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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

Hilton Clarke (Navigators) and the traditional
Photo ©: Shane Goss
(Click for larger image)

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.

The fast pace
Photo ©: Shane Goss
(Click for larger image)

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.

Karl Menzies (HealthNet-Maxxis)
Photo ©: Shane Goss
(Click for larger image)

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

Robbie McEwen (Jayco Australia)
Photo ©: Shane Goss
(Click for larger image)

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

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                               

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