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Tour of Tasmania - NE
Australia, October 2-7, 2007
Main Page Results Overall standings Previous Stage Next Stage
Stage 9 - October 6: Launceston to Grindelwald, 49.9km
Oliphant takes morning dash
By Rod Morris in George Town
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Scotsman Evan Oliphant won the Grindelwald stage ahead of Tasmanian Josh Wilson, who hails from nearby Legana and was desperate to clinch a positive result in his "backyard." Keeping Meyer family name in the lights, Travis Meyer (18) was third behind Oliphant and Wilson, while his brother, Cameron, continues to lead the overall classification.
Cameron had an interesting morning in the saddle during the 49.9-kilometre "dash" from Launceston to Grindelwald. Forging his way into a tilt at winning the stage, Meyer shifted into a higher gear at the top of the final climb into the Swiss styled village when his derailleur broke.
His SouthAustralia.com-AIS team-mate Shaun Higgerson – winner of the 2005 Tour of Tasmania – was in the same bunch at the time of the incident and immediately swapped bikes so as to allow the tour leader to lose minimal time. The accident occurred just 800 metres from the finish and it cost Meyer 20 seconds in time and the chance to claim his third stage win of the tour.
How it unfolded
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A broken derailleur near the finish line cost Cameron Meyer the chance of stage victory and more importantly the opportunity to extend his overall tour lead. Meyer was about to make his final gear change when his chain slipped and tore the derailleur from the frame. Thankfully, his team-mate Shaun Higgerson was at his side and was able to swap bikes almost immediately although Meyer still lost 20 seconds to the stage winner, Oliphant.
Oliphant (25) is the current Scottish road race champion and is a four-time British road race titleholder after growing up on grass racing, which is popular in his native homeland.
He had attacked the field once they hit the top of the climb into Grindelwald, and although the race distance was only a relatively short 49.9 kilometres, they still managed to return an average speed of 41.18 kph.
Starting at the Country Club Resort in Launceston, the reduced field of 88 riders – from an original list of 101 – meandered along at a leisurely pace before the first attacking group made a move 18 kilometres into the race. Shortly after the group broke up and three riders, Gilbert Gutowski (Qld), Brad Edmunds (NSW) and Jason Hegert (NSW) edged further up the road, claiming the first intermediate sprint and the category 4 hill climb.
As the tempo lifted 15 kilometres from the finish, Gutowski, Edmunds and Hegert were soon reeled in. Meyer and his team-mates jockeyed for positions at the head of the peloton and looked set to claim another stage win before disaster struck.
Photography
For a thumbnail gallery of these images, click here
Images by Shane Goss/www.licoricegallery.com
- Patrick Shaw (Jayco/VIS) was in 20th place overall on the Tour and third in the Timbercorp National Road Series going into the ninth stage in Launceston.
- Brett Aitken (Savings and Loans) - An Olympic Gold Medallist warming up in front of the Country Club Resort in Launceston where stage nine of the Tour began.
- Ord Minnett/Triple Play teammates (L-R) Hayden Josefski, Gilbert Gutowski and Cameron Hughes browse over the General Classification results prior to stage nine
- Peter McDonald (NSWIS/FRF) gets his coffee fix inside Launceston's Country Club Resort before racing on stage nine.
- The Tour heads over the South Esk River just after leaving Launceston on the 49.9km journey to the Swiss Village of Grindelwald.
- Joel Pearson (Ballarat City Cycles) made an attempt to sneak away from the peloton early into the stage.
- Nicholas Walker (L) of the Jayco/VIS team and Joel Pearson (Ballarat City Cycles) go in search of a winning break on the short stage to Grindelwald.
- Snow was on the mountains in the distance and the weather hasn't been too kind to the Tour in 2007.
- Gilbert Gutowski (Ord Minnett/Triple Play) and Brad Edmunds (Ballarat City Cycles) were the next pair to force the pace near Rosevale.
- Brad Edmunds (Ballarat City Cycles) was in 62nd place heading into the ninth stage, over an hour behind Tour leader Cameron Meyer (SouthAustralia.com/AIS)
- Jason Hegert (NSWIS/FRF) went into the ninth stage in 78th place on the GC and got himself into a three-man breakaway after 18 kilometres.
- The peloton would reel in the leading trio in the final 15 kilometres of the stage.
- Current Scottish Road Champion, Evan Oliphant, takes out stage nine of the Tour into Grindelwald
- Oh man! He's already beaten me at back-yard cricket and chess, now he's going to beat me in the Tour of Tasmania: Brothers Travis (right) and Cameron Meyer, one-two in the Tour so far
- The stage nine podium (L-R): Josh Wilson second (Praties), Evan Oliphant first (Craig Price Cyclery), and Travis Meyer third (Drapac Porsche)
- Happy Birthday Winston: Timbercorp Sprint Points leader, Kristian House (Devonport Municipal Challenge Team)
- Tom Southam (Drapac Porsche) will win the Central Coast Council King of the Mountains Competition
- Cameron Meyer (SouthAustralia.com/ AIS) remains the Jayco Tour of Tasmania leader after nine stages.
Results
1 Evan Oliphant (Sco) 1.12.42 (41.18 hm/h) 2 Joshua Wilson (TAS) 0.07 3 Travis Meyer (WA) 0.08 4 Bernard Sulzberger (TAS) 5 David Pell (VIC) 0.10 6 Peter McDonald (NSW) 7 Adam Semple (WA) 8 Tom Southam (GBr) 0.13 9 Cameron Meyer (WA) 0.20 10 Ben Mather (TAS) 0.30 11 Steven Robb (VIC) 12 Glenn O’Shea (VIC) 13 Leigh Howard (VIC) 14 Benjamin King (WA) 0.32 15 Tim Roe (SA) 0.47 16 Cameron Hughes (QLD) 0.50 17 Daniel Braunsteins (VIC) 18 Richard England (VIC) 19 Ben Grenda (TAS) 1.02 20 Kristian House (GBr) 21 Brendan Brooks (NSW) 22 Peter Herzig (QLD) 23 Ben Grieve-Johnson (TAS) 1.15 24 Hayden Josefski (QLD) 25 Joe Lewis (NSW) 26 Shaun Higgerson (NSW) 27 Michael Smith (TAS) 28 Tony Mann (QLD) 29 Chris Jory (NSW) 30 Robbie Cater (NSW) 31 Tim Elmer (TAS) 1.17 32 Jonathan Cantwell (QLD) 33 Casey Munro (VIC) 34 Joel Pearson (NSW) 35 Sid Taberlay (TAS) 1.20 36 Trent Stevenson (VIC) 1.22 37 John Ebeling (NSW) 38 Matthew McDonagh (TAS) 39 Miles Watson (NZ) 1.40 40 Charles Howlett (TAS) 41 Simon Brown (TAS) 42 Lachlan Stewart (VIC) 43 Patrick Shaw (VIC) 44 Andrew Roe (SA) 1.58 45 Andrew Ward (VIC) 2.05 46 Simon Price (NSW) 2.14 47 Simon Pearson (SA) 48 Suki Stone (QLD) 49 Grant Irwin (QLD) 2.17 50 Jack Anderson (QLD) 51 Mark Jamieson (TAS) 2.19 52 Matt King (NT) 53 Timothy Walker (TAS) 54 Mathew Camilleri (NSW) 2.30 55 Nathan Dyke (WA) 56 William Ford (VIC) 2.33 57 Nicholas Sanderson (VIC) 2.34 58 Gilbert Gutowski (QLD) 59 Miles Olman (QLD) 60 Nathan Wise (VIC) 61 Jarrod Harman (TAS) 2.54 62 Tom Middleton (SA) 3.02 63 Craig McCartney (VIC) 64 Matthew Sydes (TAS) 3.05 65 Joshua Edwards (QLD) 3.06 66 Tom Robinson (TAS) 3.09 67 Brett Aitken (SA) 3.21 68 Stuart Shaw (ACT) 3.30 69 Sean Finning (VIC) 70 Daniel Furmston (TAS) 71 Nicholas Walker (VIC) 4.27 72 Peter Milostic (NSW) 73 Nathan Clarke (TAS) 4.29 74 Daniel Cutting (TAS) 75 Jason Bellchambers (TAS) 76 Jason Hegert (VIC) 77 Jay Bourke (VIC) 78 Brad Edmunds (VIC) 79 Alistair Crossling (NZ) 5.25 80 Malcolm Rudolph (QLD) 6.03 81 Will Wettenhall (VIC) 6.11 82 Jeremy Hills (TAS) 83 Aaron Jones (TAS) 7.35 84 Andras Nagy (TAS) DNF Brendan Jones (NSW) DNF Brendon Sharratt (NZ) DNS Darcy Rosenlund (QLD) Points Mocka 37 Rosevale 1 Gilbert Gutowski (QLD) 3 pts 2 Brad Edmunds (VIC) 2 3 Jason Hegert (VIC) 1 Mocka 46 1 Kristian House (GBr) 3 pts 2 Patrick Shaw (VIC) 2 3 Ben Grenda (TAS) 1 Mocka 51 Legana B 1 Tom Robinson (TAS) 3 pts 2 Joel Pearson (NSW) 2 3 Jonathan Cantwell (QLD) 1 Mountains Cat 4 Mocka 41 Cream Hous 1 Brad Edmunds (VIC) 3 pts 2 Gilbert Gutowski (QLD) 2 3 Jason Hegert (VIC) 1 Cat 2 Mocka 60 Stage Finish 1 Evan Oliphant (Sco) 7 pts 2 Joshua Wilson (TAS) 5 3 Travis Meyer (WA) 3 Most aggressive rider 30 PEARSON, Joel NSW 2 pts General classification after stage 9 1 Cameron Meyer (WA) 11.48.22 2 Travis Meyer (WA) 1.56 3 Bernard Sulzberger (TAS) 2.03 4 Tom Southam (GBr) 2.41 5 Leigh Howard (VIC) 2.50 6 Steven Robb (VIC) 4.01 7 Benjamin King (WA) 5.00 8 Shaun Higgerson (NSW) 5.17 9 Tim Roe (SA) 5.32 10 Kristian House (GBr) 5.39 11 David Pell (VIC) 12 Joel Pearson (NSW) 6.08 13 Cameron Hughes (QLD) 6.29 14 Adam Semple (WA) 6.31 15 Evan Oliphant (Sco) 8.31 16 Stuart Shaw (ACT) 9.34 17 Ben Mather (TAS) 9.39 18 Joshua Wilson (TAS) 10.40 19 Casey Munro (VIC) 12.43 20 Patrick Shaw (VIC) 14.09 21 Hayden Josefski (QLD) 19.28 22 Daniel Braunsteins (VIC) 21.08 23 Ben Grenda (TAS) 22.14 24 Richard England (VIC) 23.07 25 Brendan Brooks (NSW) 23.17 26 Matthew McDonagh (TAS) 25.05 27 Chris Jory (NSW) 26.18 28 Peter McDonald (NSW) 30.09 29 Mark Jamieson (TAS) 31.02 30 Timothy Walker (TAS) 31.15 31 Nicholas Sanderson (VIC) 32.04 32 Jonathan Cantwell (QLD) 35.25 33 Craig McCartney (VIC) 35.50 34 Nicholas Walker (VIC) 36.36 35 Glenn O’Shea (VIC) 37.29 36 Charles Howlett (TAS) 37.44 37 Tom Middleton (SA) 38.41 38 Miles Olman (QLD) 38.55 39 Miles Watson (NZ) 39.15 40 Lachlan Stewart (VIC) 39.47 41 Trent Stevenson (VIC) 39.48 42 Jack Anderson (QLD) 41.14 43 Tony Mann (QLD) 41.37 44 Sid Taberlay (TAS) 41.48 45 Brett Aitken (SA) 41.54 46 John Ebeling (NSW) 42.02 47 Nathan Wise (VIC) 43.21 48 Joe Lewis (NSW) 44.01 49 Tim Elmer (TAS) 46.44 50 Simon Brown (TAS) 46.49 51 Simon Pearson (SA) 48.03 52 Simon Price (NSW) 50.00 53 Peter Herzig (QLD) 52.25 54 Andrew Roe (SA) 53.23 55 Peter Milostic (NSW) 53.28 56 William Ford (VIC) 55.29 57 Grant Irwin (QLD) 59.23 58 Jay Bourke (VIC) 59.41 59 Robbie Cater (NSW) 1.00.12 60 Tom Robinson (TAS) 1.03.14 61 Brad Edmunds (VIC) 1.05.14 62 Jarrod Harman (TAS) 1.06.53 63 Nathan Clarke (TAS) 1.07.11 64 Matt King (NT) 1.08.35 65 Malcolm Rudolph (QLD) 1.11.05 66 Mathew Camilleri (NSW) 1.12.07 67 Daniel Furmston (TAS) 1.12.18 68 Nathan Dyke (WA) 1.13.51 69 Aaron Jones (TAS) 1.16.17 70 Gilbert Gutowski (QLD) 1.17.22 71 Will Wettenhall (VIC) 1.17.26 72 Ben Grieve-Johnson (TAS) 1.18.14 73 Daniel Cutting (TAS) 1.18.30 74 Andrew Ward (VIC) 1.18.46 75 Alistair Crossling (NZ) 1.24.24 76 Jason Hegert (VIC) 1.25.35 77 Sean Finning (VIC) 1.26.54 78 Joshua Edwards (QLD) 1.31.22 79 Suki Stone (QLD) 1.36.51 80 Matthew Sydes (TAS) 1.37.14 81 Jason Bellchambers (TAS) 1.40.08 82 Michael Smith (TAS) 1.51.48 83 Jeremy Hills (TAS) 1.58.28 84 Andras Nagy (TAS) 2.19.12 Points classification 1 Kristian House (GBr) 61 pts 2 Tom Southam (GBr) 24 3 Sean Finning (VIC) 20 4 David Pell (VIC) 15 5 Travis Meyer (WA) 15 6 Stuart Shaw (ACT) 15 7 Cameron Meyer (WA) 14 8 Peter McDonald (NSW) 13 9 Patrick Shaw (VIC) 13 10 Craig McCartney (VIC) 12 11 Leigh Howard (VIC) 11 12 Malcolm Rudolph (QLD) 10 13 Casey Munro (VIC) 10 14 Bernard Sulzberger (TAS) 9 15 Brett Aitken (SA) 9 16 Joel Pearson (NSW) 9 17 Trent Stevenson (VIC) 7 18 Andrew Ward (VIC) 7 19 Benjamin King (WA) 6 20 Joshua Wilson (TAS) 6 21 Miles Olman (QLD) 6 22 Richard England (VIC) 5 23 Jonathan Cantwell (QLD) 4 24 Peter Herzig (QLD) 4 25 Tom Robinson (TAS) 4 26 Charles Howlett (TAS) 4 27 Gilbert Gutowski (QLD) 4 28 Steven Robb (VIC) 3 29 Tom Middleton (SA) 3 30 Tony Mann (QLD) 3 31 Ben Grenda (TAS) 3 32 Nicholas Walker (VIC) 3 33 Cameron Hughes (QLD) 3 34 Brad Edmunds (VIC) 3 35 Nicholas Sanderson (VIC) 2 36 Jack Anderson (QLD) 2 37 Shaun Higgerson (NSW) 2 38 Chris Jory (NSW) 2 39 Nathan Wise (VIC) 2 40 Ben Mather (TAS) 1 41 Darcy Rosenlund (QLD) 1 42 Grant Irwin (QLD) 1 43 Jason Hegert (VIC) 1 Mountains classification 1 Tom Southam (GBr) 32 pts 2 Cameron Meyer (WA) 23 3 Shaun Higgerson (NSW) 16 4 Joshua Wilson (TAS) 15 5 Bernard Sulzberger (TAS) 13 6 Travis Meyer (WA) 10 7 Benjamin King (WA) 8 8 Evan Oliphant (Sco) 7 9 Leigh Howard (VIC) 7 10 Sid Taberlay (TAS) 6 11 David Pell (VIC) 4 12 Ben Mather (TAS) 3 13 Nicholas Sanderson (VIC) 3 14 Trent Stevenson (VIC) 3 15 Timothy Walker (TAS) 3 16 Brad Edmunds (VIC) 3 17 Joel Pearson (NSW) 3 18 Andrew Ward (VIC) 2 19 Daniel Braunsteins (VIC) 2 20 Jack Anderson (QLD) 2 21 Gilbert Gutowski (QLD) 2 22 Patrick Shaw (VIC) 2 23 Jason Hegert (VIC) 1 24 Craig McCartney (VIC) 1 25 Malcolm Rudolph (QLD) 1 26 Peter McDonald (NSW) 1 Criterium Championship classification 1 Leigh Howard (VIC) 25 pts 2 Joel Pearson (NSW) 25 3 Brett Aitken (SA) 22 4 Jonathan Cantwell (QLD) 16 5 Sid Taberlay (TAS) 15 6 Richard England (VIC) 10 7 Kristian House (GBr) 9 8 Bernard Sulzberger (TAS) 9 9 Miles Olman (QLD) 7 10 Nicholas Sanderson (VIC) 6 11 Miles Watson (NZ) 6 12 Peter McDonald (NSW) 4 13 Robbie Cater (NSW) 3 14 Grant Irwin (QLD) 3 15 Charles Howlett (TAS) 3 16 Tom Robinson (TAS) 1 17 Joshua Wilson (TAS) 1 Most aggressive rider classification 1 Tom Southam (GBr) 4 pts 2 Joel Pearson (NSW) 2 3 Joshua Wilson (TAS) 2 4 Sean Finning (VIC) 2 5 Brett Aitken (SA) 2 6 Kristian House (GBr) 2 7 Andrew Ward (VIC) 1 8 Malcolm Rudolph (QLD) 1 9 Trent Stevenson (VIC) 1 Tasmanian Rider classification 1 Bernard Sulzberger (TAS) 11.50.25 2 Ben Mather (TAS) 7.36 3 Joshua Wilson (TAS) 8.37 4 Ben Grenda (TAS) 20.11 5 Matthew McDonagh (TAS) 23.02 6 Mark Jamieson (TAS) 28.59 7 Timothy Walker (TAS) 29.12 8 Charles Howlett (TAS) 35.41 9 Sid Taberlay (TAS) 39.45 10 Tim Elmer (TAS) 44.41 11 Simon Brown (TAS) 44.46 12 Tom Robinson (TAS) 1.01.11 13 Jarrod Harman (TAS) 1.04.50 14 Nathan Clarke (TAS) 1.05.08 15 Daniel Furmston (TAS) 1.10.15 16 Aaron Jones (TAS) 1.14.14 17 Ben Grieve-Johnson (TAS) 1.16.11 18 Daniel Cutting (TAS) 1.16.27 19 Matthew Sydes (TAS) 1.35.11 20 Jason Bellchambers (TAS) 1.38.05 21 Michael Smith (TAS) 1.49.45 22 Jeremy Hills (TAS) 1.56.25 23 Andras Nagy (TAS) 2.17.09
