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Introduction to Track Racing - What's a Wheelrace? - Introduction to Six Day racing
105th Austral Wheelrace - IM
Vodafone Arena, Melbourne, Australia, March 16, 2003
Results Austral Wheelrace Victorian Keirin Championship
Other races
Higginson comes back strongly
By Mal Sawford in Melbourne
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Olympian Lyndelle Higginson made her return to top level cycling at the carnival, contesting the women's events. Despite not being fully fit after a training crash earlier in the week, she showed signs of the form that will surely come with 4th place finishes in both events.
Asked to assess her performance she told Cyclingnews, "I can't really say I'm happy with the way I rode. I'm happy with my form, but I was pretty much riding with one leg because of my sore hip, and when I tried to put in an effort there wasn't much to give."
Higginson, who bulked up for her sprinters role in the Olympic team, has shed over 10kg since resuming training, and hopes to return to the Australian team as soon as possible, and is likely to aim for the endurance races this time round.
Macpherson wins Women's Points
Jenny Macpherson returned her best performance on the track against Elite competition, taking out the Points Race. Macpherson is the new tandem pilot for Paralympian rider Christine Fisher, and was never far from the front of the bunch in a close fought affair, taking the win by a solitary point from Jessica Berry, with Australian Criterium Champ Lizzie Williams showing her versatility to take third.
Erin Downing takes Women's Handicap
17 year old Carnegie Caulfield rider Erin Downing put a recent run of bad luck behind her claiming victory in the Women's Group Handicap. She was denied a start in the Handicap at the Forges Carnival when her seat post broke on the start line, a race won by her fellow front markers, and was beaten by inches at the Leongatha Carnival by backmarker Rochelle Gilmore after a long solo effort. The three frontmarkers make good use of their 170 meter advantage and were never caught, with Downing powering away from her companions on the last lap to take the win ahead of Nicole Holt and Emma Dean.
Neiwand bolsters the ranks
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A late entry from World, Olympic and Commonwealth Games medallist Gary Neiwand, who took out the 2000 Austral added a superstar to what was arguably the weakest field in may years. A revamp of the World Cup by the UCI means that the cream of Australia's track cyclists are away in Mexico and South Africa at the moment, in what has traditionally been the peak of the Australian season.
Neiwand was at pains to stress that his appearance should not be construed as a comeback. Despite no serious training for two years, the prospect of spectating at this year's event didn't hold a great deal of appeal, so he decided to dust off his track bike and ride the Victorian Keirin Championship held as part of the carnival.
With the goal of "leaving in one piece," the larger than life former great didn't expect to last more than a couple of laps in his Wheelrace heat, and for his qualifying heat for the Keirin, he said, "fifth in a six horse race would be like a World Title to me."
Neiwand surpassed his expectations, looking comfortable in the Wheelrace and going over half the distance, "before the ticker and legs said enough was enough." Only his famed acceleration was missing in the Keirin heat, as he narrowly failed to qualify for the final in a heat featuring Bayley and Wilson.
Post race, he quipped "I'm dead. I enjoyed it - expected nothing and got nothing, but I had fun. I played everything down because I knew exactly what I'd been doing, which was nothing. Just being out there competing, that's enough for me. It was good to get the reception from the crowd, and I wish I could have given them more."
Cyclingnews asked Neiwand when we could next expect to see him in action, but he was unwilling to commit. "I won't say never, if I'm going to race I'm going to have to train otherwise it hurts too much, but I'm not willing to train at the moment. I've had enough of it."
The final event in the Fitzroy Cycles International Cycling Series for 2002/03 is the Sid Patterson Grand Prix on March 29, featuring the Champions Wheelrace, where the winners of all the major Australian Wheelraces will ride off to determine the 'Champion of Champions'.
Photography
Images by Mikkeli Godfree/Cyclingnews.com
- Apparently, the food's not bad either at the Austral
- Launching off
- Looking up to Rob Wilson
- Tim Decker (Giant) lights up the track
- Lyndelle Higginson flies past diners during her first night on the boards in two years
- Lyndelle Higginson being interviewed by your correspondent, Mal Sawford
Results
D Grade Points Race 1 Evan Corry (Bendigo CC) 2 Malcolm Clayton (Hamilton CC) 3 Mike Goldie (Carnegie Caulfield CC) 4 David O'Dwyer (Geelong West CC) C Grade Points Race 1 Carl Cubitt (Coburg CC) 2 Eddie Perez (Carnegie Caulfield CC) 3 Ed Tutty (Blackburn CC) 4 Reece Ingram (Brunswick CC) B Grade Scratch Race 1 Rohan McLellan (Carnegie Caulfield CC) 2 Cameron Wise (Carnegie Caulfield CC) 3 Steve Martin (Blackburn CC) 4 Ryan Johnson (Tasmania) A Grade Points Race 1 Adrian Salter (Footscray CC) 2 Hayden Mead (Chelsea & Peninsula CC) 3 Andrew Steele (Blackburn CC) 4 Michael Hill (Shepparton CC) Aces Elimination 1 Darren Young (Tasmania) 2 Robert Wilson (Footscray CC) 3 Sean Finning (Castlemaine CC) 4 Brad Norton (Shepparton CC) Invitation Sprint Derby 1 Ryan Bayley (Western Australia) 2 Shane Perkins (Carnegie Caulfield CC) 3 Shaun Hopkins (NSW) Under 17 Motorpace 1 Shaun Morris (Shepparton CC) 2 Simon Barkla (Bendigo CC) 3 Travis Hull (Ararat CC) 4 Mario Giramondo (Carnegie Caulfield CC) Women's Points Race 1 Jenny Macpherson (Carnegie Caulfield CC) 2 Jessica Berry (Bendigo CC) 3 Lizzie Williams (Carnegie Caulfield CC) 4 Lyndelle Higginson (Brunswick CC) Flying Lap Record Attempt (Current record J Dajka 13.050) 1 Ryan Bayley (Western Australia) 13.227 Women's Handicap 1 Erin Downing (Carnegie Caulfield CC) 2 Nicole Holt (Blackburn CC) 3 Emma Dean (Bendigo CC) 4 Lyndelle Higginson (Brunswick CC) Under 17 Elimination 1 Mark O'Brien (Carnegie Caulfield CC) 2 Mario Giramondo (Carnegie Caulfield CC) 3 Zac Dempster (Bendigo CC) 4 Travis Hull (Ararat CC) A Grade Elimination 1 Aaron Salisbury (Carnegie Caulfield CC) 2 David Oliver (Tasmania) 3 Peter Trigar (Brunswick CC) 4 Laurie Noonan (Brunswick CC) Aces Scratch Race 1 Darren Young (Tasmania) 2 Robert Wilson (Footscray CC) 3 Nic Sanderson (Ararat CC) 4 Richard Engalnd (Blackburn CC)
