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Jayco Herald Sun Tour - 2.1
Australia, October 8-14, 2006
Main Page Results Overall standings Stage Details Next Stage
Stage 1 - October 8: Shepparton Criterium, 60 mins + 3 laps - (48 km)
First time in yellow for Clarke
By John Trevorrow in Shepparton
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Super sprinter Hilton Clarke dominated the first stage of Jayco Herald Sun Tour in Shepparton. Clarke was ecstatic about his victory. "To wear the yellow jersey is great. I've won stages before but I have never worn yellow."
It was the 27-year-old's fifth stage win in six starts in Australia's oldest stage race, now in its 55th year, and followed his stirring win in last year's final stage on Lygon Street in Carlton.
"With Robbie arriving and all that, we needed to go on the offensive straight away. We took him out of the equation and it worked," an excited Clarke said.
It was a tactical game out on the windswept streets of the central Victorian city. And it was cagey Australian sprinter Clarke that played the best hand.
Clarke realised the advantage in getting up the road early and jumped across to form a six-man breakaway after only two laps of the 1.7km circuit, alongside international riders, German Tobias Erler and Canada's Dominique Rollin and three other Australians, Tasmanian Karl Menzies and Queenslanders David Kemp and Tony Mann.
The six dominated the racing, building their lead over the peloton to more than 70 seconds just after the race had reached its half way point for the day. Clarke was controlling the group and dominated the intermediate sprints, undoubtedly setting himself to win the Tour's sprinter's jersey.
The breakaway also ensured the race as run at a furious speed, with a dozen riders forced to make an early exit from the day after being lapped by the field.
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This quick pace forced race favourite Simon Gerrans and his teammates including Robbie McEwen to take control of the chasing peloton. It was strange sight to see McEwen flat out on the front of the chasing peloton in the final laps. But it took its toll on McEwen who dropped a lap on the field in the final minutes.
"I have had nine days off the bike so I was pretty happy with form. I told the guys we would have to all put in to close it down. I didn't mind putting it on the line for Simon as he wants to win the tour," a tired but upbeat McEwen said.
With three laps to go it was looking like they may catch the leaders as they started to play a bit of cat and mouse tactics but a strong attack by Canadian Rollin was enough to allow then to just hold off the chasing group.
Menzies had to bury himself on the final lap to catch the Canadian but it took the sting out of his normally strong sprint and Clarke then sprinted past up the finishing straight just holding off the impressive Erler. The German protested after the finish claiming Clarke had interfered in the final metres but that was quickly dismissed.
Kemp got some reward for his day's toil, earning the honour of the Tour's leading under 23 rider after day one.
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Clarke was quick to point out that the task had been far from easy. "The first few laps were so hard - our lungs were screaming. But later in the race it was cat and mouse up front and I gambled a little."
He gave credit to Menzies who brought the other five back to Rollin after the Canadian had attempted to go it alone when the lap counter indicated three circuits to go. And he was equally philosophical about his chances for the rest of the race. "There is no way I am going to defend the yellow jersey but we could leap frog one of my team meets to a high place on general classification."
When asked about the day's effort, Clarke's response was rapid, "Come and watch me go up Lake Mountain (on Thursday) and see how much it's taken out of me today."
Rock star arrival for McEwen
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Day one of the Tour created plenty of interest before the gun was even fired with McEwen and team mate Henk Vogels only making it to Shepparton by helicopter a little over two hours before the stage start.
It was a rock star like arrival for the three time Tour De France sprint king, who arrived in Brisbane from Indonesia en route from Europe on Saturday evening, before catching a flight to Melbourne early today.
On arrival McEwen had quipped that his mind was ready but it might take a couple of days encouragement for the body to get going. After the race, he confirmed that was most probably the case. "I blew myself to pieces for the sake of Simon (Gerrans) and the GC. It was the first day back after nine days off the bike but I said to Gerro that if we were going to close the gap we would have to do some of the work ourselves."
But he was confident about the rest of the week, if not for himself then for his teammate. "Simon has a great to chance to win and we have to keep him in the race. Today was about trying to keep things in check. The race is still wide open."
He was also clear in his view about the likely outcome if today's windy conditions were to be repeated on tomorrow's 176km stage from Shepparton to Bendigo,
"Instead of one, it will be four hours of suffering at the sort of heart rates we experienced today – 193 top, 176 average."
Photography
For a thumbnail gallery of these images, click here
Images by Shane Goss/www.licoricegallery.com
- Channel Ten's Ian Cohen interviews Aussie sprinting ace Robbie McEwen and Henk Vogels after the pair arrived in Shepparton by helicopter for stage one
- Robbie McEwen after arriving by helicopter for stage one in Shepparton
- Henk Vogels (L) gives Robbie McEwen a helping hand getting his bike out of the back of a helicopter in Shepparton
- Matt Lloyd (South Australia.com) at the sign on for the start of stage one
- Robbie McEwen (Jayco Australia) gets the green light for the 2006 Jayco Herald Tour
- Simon Gerrans will be looking for assistance from teammate Robbie McEwen to go back-to-back in the Jayco Herald Sun Tour
- Robbie McEwen (Jayco Australia) signs on in Shepparton while commentator Stuart Doyle looks on
- Simon Gerrans (Jayco Australia) will be banking on another win in the Jayco Herald Sun Tour of 2006
- The peloton swing round beneath one of Shepparton's watering-holes during stage one
- The 2006 Jayco Herald Sun Tour get's a little divine intervention on stage one in Shepparton
- James Hannam (Savings & Loans) leads riders around the streets of Shepparton on day one of the Tour
- Bernard Sulzberger (DFL Cyclingnews.com) in action on the first stage of the Tour
- Karl Menzies (HealthNet-Maxxis) was part of a six man breakaway that formed in the early part of stage one
- Henk Vogels (Jayco Australia) on the front of the peloton in search of the leading group
- Tobias Erler (Giant Asia Racing Team) from Germany corners in the leading group
- The peloton make their way beneath the giant screen in the home straight in Shepparton
- Hilton Clarke (Navigators) salutes the crowd and takes out stage one in Shepparton
- Greg Henderson (HealthNet-Maxxis) brings home the bunch
- Queenslander David Kemp (National Under 23) was part of the winning break and has the best under 23 rider jersey
- Hilton Clarke (L) of the Navigators team on the podium with Jayco's Gerry Ryan in Shepparton
- Hilton Clarke (Navigators) and the traditional podium spray after winning stage one
- Tobias Erler (Giant Asia Racing Team) in his HLP King of the Mountains jersey
Results
1 Hilton Clarke (Aus) Navigators Insurance Cycling Team 1.05.51 2 Tobias Erler (Ger) Giant Asia Racing Team 3 Karl Menzies (Aus) Health Net Presented By Maxxis 4 Dominique Rollin (Can) Canadian National Team 5 Tony Mann (Aus) Australian National Team 0.02 6 David Kemp (Aus) Australian National U23 Team 7 Greg Henderson (NZl) Health Net Presented By Maxxis 0.06 8 Brett Aitken (Aus) Savings & Loans Cycling Team 9 Ger Soepenberg (Ned) Netherlands-Altipower 10 Simon Clarke (Aus) Southaustralia.com-AIS 11 Mark Walters (Can) Navigators Insurance Cycling Team 12 Grant Irwin (Aus) DFL-Cyclingnews-Litespeed 13 Maint Berkenbosch (Ned) Netherlands-Altipower 14 Simon Gerrans (Aus) Australian National Team 15 Daniel Lloyd (GBr) Giant Asia Racing Team 16 Robert Mclachlan (Aus) Drapac Porsche 17 David Harrigan (Aus) DFL-Cyclingnews-Litespeed 18 Kyle Gritters (USA) Health Net Presented By Maxxis 19 Ci'aran Power (Irl) Navigators Insurance Cycling Team 20 Yoshimitsu Tsuji (Jpn) Japanese National Team 21 Virgilio Santos (Por) Carvalhelhos-Boavista 22 Kirk O'bee (USA) Health Net Presented By Maxxis 23 Eric Wolhberg (Can) Canadian National Team 24 David Mccann (Irl) Giant Asia Racing Team 25 Ryan Sullivan (Aus) Australian National U23 Team 26 John Murphy (USA) Health Net Presented By Maxxis 27 Jonathon Clarke (Aus) Southaustralia.com-AIS 28 Phil Zajicek (USA) Navigators Insurance Cycling Team 29 Makoto Iijima (Jpn) Japanese National Team 30 Peter Mcdonald (Aus) FRF Couriers-Caravello 31 Trent Lowe (Aus) Australian National Team 32 Trent Wilson (Aus) Australian National Team 33 David Tanner (Aus) Australian National U23 Team 34 Hossein Askari (IRI) Giant Asia Racing Team 35 Darren Lapthorne (Aus) Drapac Porsche 36 Cameron Hughes (Aus) Carvalhelhos-Boavista 37 Garrett Peltonen (USA) Health Net Presented By Maxxis 38 Jacek Moraiko (Pol) Carvalhelhos-Boavista 39 Chris Jongewaard (Aus) Savings & Loans Cycling Team 40 Ben Day (Aus) Carvalhelhos-Boavista 41 Wesley Sulzberger (Aus) Southaustralia.com-AIS 42 Jeremy Vennell (NZl) DFL-Cyclingnews-Litespeed 43 Stephen Cunningham (Aus) Savings & Loans Cycling Team 44 Robbie Mcewen (Aus) Australian National Team 0.19 45 Joaquim Sampaio (Por) Carvalhelhos-Boavista 0.41 46 Stuart Shaw (Aus) Drapac Porsche 47 Bruno Langlois (Can) Canadian National Team 48 Satoshi Hirose (Jpn) Japanese National Team 1.02 49 Camiel Denis (Ned) Netherlands-Altipower 50 Stephen Gallagher (Irl) Giant Asia Racing Team 51 Peter Herzig (Aus) FRF Couriers-Caravello 1.16 52 Yoshiyuki Abe (Jpn) Japanese National Team 53 Kane Oaley (Aus) DFL-Cyclingnews-Litespeed 54 David Pell (Aus) Carvalhelhos-Boavista 55 Bernard Sulzberger (Aus) DFL-Cyclingnews-Litespeed 1.19 56 Dean Windsor (Aus) Drapac Porsche 57 Casey Munro (Aus) Drapac Porsche 58 Joshua Marden (Aus) FRF Couriers-Caravello 59 Phillip Thuaux (Aus) Drapac Porsche 60 Matt Wilson (Aus) Australian National Team 61 Leigh Palmer (Aus) DFL-Cyclingnews-Litespeed 62 Scott Peoples (Aus) Australian National U23 Team 63 Marvin Van Der Pluym (Ned) Netherlands-Altipower 64 Matthew Lloyd (Aus) Southaustralia.com-AIS 65 Derek Mcmaster (Can) Canadian National Team 66 Brandon Crichton (Can) Canadian National Team 67 Doug Ollershaw (USA) Health Net Presented By Maxxis 68 Mitchell Docker (Aus) Drapac Porsche 69 Manuel Cardoso (Por) Carvalhelhos-Boavista 0.06 70 Johnnie Walker (Aus) Navigators Insurance Cycling Team 1.19 71 Ben Brooks (Aus) Navigators Insurance Cycling Team 72 Peter Mueller (Aus) Savings & Loans Cycling Team 73 Russell Van Hout (Aus) Savings & Loans Cycling Team 74 Henk Vogels (Aus) Australian National Team 75 Patrick Shaw (Aus) Australian National U23 Team 76 Nariyuki Masuda (Jpn) Japanese National Team 77 Zac Dempster (Aus) Australian National U23 Team 78 Dustin Macburnie (Can) Canadian National Team 79 Ryan Mackenzie (Can) Canadian National Team 80 Ghader Mizbani (IRI) Giant Asia Racing Team 81 Jason Hegert (Aus) FRF Couriers-Caravello 82 James Hannam (Aus) Savings & Loans Cycling Team 83 Mark O'brien (Aus) Australian National U23 Team 84 Daniel Mcconnell (Aus) Southaustralia.com-AIS 85 Joe Mcdonnell (Aus) FRF Couriers-Caravello 86 Michael Ford (Aus) Southaustralia.com-AIS 87 Cornelius Van Ooijen (Ned) Netherlands-Altipower 88 Will Dickeson (Aus) Savings & Loans Cycling Team 89 Paul Griffin (Irl) Giant Asia Racing Team 90 Brendan Brooks (Aus) FRF Couriers-Caravello 91 Jasper Lenferink (Ned) Netherlands-Altipower 92 Robert Cater (Aus) FRF Couriers-Caravello 93 Yasuharu Nakajima (Jpn) Japanese National Team 94 Yoshiyuki Shimizu (Jpn) Japanese National Team 95 Thijs Poelstra (Ned) Netherlands-Altipower General classification after stage 1 1 Hilton Clarke (Aus) Navigators Insurance Cycling Team 1.05.35 2 Tobias Erler (Ger) Giant Asia Racing Team 0.07 3 Karl Menzies (Aus) Health Net Presented By Maxxis 0.12 4 Dominique Rollin (Can) Canadian National Team 0.13 5 Tony Mann (Aus) Australian National Team 0.18 6 David Kemp (Aus) Australian National U23 Team 7 Greg Henderson (NZl) Health Net Presented By Maxxis 0.22 8 Brett Aitken (Aus) Savings & Loans Cycling Team 9 Ger Soepenberg (Ned) Netherlands-Altipower 10 Simon Clarke (Aus) Southaustralia.com-AIS 11 Mark Walters (Can) Navigators Insurance Cycling Team 12 Grant Irwin (Aus) DFL-Cyclingnews-Litespeed 13 Maint Berkenbosch (Ned) Netherlands-Altipower 14 Simon Gerrans (Aus) Australian National Team 15 Daniel Lloyd (GBr) Giant Asia Racing Team 16 Robert Mclachlan (Aus) Drapac Porsche 17 David Harrigan (Aus) DFL-Cyclingnews-Litespeed 18 Kyle Gritters (USA) Health Net Presented By Maxxis 19 Ci'aran Power (Irl) Navigators Insurance Cycling Team 20 Yoshimitsu Tsuji (Jpn) Japanese National Team 21 Virgilio Santos (Por) Carvalhelhos-Boavista 22 Kirk O'bee (USA) Health Net Presented By Maxxis 23 Eric Wolhberg (Can) Canadian National Team 24 David Mccann (Irl) Giant Asia Racing Team 25 Ryan Sullivan (Aus) Australian National U23 Team 26 John Murphy (USA) Health Net Presented By Maxxis 27 Jonathon Clarke (Aus) Southaustralia.com-AIS 28 Phil Zajicek (USA) Navigators Insurance Cycling Team 29 Makoto Iijima (Jpn) Japanese National Team 30 Peter Mcdonald (Aus) FRF Couriers-Caravello 31 Trent Lowe (Aus) Australian National Team 32 Trent Wilson (Aus) Australian National Team 33 David Tanner (Aus) Australian National U23 Team 34 Hossein Askari (IRI) Giant Asia Racing Team 35 Darren Lapthorne (Aus) Drapac Porsche 36 Cameron Hughes (Aus) Carvalhelhos-Boavista 37 Garrett Peltonen (USA) Health Net Presented By Maxxis 38 Jacek Moraiko (Pol) Carvalhelhos-Boavista 39 Chris Jongewaard (Aus) Savings & Loans Cycling Team 40 Ben Day (Aus) Carvalhelhos-Boavista 41 Wesley Sulzberger (Aus) Southaustralia.com-AIS 42 Jeremy Vennell (NZl) DFL-Cyclingnews-Litespeed 43 Stephen Cunningham (Aus) Savings & Loans Cycling Team 44 Robbie Mcewen (Aus) Australian National Team 0.35 45 Joaquim Sampaio (Por) Carvalhelhos-Boavista 0.57 46 Stuart Shaw (Aus) Drapac Porsche 47 Bruno Langlois (Can) Canadian National Team 48 Satoshi Hirose (Jpn) Japanese National Team 1.18 49 Camiel Denis (Ned) Netherlands-Altipower 50 Stephen Gallagher (Irl) Giant Asia Racing Team 51 Peter Herzig (Aus) FRF Couriers-Caravello 1.32 52 Yoshiyuki Abe (Jpn) Japanese National Team 53 Kane Oaley (Aus) DFL-Cyclingnews-Litespeed 54 David Pell (Aus) Carvalhelhos-Boavista 55 Bernard Sulzberger (Aus) DFL-Cyclingnews-Litespeed 1.35 56 Dean Windsor (Aus) Drapac Porsche 57 Casey Munro (Aus) Drapac Porsche
