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Tour of Tasmania - NE
Australia, October 2-7, 2007
Main Page Results Overall standings Previous Stage Next Stage
Stage 8 - October 5: Westbury to Westbury, 78.7km
Aitken wins, while Timbercorp Cup becomes tight affair
By Rod Morris in Westbury
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West Australian teenager Cameron Meyer took one step closer to claiming overall victory in the Jayco Tour of Tasmania, whilst the Timbercorp Cup National Cycling Series was thrown wide open again in an exciting fourth day in Westbury.
Meyer will carry a lead of 2'17" minutes into weekend battle with three races remaining before the tour is decided at the Launceston Brickfields on Sunday, whilst yesterday's stage winners came from a vastly different age spectrum.
The morning criterium in Westbury went to Victorian 17-year-old Leigh Howard, while South Australian Brett Aitken won the afternoon's out and back road race in the same township.
It was Howard's third win of this week's tour, while for Aitken it was ninth victory in the history of this national series and his fourth Tour of Tasmania stage win since success at Hobart's Salamanca Place in 1998. Meyer's overnight lead was extended above 2 minutes courtesy of his younger brother Travis suffering a puncture in the afternoon race and losing valuable time. One of the bigger stories to come out of the day was the standings in the Timbercorp Cup with Queensland's Grant Irwin edging to within four points of leader Peter McDonald and now having a realistic chance of overall victory.
How it unfolded
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Compared to what the tour has experienced earlier this week, Stage 8 –- or at least the first 55 kilometres -- was a fairly mundane affair. Trent Stevenson (Vic), Malcolm Rudolph (Qld) and Andrew Ward (Vic) made an attacking move 20 kilometres into the race but were not chased down by the pack because of their low standings on the general classification.
The trio shared all four intermediate sprints and the first of the hill climbs before the peloton got serious. Stevenson, Rudolph and Ward were eventually caught with 20 kilometres remaining and were soon gobbled up and spent the rest of race hanging onto the back of the pack.
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In the long finish straight, it was apparent the best sprinter with the freshest legs and the wisest head was going to prevail. And arguably, Brett Aitken can be considered one of the best sprinters in Australia, whether it be on the road or on the track. In a frenetic finish, Aitken held on to beat Queensland's Grant Irwin, with Joel Pearson scoring his fourth minor placing for the week. It was Aitken's fourth Tour of Tasmania stage victory after previous successes in the 1998 Salamanca Criterium, Swansea to St Helens in 2002 and Burnie to Latrobe in 2002.
It was also his ninth Tattersall's/Timbercorp Cup stage victory, making him the second most successful, behind Robert McLachlan. "I felt good out there and my legs seem fairly fresh," Aitken said. "I'm not going to win the tour, but if I can pick up a few stage wins then I'll be happy."
Tour leader Cameron Meyer was 31st in the stage but did no damage as he cruised across the finish line with the main bunch and lost no time to any of his nearest challengers. He will move into the weekend with a lead of 2'17.
Photography
For a thumbnail gallery of these images, click here
Images by Shane Goss/www.licoricegallery.com
- The peloton on stage eight with the Great Western Tiers in the background
- Malcolm Rudolph (QAS) in the leading trio that broke clear early into stage eight
- Trent Stevenson (L) of Bendigo and Andrew Ward (Ballarat City Cycles) share a lighter moment in the leading break on stage eight
- Timbercorp Sprint Points leader, Kristian House (Devonport Municipal Challenge Team) punctured early into the 78.7km stage eight
- Matt King (L) of the Northern Territory and Hayden Josefski (Ord Minnett/Triple Play) on the front of the peloton approaching Cressy
- Kristian House (Devonport Municipal Challenge Team) was glad to be back in the peloton after puncturing near Bracknell
- The leading trio of Andrew Ward (Ballarat City Cycles), Malcolm Rudolph (QAS), and Trent Stevenson (Decked Out Bendigo) maintaining their break on the chasing peloton nearing Armstrong's Lane
- 2006 Launceston to Hobart One Day Classic winner, Trent Stevenson (Decked Out Bendigo) will be defending his title on October the 13th in Tassie
- Tour leader Cameron Meyer (SouthAustralia.com/AIS) was safely in the peloton all the way during stage eight
- The break was caught and a large group formed with around 15 kilometres to the finish
- English pair Kristian House (Devonport Municipal Challenge Team) and Tom Southam (Drapac Porsche) head the lead group up another climb approaching the finish
- David Pell (Savings and Loans) looks around to see where team sprinter Brett Aitken is in the leading group
- A large bunch of riders had formed within the final kilometres to the finish in Westbury
- Brett Aitken (Savings and Loans) raises his arm in triumph to take stage eight ahead of Grant Irwin (Ord Minnett/Triple Play) and Joel Pearson (Ballarat City Cycles)
Results
1 Brett Aitken (SA) 1.52.26 (42.00 km/h) 2 Grant Irwin (Qld) 3 Joel Pearson (NSW) 4 Richard England (Vic) 5 Jonathan Cantwell (Qld) 6 Leigh Howard (Vic) 7 Nicholas Sanderson (Vic) 8 Sid Taberlay (Tas) 9 Miles Olman (Qld) 10 Patrick Shaw (Vic) 11 Bernard Sulzberger (Tas) 12 Miles Watson (NZl) 13 Mark Jamieson (Tas) 14 Tom Robinson (Tas) 0.03 15 Ben Grenda (Tas) 16 Jarrod Harman (Tas) 17 Charles Howlett (Tas) 18 John Embling (NSW) 19 Darcy Rosenlund (Qld) 20 Simon Brown (Tas) 21 Jason Hegert (Vic) 22 Peter McDonald (NSW) 23 Chris Jory (NSW) 24 Ben Mather (Tas) 25 Adam Semple (WA) 26 Evan Oliphant (Sco) 27 Tom Southam (GBr) 28 Craig McCartney (Vic) 29 Brendan Brooks (NSW) 30 Brad Edmunds (Vic) 31 Cameron Meyer (WA) 32 Benjamin King (WA) 33 Jack Anderson (Qld) 34 Cameron Hughes (Qld) 35 Steven Robb (Vic) 36 Hayden Josefski (Qld) 37 Gilbert Gutowski (Qld) 38 David Pell (Vic) 39 Simon Pearson (SA) 40 Kristian House (GBr) 41 Shaun Higgerson (NSW) 42 Tim Elmer (Tas) 43 Joshua Edwards (Qld) 44 Joshua Wilson (Tas) 45 Andrew Roe (SA) 46 Glenn O’Shea (Vic) 47 Robbie Cater (NSW) 48 William Ford (Vic) 49 Nicholas Walker (Vic) 0.18 50 Timothy Walker (Tas) 51 Travis Meyer (WA) 0.45 52 Tim Roe (SA) 53 Aaron Jones (Tas) 0.48 54 Simon Price (NSW) 55 Joe Lewis (NSW) 56 Mathew Camilleri (NSW) 57 Trent Stevenson (Vic) 58 Jaso Bellchambers (Tas) 59 Tony Mann (Qld) 60 Peter Milostic (NSW) 61 Stuart Shaw (ACT) 62 Nathan Clarke (Tas) 63 Daniel Cutting (Tas) 64 Michael Smith (Tas) 65 Nathan Wise (Vic) 66 Daniel Braunsteins (Vic) 1.01 67 Lachlan Stewart (Vic) 68 Tom Middleton (SA) 69 Matthew McDonagh (Tas) 70 Andrew Ward (Vic) 2.03 71 Will Wettenhall (Vic) 2.37 72 Daniel Furmston (Tas) 2.43 73 Malcolm Rudolph (Qld) 4.34 74 Matthew Sydes (Tas) 75 Be Grieve-Johnson (Tas) 5.22 76 Jay Bourke (Vic) 77 Peter Herzig (Qld) 78 Suki Stone (Qld) 79 Brendan Jones (NSW) 80 Matt King (NT) 81 Casey Munro (Vic) 82 Sean Finning (Vic) 83 Alistair Crossling (NZl) 6.21 84 Jeremy Hills (Tas) 85 Nathan Dyke (WA) 86 Andras Nagy (Tas) 6.33 87 Brendon Sharratt (NZl) DNS Alexander Machin (Vic) Points Cluan Ho - km 13 1 Malcolm Rudolph (Qld) 3 pts 2 Andrew Ward (Vic) 2 3 Trent Stevenson (Vic) 1 Bracknell - km 22 1 Andrew Ward (Vic) 3 pts 2 Trent Stevenson (Vic) 2 3 Malcolm Rudolph (Qld) 1 Ringwood - km 39 1 Malcolm Rudolph (Qld) 3 pts 2 Trent Stevenson (Vic) 2 3 Andrew Ward (Vic) 1 Carrick T - km 52 1 Malcolm Rudolph (Qld) 3 pts 2 Trent Stevenson (Vic) 2 3 Andrew Ward (Vic) 1 Mountains House on Le (cat 4) - km 47 1 Trent Stevenson (Vic) 3 pts 2 Andrew Ward (Vic) 2 3 Malcolm Rudolph (Qld) 1 Green Fence (cat 4) - km 65 1 Timothy Walker (Tas) 3 pts 2 Tom Southam (GBr) 2 3 Shaun Higgerson (NSW) 1 Most aggressive rider Trent Stevenson (Vic) Malcolm Rudolph (Qld) Andrew Ward (Vic) General classification after stage 8 1 Cameron Meyer (WA) 10.35.20 2 Travis Meyer (WA) 2.17 3 Bernard Sulzberger (Tas) 2.19 4 Leigh Howard (Vic) 2.40 5 Tom Southam (GBr) 2.48 6 Steven Robb (Vic) 3.51 7 Shaun Higgerson (NSW) 4.22 8 Benjamin King (WA) 4.48 9 Kristian House (GBr) 5.00 10 Tim Roe (SA) 5.05 11 Joel Pearson (NSW) 5.13 12 David Pell (Vic) 5.51 13 Cameron Hughes (Qld) 5.59 14 Stuart Shaw (ACT) 6.24 15 Adam Semple (WA) 6.41 16 Evan Oliphant (Sco) 9.08 17 Ben Mather (Tas) 9.29 18 Joshua Wilson (Tas) 11.06 19 Casey Munro (Vic) 11.46 20 Patrick Shaw (Vic) 12.51 21 Hayden Josefski (Qld) 18.33 22 Daniel Braunsteins (Vic) 20.38 23 Ben Grenda (Tas) 21.33 24 Brendan Brooks (NSW) 22.35 25 Richard England (Vic) 22.37 26 Matthew McDonagh (Tas) 24.03 27 Chris Jory (NSW) 25.23 28 Darcy Rosenlund (Qld) 27.05 29 Mark Jamieson (Tas) 29.03 30 Timothy Walker (Tas) 29.16 31 Nicholas Sanderson (Vic) 29.50 32 Peter McDonald (NSW) 30.20 33 Nicholas Walker (Vic) 32.29 34 Craig McCartney (Vic) 33.08 35 Jonathan Cantwell (Qld) 34.29 36 Tom Middleton (SA) 35.59 37 Charles Howlett (Tas) 36.24 38 Miles Olman (Qld) 36.41 39 Glenn O’Shea (Vic) 37.19 40 Miles Watson (NZl) 37.55 41 Lachlan Stewart (Vic) 38.27 42 Trent Stevenson (Vic) 38.46 43 Brett Aitken (SA) 38.53 44 Jack Anderson (Qld) 39.17 45 Tony Mann (Qld) 40.42 46 Sid Taberlay (Tas) 40.48 47 John Embling (NSW) 41.00 48 Nathan Wise (Vic) 41.07 49 Joe Lewis (NSW) 43.06 50 Simon Brown (Tas) 45.29 51 Tim Elmer (Tas) 45.47 52 Simon Pearson (SA) 46.09 53 Simon Price (NSW) 48.06 54 Peter Milostic (NSW) 49.21 55 Peter Herzig (Qld) 51.43 56 Andrew Roe (SA) 51.45 57 William Ford (Vic) 53.16 58 Jay Bourke (Vic) 55.32 59 Grant Irwin (Qld) 57.26 60 Robbie Cater (NSW) 59.17 61 Tom Robinson (Tas) 1.00.28 62 Brad Edmunds (Vic) 1.01.10 63 Nathan Clarke (Tas) 1.03.02 64 Jarrod Harman (Tas) 1.04.19 65 Malcolm Rudolph (Qld) 1.05.22 66 Matt King (NT) 1.06.36 67 Brendon Sharratt (NZl) 1.08.24 68 Aaron Jones (Tas) 1.09.02 69 Daniel Furmston (Tas) 1.09.08 70 Mathew Camilleri (NSW) 1.09.57 71 Will Wettenhall (Vic) 1.11.35 72 Nathan Dyke (WA) 1.11.41 73 Daniel Cutting (Tas) 1.14.21 74 Gilbert Gutowski (Qld) 1.15.13 75 Andrew Ward (Vic) 1.17.01 76 Be Grieve-Johnson (Tas) 1.17.19 77 Alistair Crossling (NZl) 1.19.19 78 Jason Hegert (Vic) 1.21.28 79 Sean Finning (Vic) 1.23.44 80 Joshua Edwards (Qld) 1.28.36 81 Brendan Jones (NSW) 1.29.52 82 Matthew Sydes (Tas) 1.34.29 83 Suki Stone (Qld) 1.34.57 84 Jaso Bellchambers (Tas) 1.35.59 85 Michael Smith (Tas) 1.50.53 86 Jeremy Hills (Tas) 1.52.37 87 Andras Nagy (Tas) 2.11.57 Points classification 1 Kristian House (GBr) 58 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 Craig McCartney (Vic) 12 10 Leigh Howard (Vic) 11 11 Patrick Shaw (Vic) 11 12 Casey Munro (Vic) 10 13 Malcolm Rudolph (Qld) 10 14 Bernard Sulzberger (Tas) 9 15 Brett Aitken (SA) 9 16 Trent Stevenson (Vic) 7 17 Andrew Ward (Vic) 7 18 Joel Pearson (NSW) 7 19 Benjamin King (WA) 6 20 Joshua Wilson (Tas) 6 21 Miles Olman (Qld) 6 22 Richard England (Vic) 5 23 Charles Howlett (Tas) 4 24 Peter Herzig (Qld) 4 25 Jonathan Cantwell (Qld) 3 26 Steven Robb (Vic) 3 27 Tony Mann (Qld) 3 28 Tom Middleton (SA) 3 29 Nicholas Walker (Vic) 3 30 Cameron Hughes (Qld) 3 31 Jack Anderson (Qld) 2 32 Shaun Higgerson (NSW) 2 33 Ben Grenda (Tas) 2 34 Nicholas Sanderson (Vic) 2 35 Chris Jory (NSW) 2 36 Nathan Wise (Vic) 2 37 Ben Mather (Tas) 1 38 Brad Edmunds (Vic) 1 39 Darcy Rosenlund (Qld) 1 40 Gilbert Gutowski (Qld) 1 41 Tom Robinson (Tas) 1 42 Grant Irwin (Qld) 1 Mountains classification 1 Tom Southam (GBr) 32 pts 2 Cameron Meyer (WA) 23 3 Shaun Higgerson (NSW) 16 4 Bernard Sulzberger (Tas) 13 5 Joshua Wilson (Tas) 10 6 Benjamin King (WA) 8 7 Leigh Howard (Vic) 7 8 Travis Meyer (WA) 7 9 Sid Taberlay (Tas) 6 10 David Pell (Vic) 4 11 Ben Mather (Tas) 3 12 Nicholas Sanderson (Vic) 3 13 Trent Stevenson (Vic) 3 14 Timothy Walker (Tas) 3 15 Joel Pearson (NSW) 3 16 Andrew Ward (Vic) 2 17 Daniel Braunsteins (Vic) 2 18 Jack Anderson (Qld) 2 19 Patrick Shaw (Vic) 2 20 Craig McCartney (Vic) 1 21 Malcolm Rudolph (Qld) 1 22 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 (NZl) 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 Joshua Wilson (Tas) 2 3 Sean Finning (Vic) 2 4 Brett Aitken (SA) 2 5 Kristian House (GBr) 2 6 Andrew Ward (Vic) 1 7 Malcolm Rudolph (Qld) 1 8 Trent Stevenson (Vic) 1 Tasmanian rider classification 1 Bernard Sulzberger (Tas) 7.46.47 2 Ben Mather (Tas) 6.34 3 Joshua Wilson (Tas) 6.46 4 Matthew McDonagh (Tas) 18.45 5 Ben Grenda (Tas) 19.02 6 Mark Jamieson (Tas) 25.36 7 Timothy Walker (Tas) 26.28 8 Charles Howlett (Tas) 34.01 9 Sid Taberlay (Tas) 38.29 10 Simon Brown (Tas) 39.12 11 Tim Elmer (Tas) 41.27 12 Nathan Clarke (Tas) 57.57 13 Jarrod Harman (Tas) 58.02 14 Tom Robinson (Tas) 58.05 15 Aaron Jones (Tas) 58.06 16 Daniel Furmston (Tas) 58.14 17 Be Grieve-Johnson (Tas) 1.01.49 18 Daniel Cutting (Tas) 1.05.22 19 Matthew Sydes (Tas) 1.19.47 20 Jaso Bellchambers (Tas) 1.27.00 21 Jeremy Hills (Tas) 1.34.11 22 Michael Smith (Tas) 1.41.54 23 Andras Nagy (Tas) 1.51.22
