In an unexpected turnaround similar to the shock German national road race triumph in 2005 of a-then eighteen year old Gerald Ciolek, the young Australian Caleb Ewan (NSWIS) stunned his older competitors on today’s second leg of the Jayco Bay Cycling Classic.
At the end of the Geelong Eastern Park race, the seventeen year old sped to victory ahead of former Tour Down Under winner Allan Davis (Mitchelton Wines/Lowe Farms), Jayco Herald Sun Tour champion Nathan Haas (Bike Bug) and four others.
“I felt good with about four laps to go, the (lap) signs came out and I thought to myself I can win this, I’m in a good position,” he said. “I wasn’t probably looked at as much as the bigger guys and on the last lap I got pushed right back.”
Rather than being discouraged, he fought back. “Toward the end I had to weave my way up to the front and found myself on Allan Davis’ wheel, which was the right one in the end. When you think of some of these guys who have won grand tour stages, it is pretty intimidating being seventeen.”
The race was run off in ferocious temperatures and this provided a further test for the riders. The heat and fast pace saw the peloton split after the first intermediate sprint, taken by Sulzberger, and thirteen riders got clear.
Present were race winner Ewan, Sulzberger, his brother Wes (GreenEdge) and the latter’s team-mate Mitch Docker, as well as Davis, Haas, Michael Hepburn (Mitchelton Wines – Lowe Farms), Degani Bakery Café trio Dean Windsor, Johnnie Walker and Zak Dempster, Trent Derencourt (John West Cycling), James Mowatt (Rapido Cycling – Four Points Geelong) and Campbell Flakemore (Genesys Wealth Advisors). These built a lead of just over 50 seconds and remained clear until the end.
As things built up to what was a ten man sprint to the line, Ewan manoeuvred into position and then blasted home off Davis’ wheel. The latter was disappointed to be beaten, but found encouragement both in his return to form and also his seizing of the Jayco Bay yellow jersey from yesterday’s winner Greg Henderson (Degani Bakery Cafe).
“It’s been a long process over the last few months but I have finally got a bit of momentum and hopefully I can keep it going,” he said. “The team’s looking really good which is more important and I was just a bit peeved off today that I couldn’t pull it off for the boys since we had the numbers.
“But full credit to Caleb, I think we’re going to see this little fella a few more times.”
Ewan has certainly underlined his talent thus far, both from today’s performance and also from his world championship title in the junior Omnium. Like Ciolek, he seems certain to build on this early performance and to achieve big things as a pro.
Rowney takes two-up sprint in women’s race:
After her Total Rush/Hyster team-mate Chloe Hosking sped to victory in yesterday’s women’s race, Loren Rowney made it two from two for the team when she outpsrinted Amanda Spratt (GreenEdge AIS) to the line. Both she and Hosking will be part of the Specialized lululemon team in 2012 and have got things off to a perfect start.
Spratt’s GreenEdge AIS team once again missed out by a small margin, following Melissa Hoskins’s runner-up slot yesterday. The latter took third today, making it two from the team in the top three.
Rowney was very pleased to take a win so early in the season. “After going off the front in an attack I came back to the bunch and Jessie went,” she said. “I knew I could just catch my breath and bridge across so that’s what I did. I went with about 300 (metres) to go.
She said that the weather conditions were tough, but also suited her. “It hasn’t actually been this hot in Queensland so it’s a bit of a shock to the system. But I race well in the heat so I was looking forward to today…I knew I would have a bit of an advantage.”
The peloton finished 31 seconds behind her and with Hosking second to Hoskin in the sprint to the line, she retained her yellow jersey.
She admitted that she found the temperatures tougher than Rowney did. “It was so hot out there. It did go through my head, ‘it’s too hot I’m pulling out here’,” she admitted, “but I thought I probably shouldn’t do that.”
GreenEDGE-AIS rider Jessie MacLean made a big push for success during the race, jumping clear alone and leading for four laps. However she was reeled in five laps from the line, after which Rowney and Spratt seized their chance to slip clear and fight it for the win.
Other events:
The day began with the seventh annual Amy’s Ride, held to commemorate the memory of Amy Gillett and to promote awareness of cycling and safe driving on the roads. Headline riders Robbie McEwen, Matt Goss, Baden Cooke and Rochelle Gilmore took part in the leisure event, riding alongside the members of the public.
Afterwards, several races were held before the main events. Eric Sheppard (Jayco-VIS) beat Sean Finning (Degani Bakery Cafe) to win the John Cornish Memorial/Urban Hotels teams support race, while Bendigo & District Cycling Club’s Shaun McCarthy was best in the individual support race, sponsored by Total Rush.
Dane Crawford (Hunter District CC) finished fifth to hold onto the yellow jersey, while Jack Edwards (NSWIS) and Emma Bilston (Ballarat Sebastopol CC) took out the under 17 events.
The Jayco Bay Cycling Classic series continues tomorrow with the penultimate event in Portarlington.
Jayco Bay Cycling Classic round 2, Geelong Eastern Park:
Elite men:
1, Caleb Ewan (NSWIS) 49 mins 27 secs
2, Allan Davis (Mitchelton Wines / Lowe Farms)
3, Bernie Sulzberger (Urban Hotels)
4, Nathan Haas (Bike Bug)
5, Zak Dempster (Degani Bakery Cafe)
6, James Mowatt (Rapido Cycles / Four Points Geelong)
7, Dean Windsor (Degani Bakery Cafe)
8, Mitch Docker (GreenEdge Cycling)
9, Trent Derecourt (WA) John West Cycling) at 5 secs
10, Johnnie Walker (Degani Bakery Cafe)
11, Wesley Sulzberger (GreenEdge Cycling) at 28 secs
12, Luke Durbridge (WA) Mitchelton Wines / Lowe Farms) at 36 secs
13, Campbell Flakemore (Genesys Wealth Advisers) at 47 secs
14, Mark O'Brien (Budget Forklifts) at 1 min 18 secs
15, Greg Henderson (NZ) Degani Bakery Cafe) at 1 min mins 19 secs
16, Patrick Lane (Mitchelton Wines / Lowe Farms) at 2 mins 0 secs
17, Michael Hepburn (Mitchelton Wines / Lowe Farms)
18, Robbie McEwen (GreenEdge Cycling)
19, Blair Windsor (Budget Forklifts)
20, Oliver Kent-Spark (John West Cycling)
21, Leigh Howard (GreenEdge Cycling)
22, Sam Witmitz (Budget Forklifts)
23, Kazushige Kuboki (Geelong Mazda)
24, Rene Kolbach (John West Cycling)
25, Scott Liston (Rapido Cycles / Four Points Geelong)
26, Chris Sutton (Urban Hotelszzz) at 2 mins 5 secs
27, Matthew Goss (GreenEdge Cycling)
28, Luke Williams (NSWIS)
29, Anthony Giacoppo (WA) Bike Bug)
30, Steele Von Hoff (Bike Bug)
31, Baden Cooke (Mitchelton Wines / Lowe Farms)
32, Nathan Bradshaw (NSWIS)
33, Blake Hose (Genesys Wealth Advisers)
34, Richard Lang (Urban Hotels)
35, Heinrich Haussler (Bike Bug)
36, Nic Sanderson (Genesys Wealth Advisers)
37, Alex Carver (Bike Bug)
38, Joel Pearson (Genesys Wealth Advisers)
39, Michael Knoff (John West Cycling)
40, Tom Leezer (Rapido Cycles / Four Points Geelong)
41, Kazuhiro Mori (Geelong Mazda)
42, Taiji Nishitani (Geelong Mazda)
DNF:
Koen de Kort (Urban Hotels)
Bert de Backer (Urban Hotels)
Mark Jamieson (Degani Bakery Cafe)
Kane Walker (Genesys Wealth Advisers)
Peter Loft (Budget Forklifts)
Luke Ockerby (Budget Forklifts)
Nicholas Brian (John West Cycling)
Tirian McManus (NSWIS)
Jack McCulloch (NSWIS)
Takuya Takashi (Geelong Mazda)
Eya Hashimoto (Geelong Mazda)
Jos van Emden (Rapido Cycles / Four Points Geelong)
Neil van der Ploeg (Rapido Cycles / Four Points Geelong)
Sprint 1:
1, Bernie Sulzberger (Urban Hotels) 3 pts
2, Mitch Docker (GreenEdge Cycling) 2
3, Wesley Sulzberger (GreenEdge Cycling) 1
Sprint 2:
1, Nathan Haas (Bike Bug) 3 pts
2, Mitch Docker (GreenEdge Cycling) 2
3, Bernie Sulzberger (Urban Hotels) 1
Sprint 3:
1, Mitch Docker (GreenEdge Cycling) 3 pts
2, Bernie Sulzberger (Urban Hotels) 2
3, Trent Derecourt (WA) John West Cycling) 1
Overall classification:
1, Allan Davis (Mitchelton Wines / Lowe Farms) 18 pts
2, Bernie Sulzberger (Urban Hotels) 15
3, Caleb Ewan (NSWIS) 14
4, Greg Henderson (NZ) Degani Bakery Cafe) 12
5, Chris Sutton (Urban Hotels) 10
6, Dean Windsor (Degani Bakery Cafe) 8
7, Nathan Haas (Bike Bug) 7
8, Zak Dempster (Degani Bakery Cafe) 7
9, Steele Von Hoff (Bike Bug) 6
10, Anthony Giacoppo (WA) Bike Bug) 5
11, James Mowatt (Rapido Cycles / Four Points Geelong) 5
12, Leigh Howard (GreenEdge Cycling) 3
13, Mitch Docker (GreenEdge Cycling) 3
14, Trent Derecourt (WA) John West Cycling) 2
15, Johnnie Walker (Degani Bakery Cafe) 1
Sprint Ace Competition after Stage 2:
1, Bernie Sulzberger (Urban Hotels) 12 pts
2, Mitch Docker (GreenEdge Cycling) 9
3, Nathan Haas (Bike Bug) 6
4, Caleb Ewan (NSWIS) 3
5, Dean Windsor (Degani Bakery Cafe) 2
6, Zak Dempster (Degani Bakery Cafe) 1
7, Trent Derecourt (WA) John West Cycling) 1
8, Wesley Sulzberger (GreenEdge Cycling) 1
9, Baden Cooke (Mitchelton Wines / Lowe Farms) 1
Teams Classification after Stage 2:
1, Urban Hotels, 25 pts
2, Mitchelton Wines - Lowe Farms, 18
3, Bike Bug, 18
4, Degani Bakery Café, 17
5, NSWIS, 14
6, GreenEdge, 6
7, Rapido Cycles - Four Points Geelong, 5
8, John West Cycling, 2
Elite women:
1, Loren Rowney (Total Rush/Hyster) 46 mins 45 secs
2, Amanda Spratt (Greenedge-AIS) at 2 secs
3, Melissa Hoskins (Greenedge-AIS) at 31 secs
4, Chloe Hosking (Total Rush/Hyster)
5, Rochelle Gilmore (BikeExchange Dream Team)
6, Annette Edmondson (Pitcher Partners)
7, Isabella King (Pitcher Partners)
8, Liza Rachetto (Spencers Race)
9, Kate Finegan (Spencers Race)
10, Gracie Elvin (Jayco - AIS)
11, Shara Gillow (Greenedge-AIS) at 38 secs
12, Nicole Cooke (BikeExchange Dream Team) at 48 secs
13, Tiffany Cromwell (Greenedge-AIS)
14, Jessie Maclean (Greenedge-AIS) at 50 secs
15 Rosara Joseph (New Zealand) at 54 secs
16, Grace Sulzberger (Jayco - AIS) at 1 min 0 secs
17, Sequoia Cooper (Torq)
DNF:
Peta Mullens (BikeExchange Dream Team)
Kirsty Broun (BikeExchange Dream Team)
Myfanwy Galloway (BikeExchange Dream Team)
Rebecca Henderson (Suzuki-Trek Women)
Imogen Jelbart (Suzuki-Trek Women)
Ailie Mcdonald (Suzuki-Trek Women)
Allison Rice (Suzuki-Trek Women)
Rebecca Wiasak (Suzuki-Trek Women)
Rowena Fry (Jayco - AIS)
Sinead Noonan (Jayco - AIS)
Sue Forsyth (Pitcher Partners)
Elizabeth Phillipou (Pitcher Partners)
Nadine Le Mescam (Torq)
Thomay Michaltsis (Torq)
Katherine O'Shea (Torq)
Chloe Mcintosh (Total Rush/Hyster)
Kimberley Wells (Total Rush/Hyster)
Carly Williams (Total Rush/Hyster)
Delphine Astier (Spencers Race)
Ella Hopkins (Spencers Race)
Holly Heffernan (NSWIS)
Laura Triggs (NSWIS)
Ashlee Ankudinoff (NSWIS)
Angela Mcclure (Norwood C.C.)
Chloe McConville (Carnigie Caulfield CC)
Alice Wallett (Canberra Cycling Club)
Jess Wigan (MTBA)
Antonia Abbisogni (Bendigo & District CC)
Jamie Leigh Edwards (Geelong Cycle Club)
Ella Scanlan-Bloor (Southern Highlands CC)
Melina Bernecker (Le Grange)
Nicole Whitburn (Degani Bakery Cafe)
Tanya Matthewson (Degani Bakery Cafe)
Sarah Riley (Degani Bakery Cafe)
Anna Kauffmann (Degani Bakery Cafe)
Sprint 1:
1, Kirsty Broun (BikeExchange Dream Team) 3 pts
2, Chloe Hosking (Total Rush/Hyster) 2
3, Shara Gillow (Greenedge-AIS) 1
Sprint 2:
1, Jessie Maclean (Greenedge-AIS) 3 pts
2, Loren Rowney (Total Rush/Hyster) 2
3, Chloe McConville (Carnigie Caulfield CC) 1
General Classification:
1, Chloe Hosking (Total Rush/Hyster) 19 pts
2, Melissa Hoskins (Greenedge-AIS) 18
3, Rochelle Gilmore (BikeExchange Dream Team) 14
4, Loren Rowney (Total Rush/Hyster) 12
5, Amanda Spratt (Greenedge-AIS) 10
6, Tiffany Cromwell (Greenedge-AIS) 7
7, Jessie Maclean (Greenedge-AIS) 6
8, Annette Edmondson (Pitcher Partners) 6
9, Kirsty Broun (BikeExchange Dream Team) 5
10, Peta Mullens (BikeExchange Dream Team) 4
11, Isabella King (Pitcher Partners) 4
12, Rebecca Henderson (Suzuki-Trek Women) 3
13, Liza Rachetto (Spencers Race) 3
14, Lucy Coldwell (Carnigie Caulfield CC) 2
15, Kate Finegan (Spencers Race) 2
16, Gracie Elvin (Jayco - AIS) 1
Sprint Ace Competition:
1, Chloe Hosking (Total Rush/Hyster) 5 pts
2, Shara Gillow (Greenedge-AIS) 4
3, Kirsty Broun (BikeExchange Dream Team) 3
4, Jessie Maclean (Greenedge-AIS) 3
5, Peta Mullens (BikeExchange Dream Team) 2
6, Amanda Spratt (Greenedge-AIS) 2
7, Loren Rowney (Total Rush/Hyster) 2
8, Sue Forsyth (Pitcher Partners) 1
9, Chloe McConville (Carnigie Caulfield CC) 1
10, Sinead Noonan (Jayco - AIS) 1
Teams Classification after Stage 2:
1, Total Rush – Hyster, 31 pts
2, GreenEdge-AIS, 23
3, BikeExchange.com.au Dream Team, 17
4, Pitcher Partners, 10
5, Spencers Race, 5
6, Suzuki-Trek Women, 3
7, Carnegie Caulfield CC, 2
8, Jayco – AIS, 1