Upsets in each grade put Hale, Pitt, Vagnarelli and Allford on top

RACE REPORT
Graded Criterium, Airport Circuit, Sunday 31 January 2010

Upsets in each grade put Hale, Pitt, Vagnarelli and Allford on top

Mildura-Coomealla Cycling Club staged a graded criterium at its closed Airport circuit on the morning of Sunday 31 January. Forty-two riders including nine juniors raced in hot humid conditions with temperatures starting at 31 degrees and rising as the event wore on. North-easterly winds of around 20 kph provided further discomfort for riders. Riders would also face the additional risk of punctures due to recent slashing of the road edges which had thrown up a carpet of burrs. The race duty crew set a particularly challenging technical course which saw all but one corner of the total circuit included in the day's race course.

The Club welcomed new junior member Sean Schilling who now joins his father Chris on the Club race circuit.

The Junior and D grade fields were let loose on the course in the opening session. The 30 minute junior race comprised Nathan Jordan, Thomas Henderson, Megan Hale, Tom Allford, Tyler Beruldsen, Bevan Henderson, Martin Ryan, Sean Schilling and Lachlan Ryan. Lachlan was unlucky to puncture in the early laps and had to retire from the race. Sean, in his first race with the Club, took to the course under the watchful eye of Coach Pollock. The main field didn't take long to disintegrate with Martin and Bevan soon losing contact with the group. Tyler and Tom also had trouble hanging onto the surges put in by the lead riders Nathan, Thomas and Meagan. Meagan found herself off the back of the pack on occasions but clawed her way back each time. The final three way sprint saw Nathan across the line comfortably in first place with Thomas and Meagan finishing behind in that order.

A good field of nine D grade riders took to the starting line for the 40 minute criterium. The field consisted of Ben Athorn, Ryan Clifford, Ken Dean, Alana Hale, Barry Johnson, Alison Curry, Brodie Athorn, Terry Miller and Michael Allford. Johnson, Curry and Alana Hale found the going tough and lost contact with their group. Dean produced the first attack of the race but was chased down by the remainder of the bunch. Ben Athorn and Ryan Clifford kept up the attacks over the middle section of the race but were unable to stay clear of the bunch. Dean then Miller were the next to drop off the bunch leaving the two Athorns, Clifford and Allford to finish the race and fight for line honours. On the last lap Ben led out Clifford, Allford and his sister Brodie. Allford started the sprint first just prior to the corner and narrowly outlasted Clifford, followed by Ben & Brodie.

The remaining senior grades then lined up at the start line for their turn with A grade first away. The A grade race was limited to 40 minutes due to the rapidly increasing morning heat. The group was made up of Richard Hale, Dean Taylor, Nathan Langley, Mark Phillips, Gary Henderson and Kevin Tankard. The field got off to a cautious start as riders familiarised themselves with the extra technical aspects of the course. All riders were comfortably circulating together for the first 10 laps when a partially deflated front tyre brought Langley down on the first left hand corner after the start of lap 11. Phillips, who was hard on Langley's wheel, was unable to negotiate his prostrate opponent and also left the comfort of his saddle only to find himself in a stunned and dazed state on the ground amid the three corner jacks. Such was the display of acrobatics, the B grade group who had only just been overtaken by the A grade group were distracted to such an extent that a fall occurred on entry to the same corner which served to neutralise the race at that time.
After the fallen had dusted themselves off and wheels were replaced, the race resumed. Shortly after the group settled back to the task at hand, the two sprinters Taylor and Langley, curiously broke away from the front of the pack. The remaining bunch were content to let the pair tire themselves out for several laps before they reintegrated for the final stages. Tankard was unlucky to puncture and withdrew late in the race. The heat was having an effect on all the riders as there was little enthusiasm for breakaways until an attack from Hale half way through the bell lap caught the group napping. The acceleration was enough to gap the field prior to the last two corners and Hale maintained his momentum up the short finishing straight to cross the line ahead of the chasing Taylor and Langley. Such a shellacking may result in the relegation of Taylor to B grade until he overcomes his dramatic form slump and is once again worthy of an A grade start. The handicapper will have to give this some long deliberation - perhaps a few training sessions with the juniors may do the trick !!

The 35 minute race was contested by the usual B grade group of Gary Pitt, Arthur Anderson, Adrian Lloyd, Tom Athorn, and Barry Pollock. Ben Nicholson returning after an extended rest from racing also made an appearance as did Andrew Ryan eager to test himself in the next grade up. Rob Akkermans was missing today following a fall while training in Adelaide last weekend. We wish Rob a speedy recovery.

Ryan moved off the front by 30 metres from the start before rejoining the rest of the group on lap 3. Nicholson raised the speed on numerous occasions as he went to the front to stretch his legs a little. The group settled into a steady pace until the A grade fall interrupted proceedings, with Pollock touching his front wheel on Anderson’s rear wheel in the sudden deceleration and falling, leading to a DNF for him. A few laps after the restart, yet another Nicholson led increase in speed saw Athorn lose the back of the group followed on the next lap by Anderson and Lloyd, who could do nothing but watch Nicholson and Pitt escaping up the track with Ryan in tow. With 10 minutes remaining, Ryan could no longer hang on to the Pitt and Nicholson pace, but managed to get on the back of Anderson and Lloyd as they came through where he stayed until the last lap. Three laps from home and Pitt finally shook Nicholson loose and continued on for a well deserved win followed by Nicholson, and then Ryan, Anderson and Lloyd in a 3 way sprint to the line, with Athorn a distant 6th.

The C Grade field of Ben Vagnarelli, Chris Schilling, Taryn Heather, Dave Digby, Greg Scott, Rachel Hanlin and returning rider Brendan Liddle got off to a steady start for their time shortened 30 minute hit-out. The group stayed together for the first few laps with Hanlin the first to succumb to the pace. Liddle suffered a puncture and took a lap out for repairs. Scott was the next to lose contact with the bunch leaving Vagnarelli, Heather and Digby together until the race was temporarily halted due to a crash within the A and B grade fields. On resumption , the war of attrition continued which saw the previous leading trio back on the front again and staying together for the final sprint. Vagnarelli proved too strong on the day and crossed the line in first place with Schilling and Digby following shortly behind to fill the minor placings.

The Club would like to thank Penny Hale, Julianne Ryan, Dean Taylor and Gary Henderson for race administration and set-up.

The next race will be the 3 lap time trial on Tuesday 2 February at the Riverside circuit. Mark Phillips and Gary Pitt are on race set-up duty.

SENIORS
Pos Name Laps Actual Time
A Grade
1 Richard Hale 31 0:44:20.1
2 Dean Taylor 31 0:44:20.2
3 Nathan Langley 31 0:44:20.9
4 Mark Phillips 31 0:44:21.8
5 Gary Henderson 31 0:44:25.9
6 Kevin Tankard 21 0:40:41.0

B Grade
1 Garry Pitt 27 0:42:10.5
2 Ben Nicholson 27 0:42:22.0
3 Andrew Ryan 27 0:43:01.1
4 Arthur Anderson 27 0:43:01.2
5 Adrian Lloyd 27 0:43:01.7
6 Tom Athorn 26 0:42:28.9
DNF Barry Pollock 9 0:12:13.5 Retired due to Injury

C Grade
1 Ben Vagnarelli 24 0:38:10.6
2 Chris Schilling 24 0:38:11.0
3 Taryn Heather 24 0:38:11.6
4 Dave Digby 24 0:38:13.2
5 Greg Scott 23 0:38:49.6
6 Rachel Hanlin 22 0:39:51.5
7 Brendan Liddle 21 0:39:49.6

D Grade
1 Michael Allford 27 0:41:13.6
2 Ryan Clifford 27 0:41:13.7
3 Ben Athorn 27 0:41:14.1
4 Brodie Athorn 27 0:41:16.1
5 Terry Miller 26 0:41:38.1
6 Ken Dean 26 0:42:00.2
7 Alison Curry 26 0:42:29.9
8 Alana Hale 25 0:42:10.9
9 Barry Johnson 25 0:42:29.8

JUNIORS
Pos Name Laps Elapsed Time
1 Nathan Jordan 20 0:31:52.6
2 Thomas Henderson 20 0:31:53.0
3 Megan Hale 20 0:31:54.0
4 Tom Allford 19 0:32:18.6
5 Tyler Beruldsen 19 0:32:19.0
6 Bevan Henderson 18 0:33:25.4
7 Martin Ryan 17 0:32:33.0
8 Sean Schilling 15 0:34:00.4
DNF Lachlan Ryan 4 0:08:39.8 Puncture