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Cascade Launceston 3-Day Tour

Launceston, March 8-10, 2003

The stages

• Stage 1 - March 8: Oaks Road road stage, 53.2 km
• Stage 2 - March 8: Lake River Rd road stage, 56.8 km
• Stage 3 - March 9: Longford road stage, 56.8 km
• Stage 4 - March 9:

Day 1 - Menzies off to flying start

By Rod Morris in Longford

Launceston based cyclist Karl Menzies kick-started the final preparations for his European assault with a tremendous start to the annual Cascade Launceston 3-Day Tour yesterday (March 8).

Menzies (25) won both stages on an exciting opening day, that was marred only by intermittent rain. Menzies will carry a 27-point lead into today's third and fourth stages and is concentrating hard on holding the prized leaders' jersey.

"I had to work hard in the first two stages, particularly with the quality of the field, so if I can maintain that type of form, I will be happy," Menzies said.

After winning the 2001 Tasmanian Road Championship and then being the best performed Tasmanian in last year's VicRoads Herald Sun Tour and also the best Tassie rider in the $20,000 Launceston Criterium during the Telstra Country Wide Tasmanian Carnivals, Menzies is about to take up a six-month contract in Holland.

"I leave on April 4 and because of Doherty's Hotels, I will be able to make a full-on assault at the European road circuit," he explained.

Menzies said the overcast and still conditions didn't make race conditions any easier. "There are a lot of in-form Tasmanian riders at the moment and the Victorian Institute of Sport has sent some strong riders here as well, so you cannot afford to relax for a moment."

Menzies won the morning's Oaks Road stage (53.2 km) from Victorian Joel Pearson, with Evandale's Ryan Sullivan claiming third. In the afternoon's Lake River Rd stage (56.8 km), Menzies was again to the fore, while Sullivan edged ahead of Pearson to grab second place, which also pushed him ahead of the Victorian because of the bonus point he gained in the intermediate sprint.

Veteran Laurie Venn scored a surprise win in Cat. 2 and also leads that division in general classification. In the combined Catgery 3, 4 & 5 races, Devonport's Matthew Atkins showed a full return to form of old, by emulating Menzies's higher category dual success, by winning both stages.

In the afternoon stage, Atkins had little to spare from former topline Australian "roadie" Michael Wilson, while the ever-promising Wes Sulzberger claimed third. Atkins holds a big lead in his individual category, while Belinda Goss leads Cat. 4 and former Victorian Paul Wilson is the Cat. 5 leader.

In junior racing John Rayner and Josh Myers were the two Under 17 stage winners, Alex Holden and Tom Robinson shared honours in the Under 15s and Ed Robinson and David Lyons did likewise in the Under 13s.

Racing continues with two more stages, the first of which will start at Longford at 10 a.m tomorrow (March 9).

Results

Stage 1 - March 8: Oaks Road road stage, 53.2 km

Open Men
 
1 Karl Menzies
2 Joel Pearson
3 Ryan Sullivan
 
Cat 2
 
1 Laurie Venn
2 Matt Goss
3 Jason Bellchambers
 
Cat 3
 
1 Matthew Atkins
2 Wes Sulzberger
3 Michael Wilson
 
Cat 4
 
1 Belinda Goss
2 Tim Walker
3 Kaidan Homan
 
Cat 5
 
1 Paul Wilson
2 Colin Barnes
3 Stephanie Williams
 
Junior 1 (U17)
 
1 John Rayner
2 Will Robinson
3 Jarrod Harman
 
Junior 2 (U15)
 
1 Alex Holden
2 Clay Murfett
3 Tom Robinson
 
Junior (U13)
 
1 Ed Robinson
2 David Lyons
3 Stephen Heppel

Stage 2 - March 8: Lake River Rd road stage, 56.8 km

Open Men
 
1 Karl Menzies
2 Ryan Sullivan
3 Joel Pearson
 
Cat 2
 
1 Mark Bowden
2 Matt Conn
3 Laurie Venn
 
Cat 3
 
1 Matthew Atkins
2 Michael Wilson
3 Wes Sulzberger
 
Cat 4
 
1 Mark Wilkie
2 Belinda Goss
3 Nathan Hingston
 
Cat 5
 
1 Paul Wilson
2 Darren Cook
3 Paul Guest
 
Junior 1 (U17)
 
1 Josh Myers
2 Will Robinson
3 John Rayner
 
Junior 2 (U15)
 
1 Tom Robinson
2 Clay Murfett
3 Alex Holden
 
Junior (U13)
 
1 David Lyons
2 Ed Robinson
3 Jason Bounday
 
General classification after stage 2
 
Open Men
 
1 Karl Menzies             48 pts
2 Ryan Sullivan            21
3 Joel Pearson             20
4 Jon Clark                 6
5 Kharne Hammersley         5
6 Laurie Venn               4
7 David Tanner              3
8 Jai Crawford              2
9 Jason Bellchambers        1
 
Category 2
 
1 Laurie Venn              28
2 Mark Bowden              20
3 Matt Goss                16
4 Matt Conn                12
5 Kharne Hammersley         9
6 Jason Bellchambers        9
 
Category 3
 
1 Matthew Atkins           45
2 Wes Sulzberger           23
3 Michael Wilson           20
4 Josh Wilson              11
5 Nick Clark                1
 
Category 4
 
1 Belinda Goss             32
2 Mark Wilkie              24
3 Tim Walker               16
4 Nathan Hingston          14
5 Kaidan Homan              8
 
Category 5
 
1 Paul Wilson              40
2 Darren Cook              36
3 Colin Barnes             12
4 Stephanie Williams        8
5 Paul Guest                8
6 Andrew MacDonald          4
 
Junior 1 (U17)
 
1 John Rayner              36
2 Josh Myers               35
3 Will Robinson            34
4 Jarrod Harman            31
5 Sean Oliver              28
6 Aaron Jones              26
7 Grace Sulzberger         23
8 Natasha Mapley           23
9 Alex Lyons               20
10 Dara Bugg               16
11 Tiffany Manion          16
12 Ebony Manion            16
13 Luke Carr                6
 
Junior 2 (U15)
 
1 Tom Robinson             36
2 Alex Holden              36
3 Clay Murfett             34
4 Samantha Hellyer         30
5 Lennon Duncombe          28
6 Carrie Price             25
7 Ben Grenda               24
8 Brenden Sutton           21
9 Christopher Cunningham   16
10 Sarah Eaves             16
11 Kailee Goodwin          13
12 Daniel Jamieson         12
 
Junior 3 (U13)
 
1 David Lyons              37
2 Ed Robinson              37
3 Jason Bounday            31
4 Stephen Heppel           31
5 Josh Berrell             28 

Day 2 - Menzies' Grip On Jersey Strengthened

From Rod Morris in Longford

Scoring two second placings in consecutive stages of the Cascade Launceston 3-Day Tour has only enhanced Karl Menzies' hopes of winning one of Tasmania's premier road cycling races.

Menzies (25) ran second to Hobart's Jai Crawford in yesterday morning's Claun 74.5 km Stage 3 and then in the afternoon played the role of "bridesmaid" to visiting Victorian rider Joel Pearson in the 60.3 km Stage from Longford to Bishopsbourne and return.

But Menzies' two bold showings increased his overnight lead of 27-points to a whopping 39-points with just two stages remaining.

Pearson moved into second place on General Classification, but to overhaul Menzies, will have to rely on two Stage wins, pick up points in either the intermediate sprint or King of the Mountain and at the same time, rely on Menzies not riding in the top five or featuring in the bonus points - a tall order indeed.

Menzies said yesterday's stages were tougher than the opening day.

"The wind certainly didn't make it easy," he explained.

"Most of the Stage leaders were only little guys and for a rider my size, there was nowhere to hide."

Of the three intermediate sprints on offer yesterday, Pearson won at Carrick and Menzies then picked up valuable bonuses at Westbury and again at Bishopsbourne.

With the wind picking up in velocity in the afternoon, a breakaway group of seven riders put a sizeable gap into the peloton before Pearson won the Stage ahead of Menzies, David Klyne, Richard Moffatt, Kharne Hammersley, Matt Goss and Dale Woolston.

Visiting Austrian rider, Lou Cobler upstaged his rivals in the combined Category 3-4-5 races, with victories in both the morning and afternoon stages, although former Austral Wheel winner, Matthew Atkins of Devonport maintained his hold on the Cat. 3 lead.

Kaidan Homan is the new leader of Cat. 4 and Paul Wilson remained at the head of the pack in Cat. 5.

Devonport's John Rayner won both Junior 1 races yesterday to open a healthy gap in GC honours with one Stage remaining, while Tom Robinson is the outright leader in Junior 2 racing, although Clay Murfett is due for a change of fortune after running four successive second placings.

The Junior 3s (Under 13) is an extremely close affair with David Lyons and Ed Robinson locked together on 74 points.

Results

Stage 3
 
Overall
 
1 Jai Crawford
2 Karl Menzies
3 Jon Clarke
4 James Hannam
5 Richard Moffatt
 
Category 2
 
1 Matt Goss
2 Jason Andersch
3 Laurie Venn
4 Jason Bellchambers
 
Category 3
 
1 Lou Cobler
2 Josh Wilson
3 Matthew Atkins
4 Ryan Johnson
 
Category 4
 
1 Kaidan Homan
2 Belinda Goss
3 Louise Yaxley
4 Mark Wilkie
 
Category 5
 
1 Darren Cook
2 Paul Wilson
3 Paul Guest
4 Andrew MacDonald
 
Junior 1 (U17)
 
1 John Rayner
2 Jarrod Harman
3 Josh Myers
 
Junior 2 (U15)
 
1 Tom Robinson
2 Clay Murfett
3 Samatha Hellyer
 
Junior 3 (U13)
 
1 David Lyons
2 Ed Robinson
3 Stephen Heppel
 
Stage 4
 
Overall
 
1 Joel Pearson
2 Karl Menzies
3 David Klyne
4 Richard Moffatt
5 Kharne Hammersley
 
Category 2
 
1 Kharne Hammersley
2 Matthew Goss
3 Dale Woolston
4 Jason Andersch
 
Category 3
 
1 Lou Cobler
2 Andrew Hanigan
3 Mark Rathmell
4 Wes Sulzberger
 
Category 4
 
1 Kaidan Homan
2 Louise Yaxley
3 Mark Wilkie
4 Nathan Hingston
 
Category 5
 
1 Paul Wilson
2 Darren Cook
3 Paul Guest
4 Neville Veale
 
Junior 1 (U17)
 
1 John Rayner
2 Jarrod Harman
3 Josh Myers
 
Junior 2 (U15)
 
1 Tom Robinson
2 Clay Murfett
3 Samantha Hellyer
 
Junior 3 (U13)
 
1 Ed Robinson
2 David Lyons
3 Jason Bounday
 
General Classification
 
Overall
 
1 Karl Menzies         82 pts
2 Joel Pearson         43
3 Jai Crawford         22
4 Ryan Sullivan        21
5 Jono Clark           14
6 Kharne Hammersley     9
7 David Klyne           8
8 Richard Moffatt       6
9 Laurie Venn           4
10 James Hannam         4
11 David Tanner         3
12 Michael Grenda       3
13 Jason Bellchambers   1
 
Sprint leader
 
Karl Menzies
 
Category 2
 
1 Matt Goss            48
2 Laurie Venn          36
3 Kharne Hammersley    31
4 Mark Bowden          20
5 Jason Andersch       16
6 Jason Bellchambers   13
7 Matt Conn            12
8 Dale Woolston         8
9 Michael Grenda        3
 
Sprint leader
 
Kharne Hammersley
 
Category 3
 
1 Matthew Atkins       58
2 Lou Cobler           40
3 Wes Sulzberger       30
4 Josh Wilson          23
5 Michael Wilson       20
6 Andrew Hanigan       17
7 Mark Rathmell         8
8 Ryan Johnson          4
9 Nick Clark            1
10 Nick Reid            1
 
Sprint leader
 
Matthew Atkins
 
Category 4
 
1 Kaidan Homan         51
2 Belinda Goss         44
3 Mark Wilkie          36
4 Louise Yaxley        21
5 Nathan Hingston      18
6 Tim Walker           16
 
Sprint leader
 
Nathan Hingston
 
Category 5
 
1 Paul Wilson          72
2 Darren Cook          48
3 Paul Guest           24
4 Colin Barnes         12
5 Stephanie Williams    8
5 Andrew MacDonald      8
6 Neville Veale         4
 
Junior 1 (U17)
 
1 John Rayner          76
2 Josh Myers           67
3 Will Robinson        64
4 Jarrod Harman        64
5 Sean Oliver          56
6 Aaron Jones          53
7 Grace Sulzberger     47
8 Alex Lyons           41
9 Tiffany Manion       35
 
Junior 2 (U15)
 
1 Tom Robinson         76
2 Clay Mufrett         68
3 Samantha Hellyer     62
4 Alex Holden          62
5 Carrie Price         54
5 Ben Grenda           51
6 Hugh Williams        41
7 Chris Cunningham     40
8 Daniel Jamieson      32
9 Sarah Eaves          31
10 Brenden Sutton      30
11 Andrew Dolan        21
12 Kailee Goodwin      21
 
Junior 3 (U13)
 
1 David Lyons          74
1 Ed Robinson          74
3 Jason Bounday        62
3 Stephen Heppel       63
5 Josh Berrell         56