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2004 Jayco Bay Cycling Classic
Victoria, Australia, January 7-11, 2004
Mikkeli Godfree Diary
Cyclingnews contributor and rider in the MGZT team, Mikkeli Godfree, spends much of his year racing abroad. Like many Australian riders, he is back home at this time of year and racing in the Bay series in Victoria. He's also writing a diary while on the road, staying connected with assistance from local ISP Big Blue Internet. On day one in Hastings he survived the carnage to bring home a good result for his team and sponsors.
Finishing in style
Race 5 - Sunday, January 11 - The Docklands
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After a not so teary farewell to Geelong we headed back to sunny Melbourne for the final criterium of the series. Always a good one to take out, there would be no parading around the hot-dog circuit this Sunday. The final crit in Melbourne always brings a big crowd and there is no huge prize for guessing that the relative underachievers this year, Robbie McEwen and Graeme Brown, would be hungry for the win.
There was also the small battle of the overall series victory to be finalized, but a bucket of bad luck would have to befall Cooke for him to be beaten. However, in theory, all that would have to happen was for Cooke to crash out and McKenzie run top five in the finish - not an entirely inconceivable outcome.
Anyway, after finally having some decent coffee, we lined up on the start and had the luck of drawing second last team on the line. However with such long straights (about 400m) it wasn't long before we found ourselves at the front. Sunday saw a really vocal crowd turn out to line the barriers with a heap of punters choosing to end their Sunday morning ride down at the crit.
With all this encouragement from the sidelines, any tired legs momentarily disappeared as attacks came thick and fast from the gun. It wasn't long before we began to see some cards being laid down with the Robbie, Skilled and SBR pretty keen to get up the road. We joined in the fun and by the mid-point of the race the only real break of the day was established. It was initiated by Sutherland (Vic State Home Loans) and included Morales (Bicycle Superstore), Crowe (Bike Now), Matt Wilson (Skilled) and our MGZT-Bianchi boys Menzies and Pearson.
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With a good representation, I thought this move would stick. Unfortunately so too did Robbie and as soon as he skipped up the road to get across to it, the reaction brought the race back together. Then it was a funny old race, with attacks going and the Skilled team seemingly not strong enough to control it. It was really interesting to watch actually as whenever there was a lull in the race and Baden Cooke was near his teammate Sutton, Cooke would reach across and just push his teammate up the road with the intention of making others chase or him keeping the pace high enough to discourage attacks. This happened heaps of times and I started to feel sorry for Sutton...but that feeling didn't last long.
As the race entered the last five laps the Skilled boys took control and a bunch kick looked the only outcome but with a headwind back straight and a tailwind sprint it would basically be a sprint to the last corner, a nasty 180 right hander (oh, yeah, this course had the only right hander of the series - quite an oddity for crit racing actually).
Skilled took control but SBR had Henderson, Clarke and Brown lined up close behind. As the laps ticked down, Aitken, McKenzie and Downing found their way to the front and true to form, Robbie was tacked onto Cooke's wheel. The pace was pretty high and there was little chance to move up. With a lap to go I realised that from the back of the SBR train, myself and Joel Pearson were going to get nowhere so with 50m to go before the second-last corner I gave Joel the biggest push I could manage and he shot up the inside and cornered himself right into the lead-out train with McEwen.
On the back straight, SBR pulled their lead-out up next to Skilled and Henderson drove himself into the ground (now this bit I got second-hand but bear with me). Now Henderson had no intention of turning the last corner so he drilled himself at top speed, didn't turn at the end of the straight and broke hard, just pulling up before giving the barriers a little bump. This move threw riders like McEwen and Aitken, who didn't expect such a move, while Brownie took advantage of this to slip onto Cooke's wheel and flick him on the line. Not only this, but Joel found himself close enough to the front to round the corner fourth and sprint up into third place!...a great result behind such top sprinters (and in front of others).
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Whilst Brown could hardly breathe after the race (still carrying bronchitis that he brought into day 1), Skilled were celebrating the series win and we congratulated ourselves on top and tailing the series with podium finishes - a great result in the team's first attempt at the series - and before we knew it we were home preparing ourselves for the final event: the gala dinner at the Sofitel.
The night featured some great old footage of days gone by, a star-studded panel who answered questions from the room by a microphone wielding Brad McGee, 2 year old Ewan McEwen ripping up the dance floor, the auctioning of Brad's Yellow and Baden's Green jerseys for a bargain total of seven grand (they would have gone for triple in Europe!). And later on that night, let me assure you that the 'race' kicked on elsewhere...
Over and out, thanks for reading this week.
Thank you MGZT, Bianchi, PB, Carnac, Ciclosport, BBB, Body Torque, Caramel Creative, Vinaio, 700C, 55Eleven...thank you linesmen, thank you ball boys.
Mikk - Team MGZT-Bianchi
See Full Results
Photography
Images by MGZT (Moss/Morcom)
- Baden Cooke and Brad McGee do a pit stop in the MGZT lead car in anticipation of the MG team cars they will get when they return to Europe.
- The MGZT-Bianchi boys before the final race.
- Robbie McEwen streaks past at the Docklands after taking Saturday off.
- Rhys Pollock (MGZT-Bianchi) found his legs on the final day.
- Sutton (Skilled-FDJ) kept the pressure on all day for his team.
- Nick Kiraly (Carnegie CCC) breaks his seat in the middle part of the race.
- The only significant break of the day included MGZT Bianchi boys Pearson and Menzies but was pulled back the minute McEwen jumped across to it.
- Riders feel the hurt with two laps to go.
- 1 lap to go: The Skilled team lead Aitken, Renshaw, Cooke, McEwen and the SBR train while others make a late charge up the inside.
- Metres after the finish Brown the winner of the day, Cooke the winner of the series.
- Rhys Pollock thanks PB while the two of the younger riders, Will Walker and Mitch Docker compare notes on the Bay Series.
- Baden celebrates on the podium with McKenzie, Renshaw, Morales (obscured), Brown, Pearson and Wilson.
