6th Jacob's Creek Tour Down Under - 2.3

Australia, January 20-25, 2004

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Race 2 - January 23: Echunga Circuit, 30 mins + 3 laps

Breakthrough victory for new A.I.S. rider

Lorian Graham wins Race 2 of The Advertiser Women's Criterium Series

By John-Michael Flynn in Echunga, South Australia

The women's podium (L to R):
Photo ©: Mark Gunter

In arguably the highest profile victory of her cycling career, 26 year old Queenslander Lorian Graham overcame a second lap crash to win race two of The Advertiser Women's Criterium Series in Echunga, South Australia today. The newest recruit to the A.I.S. Women's Road Team showed her worth in spectacular fashion, bouncing back from the early mishap to establish an unassailable lead.

A criterium specialist who enjoys racing on tight street circuits, Graham's riding skills were tested to the limit on the 850 metre triangular course. Her race plan briefly came unstuck at the start of lap two when, leading the peloton, the Queenslander crashed trying to negotiate a tight right hander at the end of the main straight.

"I kind of made a superman dive to the footpath," Graham told Cyclingnews. "I didn't break anything, just a little skin off."

Under competition rules, the A.I.S. rider was allowed to take two laps out before rejoining the race, but in a move reminiscent of Lance Armstrong's race defining crash in the 2003 Tour de France, Graham couldn't wait to get back on track, rejoining the bunch after just one lap.

"My coach (Warren McDonald) was sent to help and he just fixed my chain up that popped off," Graham said. "Adrenalin was pumping after that and the coach had to settle me down a bit and he was like, take it easy, take it easy."

The instruction apparently fell on deaf ears.

By the start of lap four, Graham was back on the front of the bunch, following the original A.I.S. team instructions issued pre-race, to go out hard and set up a win for team-mate Oenone Wood. It was a directive which made the job all the more difficult for the other major contenders.

With Wednesday's second placegetter, Rochelle Gilmore, absent from the event due to a demanding track schedule, it was left to Queenslander Sara Carrigan to lead the chase as the A.I.S. girls took control of the race. Alexis Rhodes, who was crowned National Criterium Champion after winning race one of the series on Wednesday, didn't feature on the front of the bunch.

"It was pretty much the A.I.S. mafia out there today," Sara Carrigan quipped after the race. "The A.I.S. was very aggressive from the start and had a lot of attacks."

Carrigan surged to the front on lap six, but was forced to do most of the work in a short-lived breakaway with senior A.I.S rider Olivia Gollan. Then on lap 11, Graham made her move, which according to team-mate, dual national champion Oenone Wood, was the team's real race plan from the beginning.

"The game plan was for Lorian to go early and get a nice break," said Wood. "She had a bit of bad luck early in the race and went down on a corner but she got straight back up and then attacked again and won the race."

Riding strongly, and looking a different athlete to the one who struggled to the finish at last week's national championships in Ballarat, Graham continued to power away from the bunch, establishing a sizeable lead which stretched at one stage to 39 seconds. At the same time, Graham's A.I.S. team-mates were doing their best to close the race down, with Oenone Wood happy to sit back and help her good friend surge to victory.

Wood described her role as, "just to try and keep the pace of the main bunch down so she got an opportunity to get a really good break." With such help at hand, Graham, the gritty Queenslander who hails from the State's cattle capital of Rockhampton, wasn't about to let her new team-mates down.

In only her second race as a fully fledged member of the national squad, the Brisbane-based cyclist, a graduate of the Queensland Academy of Sport, made the most of the opportunity, riding the second half of the race alone and off the front to secure her most significant career win yet.

"It was my very first win for the season in Australia," Graham said afterwards. "My earlier race in the national road race wasn't too successful and I made ammends for it today."

The final gap to the main group was clocked at 31 seconds. Sara Carrigan won the bunch kick in a tight contest with Oenone Wood, and in the process took the yellow leader's jersey in The Advertiser Women's Criterium Series with one race to go.

Run in conjunction with the Jacob's Creek Tour Down Under, The Advertiser Women's Criterium Series wraps up tomorrow when the nation's leading female cyclists face off against each other at Aldinga Beach.

Photography

Images by Mark Gunter/Cyclingnews/www.pbase.com/gunterphotograph

• Lorian Graham (AIS, R) is presented with her flowers for winning race 2, while Sara Carrigan (L) gets the yellow leader's jersey
• The women's podium (L to R): Oenone Wood (3rd), Sara Carrigan (2nd in race 2 and series leader) and Lorian Graham (race winner)

Images by John-Michael Flynn

• Oenone Wood (AIS) has placed third in both races so far
• Lorian Graham (AIS) psyching up
• Waiting for the starters orders
• Alexis Rhodes (SA) in the yellow race leader's jersey
• Lorian Graham (AIS) itching to get under way

Results

Elite Women

1 Lorian Graham (AIS)         31.13
2 Sara Carrigan (QIS)          0.27
3 Oenone Wood (AIS)
4 Hayley Rutherford (WAIS)
5 Olivia Gollan (AIS)
6 Kelly McComeie
7 Christine Riakos (NSW)
8 Kate Nichols (NSWIS)
9 Kirsty Bortolin
10 Miho Oki (Jpn)