6th Jacob's Creek Tour Down Under - 2.3

Australia, January 20-25, 2004

Rider Diaries

Photo: © Mark Gunter

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

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Stage 2: Wednesday Jan 22, Jacob's Creek Visitor Centre - Kapunda, 157 km

The plan today was to attack

Today was a hard day because of the winds. It was very windy and the course was undulating, so for certain parts of the race we weren't all that confident we were going to make it. When the peloton moves, they can pounce on you pretty quickly. Basically it was David and myself that kept the break going. It's a credit to him and he deserved the stage win. He knew I wouldn't make any trouble or sprint for it. I was happy he won. He was giving 100 per cent. He was really committed.

I was surprised, you know, to do so well. You have to pick the day, the course, that suits you. And have a bit of luck. If the group was maybe bigger they may have chased us back immediately. That's stage racing and sometimes stage racing is a bit like a game of chess. You can make the wrong move and it's all over.

The plan today was to attack. The night before, for the criterium, we just sat on at the back of the peloton and normally I would be the first to attack, which is very unusual because I am normally pretty well-marked. I never really get much room to move.

With the attack today, a lot of GC riders figured it was a bit suicidal, which it was. It was a crazy thing to do, but I had David McPartland who was very good and strong. The Dutch guy, Alain Van Katwijk (Bankgiroloterij) wasn't much use, so we really had to work extremely hard. I did the attack after one kilometre, was away on my own for several kilometres, then the Dutchman and David caught up. I was hoping someone would come across, because I wouldn't have made it on my own. It was a very windy day, the winds were playing havoc. I was just hoping to get the KOM and the two sprints basically. But then after the second sprint, we still had more than six minutes. Basically you just have to lay it down and sacrifice everything you have and hope you don't get caught with a kilometre to go, which would have ended the Tour. That would have finished our Tour aspiration.

I did a lot of work for the last 10 kilometres. I was going for the GC. I led the sprint out from a long way. If I had come second I would have had the jersey. To have the jersey now, I am not to sure if I would be able to keep it.

Obviously I expended a lot of energy. How much we spent today, we will know tomorrow and the day after. We have three hard days coming up. The next few days, you will be seeing lots of attacks from the guys and the groups behind us. I reckon there are six or seven danger men like Baden and Robbie. My goal is to try to stay close to them and several others. And basically I am just planning that if they go, I will be with them.

I am normally suited to hills, but I am getting a bit old now. So basically I will have to suffer through it and it's only four days left of suffering and I won't have to suffer for a long time, hopefully.

I hope to be in the same position Friday on general classification. If I am, things will be looking good for the overall. But it's still pretty close, you know.

Now, I am going to bed. Everyone is tired and a bit nervous for tomorrow, but we have some points on the board for UniSA and it's good to have them up the front.

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