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Illawarra Cycle Club
Twilight Criterium, March 2, 2006
Hennessy too experienced
Overcast conditions greeted the riders participating in race four of the Winten Property Group Twilight Series at Haywards Bay. It was a pleasant change from the hot sultry conditions for race one and three. A south easterly wind had strengthened during the afternoon making riding into it down the back straight tough going.
None of the attacks by the riders resulted in them getting more than 20m off the front of the peleton before the rest of the riders rallied to chase the move down. Peter Evans, Peter Vesel, Darren Gordon and Peter Kelly all had at least one attempt to get away.
It appeared that the result was going to be a bunch finish but Gordon put the head down with two laps to go and showed the others a clean pair of wheels. Kelly gave chase but couldn’t quite make contact, Vesel just held off Adam Hotchkis for third place with Evans holding on for fifth.
The C grade point score after race four is Vesel 20, Hotchkis 17, Alan Kerr 16, and Peter Evans 15.
Anthony Kneipp leap out of the blocks at the start of the B grade race and quickly established a gap that was chased down by the bunch after a few laps. Neil Midgley tried his hand as did Keith Bennett but the bunch wasn’t going to allow anyone to get more than a few meters advantage.
Tony Pulo and Roger Ocvirk must have felt in good form as they chased everything that moved. No one was able to establish any advantage as the race drew closer to the finish. As the bunch precariously negotiated the corner into the finishing straight there was five riders across the road. After a lot of grunting and throwing of bikes as they crossed the line the result was Pulo, Ocvirk, Battaerd, Bennett and Ian Robinson.
B grade point score after race four is Pulo 29, Drew Robertson 22, Battaerd 20 and Leonie Aisbett 13.
Danny Hennessy has established himself as the most aggressive A grade rider in the Twilight Series to date and he didn’t disappoint the spectators last Thursday night. Right from the start he attacked quickly building a small gap on the bunch. The chasers combined well together with Luke Dale, Ben DuBois, Peter Jones and Ben Yates swapping off turns to bring Hennessy back.
Once back in the bunch Hennessy took a breather and did what he does best, went on the attacked again. This time when he had a gap of 50m Dale bridged across to him and was heard to say lets go and that’s what they did. The gap grew out to 150m. With more than half the race left it was conceivable that the escapees would be caught.
The gap oscillated from less than 100m to over 200m. As it grew closer to the finish of the race it was evident that they weren’t going to be caught. Hennessy attacked down the back straight catching Dale off guard and maintained his lead all the way to the line. DuBois out sprinted Yates for third place with Jones crossing in fifth place.
A grade point score after race four is Hennessy 31, Dale 20, Tim Morris 16, Seth Collins 16 and Du Bois 16.
Results
A Grade - 24 minutes plus 2 laps 1 Danny Hennessy (Sth Highlands) 2 Luke Dale (Illawarra) 3 Ben du Bois (Illawarra) 4 Ben Yates (Illawarra) 5 Peter Jones (Sutherland Shire) B Grade - 18 minutes plus 2 laps 1 Tony Pulo (Illawarra) 2 Roger Ocvirk (Illawarra) 3 Hans Battaerd (Illawarra) 4 Keith Bennett (Illawarra) 5 Ian Robinson (Illawarra) 6 Neil Midgley (Illawarra) 7 Daniel Silveri (Illawarra) 8 Frank Tortorici (Illawarra) 9 Jason Johnson (Illawarra) 10 Anthony Kneipp (Illawarra) 11 Lionel Covington (Illawarra) 12 Philip Jones (Illawarra) C Grade - 12 minutes plus 2 laps 1 Darren Gordon (Illawarra) 2 Peter Kelly (Illawarra) 3 Peter Vesel (Illawarra) 4 Adam Hotchkis (Illawarra) 5 Peter Evans (Illawarra) 6 Michael O`Neill (Illawarra) 7 Sarah Whipp (Illawarra) 8 Vincent O`Dwyer (Illawarra)
