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Jayco Tour of Tasmania - NE

Australia, October 24-29, 2006

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Stage 2 - October 24: Grindelwald - Beauty Point, 48.9 km

Come-backer McLachlan strikes fear

Young Walker takes overall lead

By Rod Morris in Beauty Point

Tim Walker (Praties) is the new Tour leader after the second stage,
Photo ©: Shane Goss
(Click for larger image)

19 year-old little known Tasmanian Tim Walker will have to pinch himself to find out if he's dreaming or not after finishing the opening day of the Jayco Tour of Tasmania with the coveted leader's yellow jersey. Walker claimed a third place behind Englishman Kristian House and Queensland's David Kemp in the first stage from Launceston to Grindelwald and then backed up in the afternoon's sprint from Grindelwald to Beauty Point to get himself into another breakaway group and finish eighth behind Canberra's Robert McLachlan.

His aggregate time over the first two stages edged him 15 seconds ahead of House, 37 seconds in front Kemp, 1.32 minutes to Finland's Kjell Carlström and another two seconds to both McLachlan and Victorian Mark O'Brien.

"I am stoked and I really don't believe it yet," a surprised Walker said. "I suppose all the hard training is paying off, but I can't believe I'm matching it with the likes of McLachlan, Kemp, House and Carlström among others. I don't suppose they were all that worried about me and that's why I was able to get into the breaks without too much attention from them. It will no doubt be different tomorrow."

Fellow Tasmanian Wesley Sulzberger had – by his own expectations – a disappointing day, finishing 11th in the morning and 10th in the afternoon to be 18th overall and more than 3 minutes behind Walker.

Walker is the first Tasmanian to lead the Tour of Tasmania since a then teenaged Nathan Clarke won the opening stage of the 1996 tour.

The six day tour continues on Tuesday with dual stages at Westbury, a morning criterium and an afternoon out and back course over 78.7 km.

How it unfolded

The terrain between Grindelwald and Beauty Point in Launceston's West Tamar valley region demanded that the second stage was going to be flat and fast, and the riders didn't disappoint. An escape group just 20 km into the race put the hammer down and they soon opened up a lead of more than two minutes, although that was narrowed to 1.15 minutes at the finish line.

The lead group on small climb near Sidmouth
Photo ©: Shane Goss
(Click for larger image)

The breakaways started with nine and didn't include Robert McLachlan (ACT), but he was able to get across and then control the tempo to his liking. Others in the group included Kjell Carlström, Mark O'Brien, Tasmanian duo Tim Walker and Ryan Sullivan, Victorian pair Craig McCartney and Scott Peoples and Queensland's Peter Herzig.

For about 20 km, Tim Guy (NSW) and Darcy Rosenlund (NSW) were also going tempo with the leaders but once the hit the highway just shy of Beaconsfield, they dropped back to the chasing peloton.

McLachlan wasn't interested in chasing the intermediate sprints along the way as he has openly declared he "Has bigger fish to fry." The catch that he's after is the $10,000 Tattersall's Cup, in which he started this tour in second place behind Wesley Sulzberger. Adrift by 29-points prior to stage 1, McLachlan has Sulzberger well and truly in his sights at just 14-points away, with nine stages and overall tour placings still to be counted.

"The Tattersall's Cup is the title I want, I won it last year and I want it again, it is a very prestigious reward for a great bike series," remarked Mclachlan.

The sprint finish at Beauty Point included crossing many residential areas and McLachlan was unable to shake off his fellow challengers, although his sprinting power came to the fore down the final 500m, holding out O'Brien and Carlström.

Robert McLachlan (Drapac Porsche), fresh from his win
Photo ©: Shane Goss
(Click for larger image)

The 35-year-old veteran, a member of Australia's 1992 Barcelona Olympic team returned to road racing three and a half years ago after an 8 year retirement. He has bounced back arguably better than he was in the early 1990s and this year alone he has won an amazing 25 races.

Included in his list of titles in 2006 are:
Melbourne to Warrnambool
Grafton to Inverell
3 stages of the Tour of the Murray River (plus GC:)
4 stages of the Tour of Japan
2 stages of the Tour of China (plus overall honours)
2 stages of the Canberra Tour (plus overall)
Muswellbrook Open

"I'm not absolutely certain on the number of wins, I don't really keep a list of them or a diary, I just get on the bike and race," he explained.

And the way McLachlan is racing has everyone else shaking in their boots, particularly Wesley Sulzberger who is watching his Tattersall's Cup lead being whittled down day by day.

Photography

For a thumbnail gallery of these images, click here

Images by Shane Goss/www.licoricegallery.com

Results

1 Robert McLachlan                         1.09.15 (42.37 km/h)
2 Mark O'Brien                                    
3 Kjell Carlstrom                                 
4 Ryan Sullivan                                   
5 Peter Herzig                                    
6 Scott Peoples                               0.04
7 Craig McCartney                             0.06
8 Timothy Walker                              0.10
9 Jarrod Harman                               1.15
10 Wesley Sulzberger                              
11 Ricky Peoples                                  
12 Daniel Furmston                                
13 David Kemp                                     
14 Matthew McDonagh                               
15 Richie Porte                                   
16 Kristian House                                 
17 Joshua Wilson                                  
18 William Ford                                   
19 Cameron Hughes                                 
20 Reuben Young                                   
21 Patrick Shaw                               1.17
22 Chris Jory                                     
23 Johnnie Walker                                 
24 Simon Brown                                1.20
25 Ben Mather                                     
26 Daniel Braunsteins                             
27 Jack Anderson                                  
28 Sean Finning                                   
29 Hayden Josefski                                
30 David Oliver                                   
31 Paul Logan                                     
32 Nathan Earle                                   
33 Chris Steffanoni                               
34 William Robinson                               
35 Simon Pearson                                  
36 Joshua Chugg                                   
37 Cameron Wurf                               1.27
38 Chris Stack                                    
39 Nathan Clarke                              1.29
40 Darcy Rosenlund                                
41 Matthew Sydes                                  
42 Christos Winter                            1.31
43 Eugen Schilter                                 
44 Tim Buchanan                               1.41
45 Rob Licciardo                              1.48
46 Michael Fitzgerald                         1.50
47 Stephen Wooldridge                         1.51
48 Tim Guy                                    2.00
49 Jason Johnson                             11.14
50 Malcolm Hart                                   
51 Andrew Hanigan                            11.25
52 Jack Alexander                            16.23
53 Peter Barrett                             28.17
DNF Jason Bellchambers
DNF Jai Crawford
DNF Brendan Washington
DNF Gregory Walmsley

 
Sprints
Mocha 8 - Ninth Island Vineyard
1 Craig McCartney                                3 pts
2 Patrick Shaw                                   2
3 Daniel Furmston                                1
Mocha 12 - Rosevears Waterfront Tavern
1 Scott Peoples                                  3 pts
2 Kjell Carlstrom                                2
3 Peter Herzig                                   1
Mocha 25 - Gravelly Beach General Store
1 Daniel Furmston                                3 pts
2 Daniel Braunsteins                             2
3 William Ford                                   1
Mocha 36 - Marions Vineyard
1 Mark O'Brien                                   3 pts
2 Tim Guy                                        2
3 Peter Herzig                                   1
Mocha 42 - Sidmouth General Store
1 Peter Herzig                                   3 pts
2 Mark O'Brien                                   2
3 Kjell Carlstrom                                1
Mocha 57 - Beaconsfield Tattersalls Newsagent
1 Kjell Carlstrom                                3 pts
2 Scott Peoples                                  2
3 Robert McLachlan                               1
 
Hill Climbs
Cat.4 Mocha 41 - Pass Rowella Road
1 Kjell Carlstrom                                3 pts
2 Tim Guy                                        2
3 Robert McLachlan                               1

General Classification
1 Timothy Walker      2.25.39
2 Kristian House         0.15
3 David Kemp             0.37
4 Kjell Carlstrom        1.32
5 Mark O'Brien           1.34
6 Robert McLachlan           
7 Scott Peoples          1.45
8 Sean Finning           1.49
9 Peter Herzig           2.00
10 Craig McCartney           
11 Ryan Sullivan         2.13
12 William Ford          2.54
13 Reuben Young          3.02
14 Matthew McDonagh          
15 Joshua Wilson             
16 Patrick Shaw              
17 Cameron Hughes            
18 Wesley Sulzberger         
19 Johnnie Walker        3.04
20 Daniel Braunsteins    3.05
21 Richie Porte              
22 Jarrod Harman         3.16
23 Nathan Earle          3.21
24 Joshua Chugg              
25 David Oliver          3.27
26 Ben Mather                
27 Hayden Josefski           
28 Ricky Peoples         3.37
29 Darcy Rosenlund       3.51
30 Chris Jory            4.09
31 Daniel Furmston       4.11
32 Tim Guy               4.18
33 Chris Steffanoni      4.20
34 William Robinson          
35 Jack Anderson             
36 Cameron Wurf          4.27
37 Nathan Clarke         4.29
38 Simon Pearson         4.50
39 Michael Fitzgerald        
40 Simon Brown           4.52
41 Paul Logan            5.07
42 Eugen Schilter        5.12
43 Matthew Sydes         5.16
44 Stephen Wooldridge    5.38
45 Christos Winter       6.12
46 Chris Stack           6.36
47 Tim Buchanan          6.41
48 Rob Licciardo         6.54
49 Andrew Hanigan       16.34
50 Malcolm Hart         17.34
51 Jack Alexander       18.24
52 Jason Johnson        18.35
53 Peter Barrett        34.12
 
Sprints
1 David Kemp                9 pts
2 Kjell Carlstrom           6
3 Peter Herzig              5
4 Scott Peoples             5
5 Mark O'Brien              5
6 Daniel Furmston           4
7 Kristian House            4
8 Craig McCartney           3
9 Sean Finning              3
10 Timothy Walker           2
11 Tim Guy                  2
12 Daniel Braunsteins       2
13 Patrick Shaw             2
14 William Ford             1
15 Robert McLachlan         1
 
Hill Climbs
1 Kristian House           10 pts
2 David Kemp                7
3 Timothy Walker            4
4 Kjell Carlstrom           3
5 Tim Guy                   2
6 Robert McLachlan          1