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6th Jacob's Creek Tour Down Under - 2.3
Australia, January 20-25, 2004
Rider Diaries
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The Last Hurrah: The Patrick Jonker diary
Nationality: Australian/Dutch
Team: UniSA
After 10 successful years as a pro rider, Patrick Jonker has decided to make the transition back to normality. The Jacob's Creek Tour Down Under will be the final race of his career, and the lanky Aussie has all intentions of going out on a high, with the aim of winning the race held in his own backyard.
Diary entries
Stage 6: Sunday Jan 26, Adelaide City Council circuit, 81 km
All over!
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It's all over. I signed my name for the last time before the race and then it was off for two hours of, again, very fast and hard racing. Attacks went from the first lap and our team was up there again. They were just as good as every other day, maybe more motivated today because of the many supporters out there.
They had to work hard today. I mean, there weren't any really dangerous moments. A few of the riders who were two minutes down tried to have a go, but we were able to bring them back each time. We controlled the pace for most of the race, but didn't get as much help from the sprinter's teams as we thought we would, but the boys were still able to keep it together.
In the last 10 laps, there were breaks going continuously, but it was pretty uneventful and most of the breaks came back by themselves. That's when the teams Lotto-Domo and FdJeux.com were slowly starting to organise the last few laps for the bunch sprint.
For me, it was just a matter of following the peloton and in the last kilometre, I just rode behind the guys who were sprinting for the win and it was all over. It was in the bag.
Yeah. A dream way. It was a dream scenario really, to finish my career. To finish on a winning note.
No-one ever thought it was possible to come out and win a stage race of this category and then stop straight after. I might be one of the few people lucky enough to have done it.
I won't change my mind. I know how hard it is, racing at the highest level in the Tour. The guys are off on the plane tomorrow to Europe where it's cold and snowy and freezing. The guys suffer a lot to earn the money they earn, so I wish them lots of luck.
I will be there in the Tour, on the sidelines, with guests from BikeStyleTours.
Now I have a big dinner to go to, where I will have a few drinks and probably fall asleep somewhere in a corner. Tomorrow I won't be riding my bike for a while. I will go to the beach tomorrow - the kids love the sea, and we will be spending a lot of time there.
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I would like to thank Neil Stephens for supporting me through my career from the word go. There's a lot of people, really. A lot of people have helped me. Diamond Back are sponsoring me even though I am in retirement. I will be doing some promotional work for them now. I think the equipment they gave me, well it works. The bike (like a Black Missile really, pretty fast), it works. I like it.
The crowds were huge today. I think part of the motivation of the team working for me came from the huge crowds. Maybe 50,000 people lined the roads. Having people scream for you to do well is fantastic. Today was pretty similar to the Champs Elysées in the Tour de France. Thank you, Adelaide. Thanks to all the people, all the supporters. It's been great.
Now I will watch cycling from a different perspective. I will always respect the riders, because they have chosen a tough occupation and best wishes to the Aussie boys in the Tour. If someone is ever going to be on a podium in the Tour I think we will be looking at Michael Rogers in the future. I think that will be the greatest thing to happen in Australian cycling.
Adios amigos!
