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Toohey's Extra Dry Criterium Series #3 - NE
Ulverstone, Tasmania, December 10, 2005
Goss gets the overall
By Rod Morris in Ulverstone
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Matthew Goss wrapped up the Toohey's Extra Dry Tasmanian Criterium Championship in Ulverstone on Saturday despite not finishing in the top 10 of the third and final round. Goss, who has enjoyed an excellent 12 months of racing both in Australia and overseas, was content to watch his closest challenger - Nathan Clarke - in the last race at Ulverstone, leaving the hectic proceedings out in front to the likes of Karl Menzies and Sean Sullivan. Menzies won the race, Sullivan second and Bernard Sulzberger third, but the interest in the series was in the main peloton where Goss and Clarke were situated.
Goss entered the final round with a two-point lead over Clarke and a further three points to Hobart-based rider Stephen Rossendell, and because of varying circumstances they were the only three that could win the race series. So when Menzies and Sullivan made their breakaway move and later Bernard Sulzberger, Caleb Manion and Tim Walker made a belated chase-down group, Goss, Clarke and Rossendell were far from worried. Whilst it would have been nice to clinch a third straight win in the series, Goss still had to watch closely what Clarke and Rossendell were up to.
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Menzies, originally from Ulverstone but now based in Launceston - and soon to be America - showed he meant business right from the start. Of the six intermediate sprints dotted throughout the 35-lap race, Menzies featured in all of them, although won only one. "There had been a lot of media exposure leading up to this race and most of it was promoting me as the race favourite, so I was really glad I was able to come through and get the win," Menzies said. Widely regarded as one of the country's best road riders, Menzies was able to show a clean pair of pedals against Barloworld rider Sean Sullivan in the final sprint to win by five metres.
Menzies and Sullivan caught the napping main bunch - which included Goss, Clarke and Sullivan - with two laps remaining, but race commissaries strangely enough allowed the lapped riders to stay on the circuit. This meant Menzies and Sullivan could hide within the bunch and regain their strength and composure for the final sprint. The chasing bunch was led home by Bernard Sulzberger and minor placings from there scattered across the 900 m circuit. When Nathan Clarke limped home in ninth place, Matthew Goss was able to cross the line in 11th and yet still claim overall series honours. While Clarke missed out on overall victory because of a countback only, he had better luck in the Goodstone Sprint King Championship, winning by 5-points from Wesley Sulzberger.
The 2005 Tasmanian Criterium Championship was hailed as a resounding success and riders, officials, sponsors and spectators alike are already talking of hoe the 2006 series can be made better. Grace Sulzberger clinched the Invitational Women's series, despite finishing second to the improving Kate Warren in the final round. But surely the success story of the day came from Launceston based baker Tim Elmer.
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With 12 years retirement now behind him, Elmer enjoyed a day on the bike rarely seen in other circles. Elmer won the North-West Veteran's 20 lap race in stunning fashion and less than 30 minutes later lined up in the Men's B Grade race.....and won that as well! Along the way, Elmer won three intermediate sprints in the vets class and a further four intermediate sprints against the younger - and so-called fitter - riders. Launceston's Clay Murfett claimed the B Grade title after a consistent series which saw him finish second twice and a seventh in the final round.
Race 3 at Ulverstone, which was won by Elmer saw Cameron Daniel and - another veteran - Jamie Perry grab the minor placings. Perry won Veteran's series with a win and two seconds. The Aurora Energy Devonport Junior 1 (Under 17) was a tight affair with Matthew Kent, Ben Grenda and Andrew Smith starting the last round level on points but finishing in the order listed after Kent won from Grenda. Luke Ockerby is the newly crowned Junior 2 (Under 15) series champion, although Sam Brett won the final round and in Junior 3 (Under 13), Drew Redman won Round 3, but Izac Guest claimed the series. Tasmania's cycling summer continues this week with the Devonport Trial Wheel on December 13, the 49th annual Rosebery Carnival on December 17 and the Latrobe Trial Wheel on December 20. From there the National Grid Tasmanian Christmas Carnivals hits full gear, starting at Latrobe on Boxing Day.
Photography
For a thumbnail gallery of these images, click here
Images by Lynne Ryan
- As they finished in the junior U13 race - Izac Guest (2nd) and Drew Redman (1st)
- Clay Murfet (l) was the B Grade series winner
- The big man takes it! Elite men's winner Karl Menzies (r)
- Matt Goss (TIS) was the elite men's series winner
- Junior U15 winner Sam Brett
- Junior series winners (l-r) Luke Ockerby Junior U15, Izac Guest Junior U13 and Matthew Kent Junior U17
- Karl Menzies was the elite men's winner
- Kate Warren (l) won the women's race
- Matthew Kent flies to a series win (Junior U17)
- The Winners (l-r): Clay Murfet (B Grade men), Grace Sulzberger (Women's) and Jamie Perry (Veterans)
Results
Elite Men - 31.5km 1 Karl Menzies 2 Sean Sullivan 3 Bernard Sulzberger 4 Caleb Manion 5 Tim Walker 6 Jarrod Harman 7 Richie Port 8 Will Robinson 9 Nathan Clarke 10 Wesley Sulzberger Intermediate Sprints Lap 6 Nathan Clarke Lap 10 Bernard Sulzberger Lap 14 Karl Menzies Lap 18 Sean Sullivan Lap 22 Sean Sullivan Lap 26 Sean Sullivan B Grade Men - 22.5km 1 Tim Elmer 2 Cameron Daniel 3 Jamie Perry 4 Clay Murfett 5 Adam Hartley 6 Daniel Jamieson 7 Matthew McDonagh 8 Steve Martini 9 Dwayne Smith 10 Michael Smith Intermediate Sprints Lap 3 Adam Hartley Lap 5 Adam Hartley Lap 9 Tim Elmer Lap 12 Tim Elmer Lap 17 Tim Elmer Lap 20 Tim Elmer Invitational Women - 22.5km 1 Kate Warren 2 Grace Sulzberger 3 Tiffany Manion 4 Kate De Paoli 5 Bethany Coleman 6 Tarrisha Jones 7 Laurilee Sharman 8 Emma Smith 9 Emma Heynes 10 Melissa Barnes Intermediate Sprints Lap 10 Grace Sulzberger Lap 20 Grace Sulzberger North-West Veterans - 18 km A GRADE 1 Tim Elmer 2 Jamie Perry 3 Steve Martini 4 Craig Price 5 Peter Oliver 6 Glenn Myler 7 Darryn Pugh B Grade 1 Shane Cresswell 2 Tim Hicks 3 Nick Millington 4 David Weeks 5 Fred Guilbert Intermediate Sprints Lap 5 Glenn Myler Lap 10 Tim Elmer Lap 14 Tim Elmer Lap 17 Tim Elmer Junior 1 - 18km 1 Matthew Kent 2 Ben Grenda 3 Andrew Smith 4 Alex Benson 5 David Lyons 6 Ed Robinson 7 Brenden Sutton 8 Matthew Sermicki 9 Timothy Taylor 10 Jonathon Taylor Junior 2 - 15.3km 1 Sam Brett 2 Luke Ockerby 3 Amy Cure 4 Ryan Mather 5 Brandon Stewart 6 Jacob Fielding 7 Jason Bounday 8 Gerald McDonagh 9 Madison Catlin 10 Callan Walker Junior 3 - 5.4km 1 Drew Redman 2 Izac Guest 3 Liam Ockerby 4 Danieka West Final Series Standings Elite Men 1 Matt Goss 20 pts 2 Nathan Clarke 20 3 Bernard Sulzberger 16 4 Stephen Rossendell 15 5 Richie Port 11 6 Karl Menzies 10 7 Wesley Sulzberger 10 8 Jarrod Harman 10 9 Sean Sullivan 9 10 Tom Robinson 9 11 Tim Walker 8 12 Aaron Jones 7 13 Caleb Manion 7 14 Will Robinson 7 15 Andrew Hannigan 5 16 John Rayner 1 Goodstone Sprint Championship 1 Nathan Clarke 24 pts 2 Wesley Sulzberger 19 3 Bernard Sulzberger 13 4 Sean Sullivan 11 5 Karl Menzies 11 6 Matt Goss 11 7 Tim Walker 4 8 Andrew Hannigan 3 9 Mark Jamieson 3 10 Aaron Jones 3 11 Richie Port 2 12 Stephen Rossendell 2 13 Caleb Manion 1 14 Jarrod Harman 1 Invitational Women 1 Grace Sulzberger 29 pts 2 Kate Warren 28 3 Bethany Coleman 22 4 Kate De Paoli 21 5 Tiffany Manion 17 6 Tarrisha Jones 17 7 Emma Smith 9 8 Laurilee Sharman 8 9 Sarah Eaves 6 10 Emma Haynes 3 11 Melissa Barnes 3 12 Sarah Cure 2 B Grade Men 1 Clay Murfett 25 pts 2 Matthew McDonagh 21 3 Adam Hartley 21 4 Jamie Perry 20 5 Michael Smith 15 6 Cameron Daniel 15 7 Daniel Jamieson 11 8 Alex Holden 10 9 Tim Elmer 9 10 Steve Martini 3 11 Ben Laskey 3 12 Craig Burrows 3 13 Codie Redman 3 14 Dwayne Smith 2 15 Andrew Loft 2 16 Steve McCoy 1
