Points Criterium March 2009

Points Criterium, Airport Circuit, Sunday 15 March 2009

Points Criterium March 2009

Mildura-Coomealla Cycling Club staged a graded points criterium at its Airport circuit on Sunday 15 March 2009. Club President Richard Hale set a clockwise course, with riders having to face the long drag up the Nineteenth Street straight into a stiff south westerly headwind. Thirty riders contested the event including eleven juniors.

A full complement of A graders saw eight riders contest the 40 minutes event. Despite Gary Henderson collecting points from a number of solo attacks, he was unable to match the efforts of Chris Parrott and Kevin Tankard, who finished first and second respectively. Henderson collected third place, despite finishing on the same points tally as Dean Taylor.

Only three B grade riders started today and it was a fairly one sided event, with Nathan Langley easily outscoring Tom Athorn and Garry Pitt. Although Langley did need a wake up call after Athorn stole the first sprint from him! Pitt did enough to collect second place, with Athorn finishing third.

A close fought C grade race saw Ben Vagnarelli eventually come away with the win. Vagnarelli snatched first place after picking up double points on the last sprint, to just edge Adrian Lloyd into second place, with Brendan Liddle taking third.

Three juniors were promoted to the senior ranks today, with Alana Hale, Thomas Henderson and Ben Athorn contesting the D grade race. The three juniors showed their nimbleness around the corners by breaking away from the senior riders and establishing a winning gap. Despite Alana winning the last sprint and collecting double points, Ben won on points with Alana and Thomas coming second and third respectively.

Thanks to Barry Pollock, Julieanne Ryan, Penny Hale, Julie Simpson, Murray Langley and Chris Parrott for helping out today. The next event is a 24 km time trial at Riverside on Tuesday 17 March. There is no event next weekend due to the Tour de Murray being held. All members are encouraged to participate in this social ride.

Results:

Juniors (20 minutes):
1. Lachlan Ryan 11 laps 19:59 minutes 24 points (JM13)
2. Brodie Athorn 12 20:01 12 points (U/19)
3. Shane Martin 12 20:16 6 points (U/19)
4. Martin Ryan 10 21:07 4 points (JM15)
5. James Burge 12 21:05 3 points (JM15)
6. Toby Simpson 11 20:02 2 points (JM15)
7. Bridget Hale 12 21:11 1 point (JW17)
8. Tate Simpson 11 20:03 0 points (JM13)

Seniors:

A Grade (40 minutes):
1. Chris Parrott 32 laps 42:54 minutes 36 points
2. Kevin Tankard 32 43:04 26 points
3. Gary Henderson 32 42:50 22 points
4. Dean Taylor 32 42:53 22 points
5. Richard Hale 32 42:54 5 points
6. Simon Wilkinson 32 42:54 4 points
7. Mark Phillips 32 42:54 2 points
8. Ben Nicholson 30 44:41 0 points

B Grade (40 minutes):
1. Nathan Langley 26 laps 37:18 minutes 44 points
2. Garry Pitt 26 37:25 28 points
3. Tom Athorn 26 37:43 24 points

C Grade (35 minutes):
1. Ben Vagnarelli 24 laps 35:32 minutes 31 points
2. Adrian Lloyd 24 35:33 27 points
3. Brendan Liddle 24 35:33 17 points
4. Arthur Anderson 24 35:33 16 points
5. Greg Scott 24 37:42 0 points
6. Andrew Ryan 23 36:50 0 points (JM17)

D Grade (35 minutes):
1. Ben Athorn 20 laps 33:25 minutes 28 points (JM17)
2. Alana Hale 20 33:25 24 points (JW15)
3. Tom Henderson 20 33:26 15 points (JM15)
4. Ken Dean 19 35:01 8 points
5. Alison Curry 20 35:47 3 points