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Carnegie Caulfield Cycling Club
Sandown Twilight Series, Tuesday January 16, 2007
By Mal Sawford
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A horrendously hot day, with the thermometer still reading 40 degrees midway through racing saw many opt out of racing at Sandown on Tuesday night. Even for those who wanted to really test their limits, a near city wide power blackout caused by bush fire damage to the Melbourne's main power lines caused traffic chaos and left others stuck in traffic jams all around town. Still, just over 100 braved the heat and strong north winds and raced in the tough conditions.
The A Grade race had the biggest start list with 42 riders, but saw a major split develop in the opening twenty minutes. Last week's winner Brendan Rowbotham (SHM Cycles) was joined by Danny Kah, Matt Chessum (Fitzroy Cycles), Pieter Braekeveldt, Matt Shea (Naught Boy Energy), Anthony Smith (Promains), Sandy Machin (BikeNOW), Nathan Wise (Richmond Cyclery), Brett Perez (Prime Estate) and Murray Sink (Giant). The gap to the bunch hovered around fifteen seconds for two laps, with Damon De Angelis (Promains) the last rider to cross the gap after team mate Andrew Stalder halved the deficit. Once De Angelis had bridged, the chase behind disintegrated and the leaders quickly disappeared from view.
With just over fifteen minutes to race, Rowbotham and Chessum showed no sign of being affected by the stifling heat, and powered away from the rest of the break. Kah followed alone two laps later, but wasn't able to reach the leading pair and had to settle for third place. Rowbotham and Chessum sprinted side by side down the straight to the finish, with Rowbotham victorious by a bike length at the line. Thirty seconds later, Spink led out in the bunch sprint, but was overhauled by Smith, De Angelis and Wise and finished out of the money.
Paul Groves (Croydon Cycleworks) opened a big lead with a solo attack in the early stages of the B Grade race. Two riders, Aaron Pitt and Peter Lynch, reached Groves at the half way mark and were combining well until Lynch punctured, but Groves and Pitt showed no signs of slowing.
In the final laps, Glen Wright and Adrian Curnow (The Freedom Machine) began to reel the leaders in, chased by Richard Cormick (Datacom/Burnley Finance), Steve Brooks (Hampton Cycles), Brett Cooper, Anthony Vaughan and Tony Banks. The group of seven joined the leading pair on the penultimate lap. Groves battled bravely in the dash to the line, but finally ran out of steam metres from glory, with Cooper sneaking past to relegate him to second. Pitt also found the strength to sprint into third place, ahead of Cormick and Curnow.
An early acceleration in C Grade saw six riders break free for good. While Ike Collings, Oliver Le Grice (O'Mara Cycles), Julian Vince, Jay Heather, Radelle Berriman and Daniel Lewis-Toakley combined smoothly, the bunch quickly disintegrated as rider after rider made unsuccessful attempts to reach the leaders.
The leading six stayed together to fight out the finish, with Berriman opening the sprint proper 300 metres from home. Showing good speed in the tail wind, she nearly pulled off the win, but Heather and Vince had timed their runs better and crossed the line ahead.
For Jose Valles, the D Grade race unfolded in much the same way as it had for Paul Groves. Valles shot up the road soon after the mandatory neutral laps were over, and built a commanding lead. Valles showed no signs of slowing, but a late chase by Ben Keating and Paul Carnibella saw them join him on the final lap.
Keating had too much speed in the dash to the line, but Valles was able to hold off Carnibella for second. Ben Hibbs led the chasers home, with Melissa Nicholls the women's winner just behind the main bunch.
Carnegie Caulfield Criteriums continue every Sunday morning races at Glenvale Crescent (Melways map 80B2). B, D and E Grades start at 9am, while A and C Grade ride at 10am. Please note there is no racing At Glenvale on January 28th (the Australia Day weekend). Twilight racing at Sandown Raceway is held on Tuesday evenings at Sandown International Raceway. Entry is via the Sandown Road gate from 6pm (Melways map 80 B6), with racing starting at 6.30pm for all grades.
All holders of current Cycling Australia licenses are welcome (don't forget to bring your license or receipt - there is a strict no licence no race policy in effect!) and non-members can have a go by taking out a day license for $20. 2007 licenses are now available at all CCCC events. Returning riders must resume in the grade in which they last raced, unless prior arrangements are made with the handicapper.
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 (1 hour, 42 starters) 1 Brendan Rowbotham (Carnegie Caulfield) 2 Matt Chessum (Carnegie Caulfield) 3 Danny Kah (Carnegie Caulfield) 4 Anthony Smith (Carnegie Caulfield) 5 Damon De Angelis (Carnegie Caulfield) 6 Nathan Wise (Carnegie Caulfield) B Grade (55 minutes, 20 starters) 1 Brett Cooper (Carnegie Caulfield) 2 Paul Groves (Carnegie Caulfield) 3 Aaron Pitt (Mornington) 4 Richard Cormick (Carnegie Caulfield) 5 Adrian Curnow (Carnegie Caulfield) C Grade (50 minutes, 20 starters) 1 Jay Heather (Carnegie Caulfield) 2 Julian Vince (Mornington) 3 Radelle Berriman (Carnegie Caulfield) 4 Ivan Collings (Carnegie Caulfield) Women 1 Radelle Berriman (Carnegie Caulfield) D Grade (45 minutes, 20 starters) 1 Ben Keating (Carnegie Caulfield) 2 Jose Valles (Carnegie Caulfield) 3 Paul Carnibella (Carnegie Caulfield) 4 Ben Hibbs (Carnegie Caulfield) Women 1 Melissa Nicholls (Carnegie Caulfield)
