 km 1 Gino Delfino 2 Michael Davis 3 Andrew Roe 4 Bradley Crawford 5 Rebecca Ormsby
