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National Road Cycling Championships - NE
Mooloolaba, Sunshine Coast, QLD, September 9-15, 2002
Results Event program and results
Criterium - Juniors
Required: Plenty of grit for the crits
By Anthony Tan, Cyclingnews correspondent in Yandina
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For the second day in succession, the National Road Cycling Championships were held in Yandina to contest the junior grades - however this time on a very different course.
The criterium circuit was as flat as a pancake and perfectly rectangular in shape, so high-speed cornering was the order of the day. For some competitors, the speed was just a tad too high, resulting in a number of crashes from those less-experienced with this style of racing.
All of the crashes occurred on the fourth corner, not so much because it was the final turn before finishing straight, but more due to its slightly off-camber nature and partial resurfacing.
Aggressive racing in all categories disallowed almost all opportunist breakaway attempts - the exception being the junior under 17 men's categories, where Matt Goss (West Tamar CC) did the double up after his victory in the road race only yesterday.
Clearly the most enjoyable race of the day was the junior under 19 women's criterium. Unfortunately much of the crowd had already dispersed after the under 19 men's race - but those who stayed witnessed a veritable display of "no guts, no glory".
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Despite being dropped from the pack on more than one occasion, Kirby Piscioneri (West Tamar CC) just would not give up. Her incessant tenacity paid handsome dividends as the field sat up towards the end, and Kirby had enough gas left in the tank to surprise all (including herself) to take the biggest win of her cycling career to date.
The lucky loser award would have to go to Skye-Lee Armstrong (Parramatta CC) in the under 17 women's criterium, whose desire to attack again and again would have made her a contender for the next Weet-Bix commercial.
Keep it up Sky-Lee - one day it's going to pay off big time!
Reports: Junior U17 Men Junior U17 Women Junior U19 Men Junior U19 Women
Junior U17 Men
Hot Goss-ip
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Tassie Devil Matt Goss made it two from two after cleaning up in yesterday's road race and then showing a clean pair of wheels in today's criterium less than 24 hours later.
A typically fast start began proceedings, with a number of riders testing their legs after a hard-fought road race yesterday.
Miles Olman (Rockhampton CC) was one of the first to go but was quickly brought back to the main field. No sooner had Olman been captured before a subsequent counterattack from Ben Mockridge (CATS) and Luke Picton (Southern Cross CC) once again livened up the field. However the peloton were equally attentive, and the duo were caught after two laps.
In the remaining fifteen minutes a flurry of counterattacks ensued, yet the high average speed of 41 km/h kept all of the escapees at bay - until the Mark Bergermin (Adelaide CC) caught the field unawares.
With just under five minutes remaining, Bergermin hit off the front. He was then joined by a chasing duo containing Joseph Depasquale (Central Districts CC) and newly-crowned road champion Matt Goss (West Tamar CC).
The trio worked well together, with the peloton's momentum waning as the break maintained their gap.
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Goss was clearly the danger man after winning yesterday's road race in a bunch gallop, and didn't disappoint: the Tassie Tiger positioned himself behind the wheel of Mark Bergermin who led out the sprint, then effortlessly rolled his accomplices in the final 70 metres.
"My legs were sore for the first fifteen to twenty minutes [after yesterday's road race]. I couldn't get up the front because the speed was so high, but I came good towards the end.
"Everyone was swapping off nice even turns [in the break] which let us stay away. We kept the pace high right up until the finish because we knew that's what we had to do to stay away to the finish.
"I wasn't too sure what the other riders were like in the sprint, so I just tried to get the best position coming into the last corner and tried to come round in the final straight. This is by far my best performance at any nationals - I'm stoked!"
Junior U17 Women
Tanner takes the cake
Fast and aggressive racing appeared to be the order of the day, with the flat as a tack rectangular-shaped criterium circuit playing right into the hands of sprinter Jessica Tanner in the junior under 17 women's criterium.
An unusually fast pace greeted the women's field right from the gun, courtesy of the main protagonist of the day, Skye-Lee Armstrong (Parramatta CC). Skye-Lee's incessant desire to attack was premeditated, and her Para teammate Eve Hood was only too happy to comply:
"We figured that we can't sprint, so we might as well have a go," said a jovial Skye-Lee after the race, satisfied with the fact that she tried everything to break up the field.
The peloton however, had their own ideas, and as soon as Skye-Lee jumped out of the saddle, the field were back on her wheel in a flash.
With ten minutes remaining, the field (this time including Skye-Lee) resigned themselves to a bunch sprint to determine the podium places. Jessica Tanner (Shepparton) relished the opportunity, coming through with the win - and today was clearly a cut above the rest.
"It wasn't a typical girl's race which is usually really slow - it was a much faster than usual and that made it really good," said an elated Jess Tanner. "I was second wheel coming into the final corner; half way down the straight I got out of my seat and gave it everything."
Junior U19 Men
Great Scott!
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Once again the queen event of the day was the junior under 19 men's criterium, and once again the race produced a surprise winner: first year junior U19 rider Warren Scott.
Predictably, the half-hour criterium got off to a flying start, with FDJeux.com apprentice Chris Sutton (St George CC) being the protagonist - a touch surprising given his wickedly fast finish.
"You can never do too much work" said Sutton after the race. "The way I thought of it was: 'If I'm hurting, everyone else is hurting.' So I gave himself just a good a chance as everyone else did."
Not surprising though was the field's reaction to Sutton's flurry of attacks. The silver medallist in the previous day's road race has been a marked man throughout the National Championships this week, and today was no different; "CJ" as he's known to his mates was almost as quickly usurped as he was to escape.
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With ten laps to go, CJ found a partner in the form of Dane Cheers (Norwood CC) from South Australia. However the peloton assumed the form of a raging bull, and mitigated any chance of a breakaway ending to the criterium.
David Klyne (Mersey Valley CC) also tried his luck, but quickly gave in as the three laps to go signal was announced. A bunch gallop was inevitable, and the twenty-odd riders left in the peloton were now jostling for a good position for the final corners.
On the last lap the St George CC boys beamed up Scotty to the front of the field, and in the final kick to the line, it was all Warren Scott. "Wazza" took out the biggest win of his career, comfortably winning by two bike lengths from Chris Sutton.
"I struggled early on but I managed to find a bit of form towards the end," gleefully said a knackered Wazza.
And he didn't forget how he got there either: "It was pretty aggressive out there, but I put it [my win] down to all the great teamwork. We wanted a bunch finish - we didn't want anyone to get away."
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Understandably, second-placed Chris Sutton was spent - not just after a hard week of racing, but more a hard year of racing:
"It's been a very long year for me. As I mentioned yesterday, I've just come out of the junior track worlds and I've only done 200-300 kilometres of road training - so I've sort of come here a bit underdone in that sense.
"I had a hard race. I tried to make it as hard for everyone else as it was for me. Congrats to Warren [Scott] though - he's only a first year [under 19] and he's got a good future ahead of him."
Junior U19 Women
Never, ever give up - because you never know what may happen
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Just when spectators thought about packing their bags to go home, the crowd witnessed what was arguably the most animated race of the day, and without doubt the gutsiest performance.
Just nine riders rolled out for the final event of the day. And with only a handful of riders, it was virtually impossible to get an armchair ride to the finish.
Amy Kirk (Midland CC) and Megan Windsor (Bathurst CC) went off the front on numerous occasions, sometimes solo, sometimes together - regularly breaking the field into pieces - only to have it all come back together again.
The incessant aggression wore out the small field, and with three to go the riders appeared to draw a pact on any further attacks. The only rider to have lost contact was at this stage was Kirby Piscioneri (West Tamar CC), but Kirby never gave up, and to her credit, made contact with the main field with less than two laps remaining.
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Coming into the final straight, it was a true reversal of fortunes as Kirby Piscioneri, "the human yo-yo", gave it all she had - breaking through the pain barrier for a truly-deserved win.
"I knew I was in for a tough race; there were alot of endurance riders in there," wheezed Kirby soon after the finish. "With ten minutes to go I didn't think I was going to get back on, but plenty of encouragement at the sidelines kept me going.
"I wanted to get on someone's wheel coming into the final straight, but it didn't happen, so I just had to go for it from a long way out."
And did Kirby go for it.
Photography
Photos by Tom Balks
- There are often ways of amusing yourself if you're not so interested in what's going on around you
- The boys from Midland Cycling Club are a close-knit bunch of guys
- Greg Beer (Penrth Panthers CC) sits in comfortably among the peloton in the junior under 15 men's criterium
- Hayden Josefski (Broncos CC) appears to already possess the cornerning abilities of a criterium specialist
- Simon Clark (Carnegie Caufield CC) appears oblivious to the ominous clouds that circled the Yandina circuit for the better part of the day
- Joseph Depasquale (Central Districts CC) was a key member of the successful breakaway trio that contained eventual winner Matt Goss (West Tamar CC) in the junior under 17 men's criterium
- Mark Bergamin (Adelaide CC) rode well to place second in the junior under 17 men's criterium
- Hot Goss-ip - Matt Goss (West Tamar CC) will be the talk of the town back in Tasmania after two convincing wins at the National Road Championships
- Matt Goss (West Tamar CC) continued his superb form, backing up his win in the road race with a clear sprint victory in the junior under 17 men's criterium
- Chris Sutton (St George CC) was clearly the strongest rider during the junior under 19 men's criterium, but didn't count on fellow clubmate Warren Scott's awesome turn of speed in the final dash to the line
- Not so cheery - Dane Cheers (Norwood CC) was a victim of the final off-camber corner in the junior under 19 men's criterium
- Grant Irwin gives it his all in the closing stages of the junior under 19 men's criterium
- Onya Wazza! - Warren Scott (St George CC) outsprinted pre-race favourite and fellow club member Chris Sutton to take out the queen event of the day, the junior under 19 men's criterium championship
- Angela Jones (Bicisport) guides her machine around the off-camber corner
- Grace Sulzberger (West Tamar CC) ponders her strategy for the bunch gallop in the junior under 15 women's criterium
- A nasty pile-up in the latter stages of the junior under 15 women's criterium took Laura Meisel-Dennis (Canberra CC) out of the race
- Jessie Mclean (Canberra CC) was one of the protagonists in the junior under 19 women's criterium, but was outfoxed by a never-say-die Kirby Piscioneri (West Tamar CC)
- Megan Windsor (Bathurst CC) went off the front on numerous occasions during the junior under 19 women's criterium, but was brought back each time
- The human yo-yo - Kirby Piscioneri (West Tamar CC) got dropped and then latched back on on a number of occassions, eventually outfoxing all her opponents to pull off the win of the day
Images by Tim Francis/www.yourfotos.com
- The U/19 women's race with one lap to go
- Tess Downing had a big enough lead she had time to impersonate an airplane
- The finish of the U/19 Women's race
- Ben Mockeridge going on the attack
- The U/19 Men's with a lap to go
- Warren Scott crosses the line as the U/19 winner
- The strain of the climb shows on the U/17 riders
- The U/15 startline
Photos by CJ Liao
- Warren Scott crosses the line in the U19 Men's Criterium
- The arms go up, just like the pro's do
- Yes, I did it!
- And a very happy winner he is
Results
Junior Under 15 Men, 20 minutes plus 2 laps 1 Scott Sunderland (WA) Midland Cycling Club 22.54 2 Greg Beer (NSW) Penrith Panthers CC 3 Hayden Josefski (Qld) Broncos CC 4 Abe Hastwell (Vic) Ararat + District Cycling Club 5 Jack Rhodes (NT) Alice Springs CC 6 Mathew Wild (NSW) Southern Cross Cycling Club 7 Cameron Meyer (WA) Midland Cycling Club 8 Nicholas Spratt (NSW) Penrith Panthers CC 9 Matthew Edmunds (Vic) Echuca-Moama Cycling Club 10 Angus Morton (NSW) Port Macquarie 11 Blake Field (NSW) St George Cycling Cub 12 William Robinson (Tas) Launceston City Cycling Club 13 Travis Meyer (WA) Midland Cycling Club 14 Kieran Murphy (Vic) Carnegie Caulfield Cycling Club B = finished with bunch, exact placing not known B Troy Asimus (NSW) Dubbo Cycling Club B Luke Barrett (NSW) St George Cycling Cub B Jonathon Cridland (NSW) Southern Cross Cycling Club B Troy Dippel (NSW) Hinchinbrook Cycling Club B Matthew Pettit (NSW) Parramatta Cycling Club B Joel Lewis (NT) Katherine Cycling Club B Nicholas Ruscoe (NT) Alice Springs CC B Jack Hudson (QLD) Sunshine Coast Cycling Club B David Keevers (QLD) Maryborough B Lee Chesson (SA) Central Districts B Craig Mattingly (SA) Adelaide Cycling Club B Will Ford (VIC) Stawell GT Western B Pip Grinter (VIC) Castlemaine Cycling Club B Leigh Howard (VIC) Geelong West CC B Michael Fitzgerald (WA) Northen Districts CC B Andrew Ingram (WA) Midland Cycle Club Junior Under 15 Women, 20 minutes plus 2 laps 1 Tess Downing (VIC) Carnegie Caulfield Cycling Club 23.19 2 Angela Jones (NSW) Bicisport 3 Grace Sulzberger (TAS) West Tamar CC 4 Elizabeth Church (VIC) Castlemaine Cycling Club 5 Theresa Blumel (QLD) Broncos CC 6 Ingrid Paterson (ACT) Canberra Cycling Club 7 Tiffany Manion (TAS) West Tamar CC 8 Therese Rhodes (NT) Alice Springs CC 9 Erin Peoples (VIC) Shepparton CC 10 Loren Rowney (QLD) C.A.T.S B Sarah Fiedler (QLD) Sunshine Coast Cycling Club B Tiffany Cromwell (SA) Sturt Holdfast Marion CC B Lara Dyus (SA) Norwood Cycling Club B Georgina Freeland (VIC) Stawell GT Western B Jade Reid (NSW) Port Stephens B Jessica Cowman (QLD) Victor Cycle B Kirsty Bigaila (QLD) Sunshine Coast Cycling Club DNF Elicia Kelly (SA) Port Adelaide FELL Laura Meisel-Dennis (ACT) Canberra Cycling Club FELL Carrie Price (TAS) Launceston City Cycling Club Junior Under 17 Men, 30 minutes plus 2 laps 1 Matt Goss (TAS) West Tamar Cycling Club 32.17 2 Mark Bergamin (SA) Adelaide Cycling Club 3 Joseph Depasquale (SA) Central Districts 4 Cameron Hope (NSW) Wagga Wagga Cycling Club 5 Tyler McLachlan (NSW) Southern Cross Cycling Club 6 Mitchell Docker (VIC) Brunswick 7 Dean Windsor (NSW) Bathurst CC 8 Wesley Sulzburger (TAS) West Tamar 9 Philip Stokes (NSW) Penrith Panthers CC 10 Michael Ford (VIC) Carnegie Caulfield Cycling Club 11 Thomas Greathead (WA) Southern Districts CC B Luke Cridland (NSW) Southern Cross Cycling Club B Luke Picton (NSW) Southern Cross Cycling Club B J-L Rathbone (NSW) Penrith Panthers CC B Josh Wall (NSW) Illawarra Cycling Club B Miles Olman (QLD) Rockhampton CC B Nicholas Adcock (QLD) Sunshine Coast B Callan Taylor (SA) Central Districts B Simon Clarke (VIC) Carnegie Caulfield Cycling Club B Nathan Wise (Vic) Carnegie Caulfield B Jason Chilcott (WA) Southern Districts CC B Robert Cater (NSW) Randwick Botany B Stefan Weland (NSW) Southern HIghlands B Ben Mockridge (QLD) CATS DNF Fabio Calabria (ACT) Canberra Cycling Club DNF Bradley Wright (NSW) Bathurst Cycling Club DNF Corey Heath (NT) Katherine Cycling Club DNF Joel Davis (QLD) Broncos CC DNF Todd Dawson (QLD) C.A.T.S DNF Matt Dobinson (QLD) Sunshine Coast Cycling Club DNF Brenton Hetherington (QLD) Sunshine Coast Cycling Club DNF Trent Clifford (VIC) Geelong West CC Junior Under 17 Women, 30 minutes plus 3 laps 1 Jessica Tanner (VIC) Shepparton CC 2 Amanda Spratt (NSW) Penrith Panthers CC 3 Naomi Adams (NSW) Dubbo Cycling Club 4 Victoria Freeland (VIC) Stawell GT Western 5 Brigid Farrell (VIC) Carnegie Caulfield Cycling Club 6 Jaclyn Kejda (NSW) Illawarra Cycling Club 7 Sarah Rota (QLD) C.A.T.S 8 Skye-Lee Armstrong (NSW) Parramatta Cycling Club 9 Genna Crean (SA) Noarlunga South Coast CC 10 Melinda Harris (NSW) Mudgee B Jessica Armstrong (ACT) Canberra Cycling Club B Eve Hood (NSW) Parramatta Cycling Club B Melissa Moffatt (NSW) Wagga Wagga Cycling Club B Britany Orr (NSW) Randwick Botany B Nicholas Adcock (QLD) Sunshine Coast B Hannah Banks (QLD) Broncos CC B Natasha Mapley (TAS) Mersey Valley Devonport B Erin Downing (VIC) Carnegie Caulfield Cycling Club B Michelle Rowe (VIC) Leongatha DNF Belinda Thompson (ACT) Canberra Cycling Club DNF Samantha Ward (NSW) Wagga Wagga Cycling Club DNF Belinda Wild (NSW) Southern Cross Cycling Club DNF Amelia Hallam (QLD) Broncos CC DNF Joanna Von Berky (QLD) Caboolture DNF Amy Phillips (VIC) Carnegie Caulfield Cycling Club Junior Under 19 Men, 30 minutes plus 3 laps 1 Warren Scott (NSW) St George Cycling Cub 33.26 2 Chris Sutton (NSW) St George Cycling Cub 3 Grant Irwin (Qld) Rockhampton 4 Casey Munro (VIC) Brunswick 5 Dane Cheers (SA) Norwood Cycling Club 6 David Kemp (QLD) Toowoomba 7 Chris Pascoe (NSW) Dubbo Cycle Club 8 Andrew Wyper (NSW) Inverell Wheelers 9 Bradley Payne (QLD) Gold Coast Cats 10 Tom Mungoven (ACT) Canberra Cycling Club B Dwayne Smith (TAS) Launceston City Cycling Club B Sean Finning (VIC) Castlemaine Cycling Club B Steven Evans (WA) Midland Cycling Club B Mark Matear (WA) Northen Districts CC B Stephen Rossendell (TAS) Hobart Wheelers/ Dirt Devils B Sam Lee (NSW) St George Cycling Cub B Dane Crawford (NSW) Hunter District Cycling Club B David Klyne (TAS) Mersey Valley CC B Nicholas Adcock (QLD) Sunshine Coast DNF Aaron Kowald (ACT) Canberra Cycling Club DNF Ross Taylor (ACT) Tuggeranong Vikings Cycling Club DNF Luke Dale (NSW) Eurobodalla CTC DNF Christopher Jenkins (NSW) Randwick Botany DNF Brendan Jones (NSW) Inverell Wheelers DNF Brendan Kay (QLD) North Brisbane MTB DNF Lucien Keene (SA) Norwood Cycling Club DNF Kato Nixon (SA) Norwood Cycling Club DNF Joshua Wilson (TAS) Launceston City Cycling Club DNF Justin Lang (WA) Midland Cycle Club FELL Andrew Kidd (NSW) Hunter Districts FELL Ben Nicol (QLD) Kangaroo Point FELL Alan Schnable (QLD) Balmoral Cycling Club Junior Under 19 Women, 20 minutes plus 2 laps 1 Kirby Piscioneri (TAS) West Tamar 35.44 2 Jessie Maclean (ACT) Canberra Cycling Club 3 Meg Windsor (NSW) Bathurst CC 4 Apryl Eppinger (VIC) Carnegie Caulfield Cycling Club 5 Amber Malone (WA) Northen Districts CC 6 Amy Kirk (WA) Midland Cycle Club 7 Airlie Chalmers (ACT) Canberra Cycling Club
