Criterium Season

Ian Melvin highlights the competition leading up to the 2007 National Road Championships and Tour Down Under, looking specifically at the popular criterium events in Tasmania and Victoria.

Burnie CriteriumA host of Tasmania’s leading international riders lined up at the start of the Burnie Criterium on New Year’s Eve 2006 determined to finish the year with a win. With a host of Australia’s leading up and coming young talent, this event was always destined to be a fast and furious affair. With just a handful of laps gone, a breakaway jumped down the road made up of West Australia’s Cameron Meyer and the winner of this race last year, Wes Sulzberger. Behind the chase was slow to organise but when the bunch switched on to the danger out front Karl Menzies, Matt Goss and Sean Sullivan did the majority of the driving. Well aware that Sulzberger had a superior sprint, Meyer was left in an uncomfortable predicament. Not wanting to wait for a final sprint between the two, he knew he couldn’t begin counter attacking just yet as the break had to survive the chasing pack for either of them to savour victory. As it was, the duo kept riding hard until the last corner where, as expected, the Tasmanian’s kick was too much for his younger escape partner. Behind, Sean Sullivan attacked what was left of the bunch with just a lap to go solo home for a well deserved third place. The Burnie Criterium was a part of the annual Tasmanian Christmas Carnival series of track events, held annually over the Christmas and New Year period.Elite Men’s Criterium1 Wes Sulzberger2 Cameron Meyer3 Sean Sullivan4 Matt Goss5 Karl MenziesElite Women’s Criterium1 Belinda Goss2 Erica Allah3 Chloe Hosking4 Sky-Lee Armstrong5 Amy Cure Jayco Bay Series Stage 1January 3: WilliamstownJonathon Clarke, the younger brother of last year’s Bay Series overall winner, Hilton Clarke, struck out early in the first race to claim a hard earned victory to kick off the Jayco Bay Series. The predicted bad weather held off, resulting in a fast paced hit out around the challenging Williamstown circuit. After some early surges from Simon Gerrans (Portfolio Partners), Clarke, a team mate of the AG2r professional, broke away just before the first intermediate sprint. With him were Robbie Williams (Drapac-Porsche) and John Eblining (FRF Couriers – NSWIS). Together the trio worked to build a lead of around 20 seconds before Eblining dropped back after his hard initial efforts. Clarke and Williams each took one of the last two sprints, working together as one. Behind, as the commissaries signaled ten laps to go, Robbie McEwen (Volvo) ordered to the front his team-mate and fellow Queenslander, David Kemp. Despite being able to reduce the lead to just 10 seconds with six laps still remaining, the main bunch were never able to make the junction and Rory Sutherland (Land link) and Mark Renshaw (Skilled) escaped with just two laps remaining to fight for the final place on the podium. Coming into the last corner, Clarke led out and with his superior burst of speed on the day was able to hold off his breakaway companion, Williams.

Elite Men1 Johnny Clarke (Portfolio Partners)2 Robbie Williams (Drapac Porsche/Sofitel Spa Mansion/Sally’s Paddock)3 Mark Renshaw (Skilled)4 Rory Sutherland (Landlink)5 Robbie McEwen (Volvo)Elite Women1 Kate Bates (Pitcher Partners)2 Belinda Goss (Volvo)3 Nikki Egyed (Rapido Cycles)4 Jo Kiesonowski (Portfolio Partners)5 Sky-Lee Armstrong (NSW IS) Stage 2January 4: PortarlingtonHaving raced to victory on the first stage, NSW’s Kate Bates started the second stage around Portarlington in the leader’s jersey. Bates and her Pitcher Partners team-mates were clearly motivated to defend the jersey and the early pace setting suggested that they were serious about the job at hand. Just as the race was settling down, at the bottom of a descent on just the second lap, a number of riders came down including Bates’ team-mate, Alexis Rhodes.The pace was soon back on with Queensland’s Nikki Egyed (Rapido Cycles) stringing out the bunch. It was Rhodes however who would set up the most significant break of the day. Keeping the pace high, it proved the perfect platform for Natalie Bates to launch an attack and she was quickly joined by Jo Kiesonowski (Portfolio Partners) and Kate Mercer (Hitachi). Over the coming laps, two more riders Lisa Friend (Rapido) and Rachel Rademaker (Portfolio) made the transition across to the front to make a driving break of five riders. With eight laps to go Belinda Goss (Volvo) realised the danger at the front of the race, attacking hard to get across, but with Kate Bates glued to her wheel it was a move that spelt doom for the initial escapees. Shortly after the second intermediate sprint, New Zealander Rosara Joseph was joined at the front of the race by Natalie Bates and Egyed, Joseph having gone on the attack on her own to collect all the available sprint points. While the girls worked hard, with just one lap remaining Goss and Kate Bates raced across from the bunch, to catch the leaders. Racing neck-and-neck to the line, Goss proved to be the fresher of the pair, crossing the line first. While both were now on equal points, due to race rules, Bates kept the leader's jersey for another day Elite men1 Mark Renshaw (Skilled)2 Simon Gerrans (Portfolio Partners)3 Darren Lapthorne (Drapac Porsche/Sofitel Spa Mansion/Sally’s Paddock)4 Rory Sutherland (Landlink)5 David McPartland (Portfolio Partners)Elite women1 Belinda Goss (Volvo)2 Kate Bates (Pitcher Partners)3 Nikki Egyed (Rapido Cycles)4 Sara Carrigan (Rapido Cycles)5 Rosara Joseph (NZ National team)Stage 3January 5: Geelong - RitchieBoulevardStage three was the now traditional hotdog race along the Geelong foreshore. Early on SimonGerrans tried his luck at breaking away from the main bunch. His activity also brought to the front Dean Windsor (Drapac-Porsche Cycling Team), David McPartland (Portfolio Partners) and David Kemp (Volvo). Throughout the hour of competition, these four young talented riders were never far from the front of the bunch. Robbie McEwen moved forward aware of the imminent danger from such attacks, and leader Mark Renshaw and Rory Sutherland also found themselves momentarily clear before Renshaw put his skilled team to work on the front, keeping the pace high to discourage further attacks. James Medley (Land link) won the second intermediate sprint from James Langedyk (Geelong Cycling Club – Mercure Geelong) before the Skilled team again organised at the front of the race controlling the pace before Pat Shaw (HLP Mortgage Co)jumped out from behind the blue train to grab all available points in the final sprint. Earlier activists, Windsor and Clarke, continued to try their luck in the closing laps before the Skilled training (again) hit the front with just two laps to go. Coming into the last corner, Clarke led from Sutherland, Renshaw and McEwen but it was the multiple green-jersey winners who kicked first and held off a fast approaching Renshaw to claim his first win of the series in 2007.