Carrigan and McEwen to Cronulla

2004 Olympic gold medallist Sara Carrigan will take part in the Cronulla International Cycle Grand Prix on Sunday. The 26 year old Carrigan, who took a short break from cycling to work on her Bachelor of Education, will be matched against her Commonwealth Games gold medal winning teammates Kate and Natalie Bates, as well as World Cup winner Rochelle Gilmore, former World Junior Champion Skye-Lee Armstrong and one of Australia’s fastest women cyclists Kaarle McCulloch. The women’s grand prix will be 18 laps of a testing 1.34 kilometre circuit and will start at 10.40 am.

Robbie McEwen, who has been showing fine off-season form in recent weeks, is taking no chances in the Horsell International Grand Prix and has enlisted further help from Jason Phillips, the seasoned professional with the German team Heinz von Heiden. Phillips is a recent winner in a Grand Prix in Queensland and completes a formidable trio along with Nick Gates, winner of the Surfers Paradise Grand Prix.

McEwen has never won this race, and will get competition from the likes of Graeme Brown, the dual Olympic champion, racing for Rabobank and Matt White (Discovery Channel). But the short 40 kilometre race might not keep trackies like 4-time world track champion and Olympic gold medallist Steve Wooldridge and Commonwealth Games champion Ben Kersten out of the running. The men’s event will commence at 11.30 am, and will be televised on Network Nine from 11am to 12.30pm.