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Timbercorp Cup Tour of the Murray River - NE
Australia, August 26-September 2, 2007
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Stage 8 - August 30: Mildura kermesse, 66 km
A Hughes effort while McDonald inches closer to overall victory
By Rod Morris in Mildura (Vic)
The stage win may have eluded him but Queensland's Cameron Hughes was the big mover in yesterday's eighth stage of the Fishers IGA Tour of the Murray River. Hughes, a winner of the 1999 Tour of Sunraysia – which is a forerunner of the Tour of the Murray River – is only on his second trip to the Riverland district and obviously has a liking for the area.
Hughes was third in the Mildura Kermesse stage over 66 kilometres, finishing behind winner Sean Finning (Victoria) and former New Zealand rider Miles Watson, who is now based in Melbourne and riding for the Specialized team. Hughes jumped from more than a minute behind in 10th place to fifth overall and cut his deficit to 37 seconds to leader Peter McDonald with five stages still to be raced.
Finning (22) won a gold medal at the 2006 Melbourne Commonwealth Games in the Points Score race and is now establishing a solid reputation in Caribou promoted events. The Tour of the Murray River is the third leg of four of the Timbercorp Cup National Cycling Series, which started with the Tour of Gippsland, included the Australian Cycling Grand Prix at Ballarat and will conclude in October with the Tour of Tasmania.
Finning has previously won the Mallacoota Criterium in the 2006 Tour of Gippsland, the Latrobe Criterium in the 2006 Tour of Tasmania and this year's Paynesville Criterium in the Tour of Gippsland, so it was no surprise to see him come to the fore in Mildura. While Hughes was the day's big advancer, leader Peter McDonald actually extended his lead and crept closer to claiming his first ever multi-stage tour victory.
McDonald started the day holding a 6-second lead over David Pell and Grant Irwin. 66 kilometres later, that margin had been stretched to 27 seconds over Pell and 29 seconds from Irwin.
How it unfolded
The Mildura Kermesse is now a regular event on the Tour of the Murray River but on all previous schedules has been the grand finale, not a mid-tour stage. Previous winners of the Mildura event have included Ashley Hutchinson (2000), David McKenzie (2001, 2004 & 2005), Simon Walker (2002), Peter Milostic (2003) and Michael Ford (2006).
A field of 70 riders from the original entry of 86 took to the start line under a blazing hot sun, which promised no respite. The peloton just went through the motions for the first couple of laps before a small group of seven riders were able to break clear. The escapee group included Peter Dawson (WA), Peter McDonald (NSW), Steven Robb (Vic), Brendan Schultz (Vic), Cameron Hughes (Qld) and Ben Mather (Tas). That elite field stayed away for almost 40 kilometres before the peloton were able to reel them back in.
By then though, McDonald had done a lot of work towards possible tour victory. He won eight consecutive intermediate sprints and with his main protagonists – Pell, Irwin and Shaw – all missing the front-end action, the bonuses could prove to be invaluable when the tour finishes in Waikerie (South Australia) on Sunday. As the riders were preparing for one of the last intermediate sprints – at five laps to go – a clash of wheels brought five riders crashing to the bitumen. Matt King (NT), Malcolm Rudolph (Qld), Will Dickeson (SA), Grant Webster (NSW) and Jamie Crass (Vic) were the ones that came to grief, but none were injured badly enough that they could not finish.
Just prior to this, the breakaway group had been caught and passed by a small group of three riders, Sean Finning, Miles Watson and Cameron Hughes and this trio were able to hold on till the end, finishing in that order. Finning, riding for the strong southaustralia.com team had too much in reserve for Watson, whilst Hughes was also spent from his earlier heroics. "Its nice to get another win," Finning said. "The team is a bit crabby because we haven't got anyone in GC contention, so we are all now concentrating on stage placings and see what else we can get for the week."
After some near misses earlier in the tour, it was southaustralia.com's second consecutive win following on from Mark Jamieson's victory in the Merbein to Wentworth stage on Wednesday afternoon.
The tour continues on Friday with a dual stage schedule at Ouyen, coinciding with the famous Vanilla Slice Triumph festival and then at the weekend, the entourage moves into South Australia for races at Loxton and Waikerie.
Photography
For a thumbnail gallery of these images, click here
Images by Shane Goss/www.licoricegallery.com
- Jack Bobridge (L) and Leigh Howard get ready in the roller-derby exhibition before the start of stage eight in Mildura.
- Shaun Higgerson (SouthAustralia.com/AIS) corners during stage eight of the Tour in Mildura.
- Cameron Hughes (Ord Minnett/Triple Play) leads Ben Mather (Praties) around the streets of Mildura.
- Stage five winner Peter Dawson (SouthAustralia.com/AIS) was on the attack again during stage eight.
- Chris Jory (NSWIS/FRF) will be looking forward to some hill climbs when the series hits Tasmania on October the second.
- Tour leader Peter McDonald (NSWIS/FRF) leads the early break around Mildura on stage eight.
- Peter McDonald (NSWIS/FRF) held onto his lead after the completion of stage eight in Mildura.
- Grant Irwin (centre) takes time out for a snack in-between Ord Minnett/Triple Play teammates on stage eight.
- Sean Finning (centre) of the SouthAustralia.com/AIS outfit back in the peloton before escaping their clutches for another criterium victory.
- John Ebeling (NSWIS/FRF) keeps his finger on the brakes as he speeds into a corner in Mildura.
- Brett Aitken (Savings & Loans) was deep in the peloton and out of contention for one of his trademark sprints.
- Robert Cater (left) of NSWIS/FRF was twenty-first overall on the GC going into stage eight in Mildura.
- Carnage near the finish-line after riders hit the deck, tumbling over a gutter sticking out in the home-straight.
- Malcom Rudolph from Queensland takes a drink after falling in the home-straight nearing the finish to stage eight.
- The peloton lines up in the home-straight trying to bridge the gap to three leading riders.
- Sean Finning (SouthAustalia.com/AIS) takes out another stage of the Tour for the boys with the 'roo on their jerseys.
- Gee that's cheap for a pack of Australian cyclists!
- Peter McDonald (NSWIS/FRF) remains in the lead of the Fishers IGA Tour of the Murray River after eight stages.
Results
1 Sean Finning 1.28.35 (44.704 km/h) 2 Miles Watson 3 Cameron Hughes 4 David Pell 0.26 5 Peter McDonald 6 Grant Irwin 7 Robert Cater 8 Jack Bobridge 9 Leigh Howard 10 Patrick Shaw 11 Daniel Furmston 12 Michael Stallard 13 Benjamin King 14 Matthew Sherwin 15 Hayden Josefski 16 Steven Robb 17 Brad Edmunds 18 Ben Mather 19 Gary Mueller 20 Nicholas Sanderson 21 David Kemp 22 Gilbert Gutowski 23 Thomas Baxter 24 Simon Brown 25 Samuel Rix 26 Travis Frisby 27 John Ebeling 28 Nathan Wise 29 David Tozer 30 Peter Smith 31 Tom Middleton 32 Nigel Sullivan 33 Will Wettenhall 34 Chris Steffanoni 35 Timothy Decker 36 Luke Aggett 37 Brendan Jones 38 Daniel Braunsteins 39 Shaun Higgerson 40 Daniel McCulloch 41 Jacob Lea 42 Chris Jory 43 Evan Corry 44 Jason Hegert 45 Brendan Schultz 46 Lachlan Stewart 47 Jamie Crass 48 Malcolm Rudolph 49 Grant Webster 50 Will Dickeson 51 Matt King 52 Russell Gill 0.41 53 Mark Jamieson 0.50 54 Miles Olman 1.00 55 Tony Mann 56 Peter Milostic 1.22 57 Glen Peterson 2.24 58 Peter Dawson 3.18 59 Jarrod Harman 3.58 60 Re Meneaud-Young 61 Matt Sillars 4.00 62 Gavin Nicholls 63 Brett Aitken 64 Darcy Rosenlund 65 Vaughan Bowman 66 Craig Robertson 67 Stephen Price 68 Douglas Repacholi 6.58 69 Brendon Sharratt 18.50 70 Jeremy Hills Sprints Lap 2 1 Miles Watson 3 pts 2 Patrick Shaw 2 3 Benjamin King 1 Lap 4 1 Grant Irwin 3 pts 2 David Pell 2 3 Peter McDonald 1 Lap 6 1 Peter McDonald 3 pts 2 Steven Robb 2 3 Cameron Hughes 1 Lap 8 1 Peter McDonald 3 pts 2 Cameron Hughes 2 3 Steven Robb 1 Lap 10 1 Peter McDonald 3 pts 2 Steven Robb 2 3 Cameron Hughes 1 Lap 12 1 Peter McDonald 3 pts 2 Cameron Hughes 2 3 Steven Robb 1 Lap 14 1 Peter McDonald 3 pts 2 Steven Robb 2 3 Peter Dawson 1 Lap 16 1 Peter McDonald 3 pts 2 Cameron Hughes 2 3 Peter Dawson 1 Lap 18 1 Peter McDonald 3 pts 2 Cameron Hughes 2 3 Steven Robb 1 Lap 20 1 Peter McDonald 3 pts 2 Patrick Shaw 2 3 Cameron Hughes 1 Lap 22 1 Miles Watson 3 pts 2 Sean Finning 2 3 Cameron Hughes 1 Lap 24 1 Miles Watson 3 pts 2 Cameron Hughes 2 3 Sean Finning 1 Lap 26 1 Cameron Hughes 3 pts 2 Miles Watson 2 3 Sean Finning 1 Lap 28 1 Miles Watson 3 pts 2 Cameron Hughes 2 3 Sean Finning 1 Criterium championships 7 Sean Finning 10 pts 27 Miles Watson 9 25 Cameron Hughes 8 86 David Pell 7 4 Peter McDonald 6 9 Grant Irwin 5 40 Robert Cater 4 47 Jack Bobridge 3 15 Leigh Howard 2 14 Patrick Shaw 1 Most aggressive rider 25 Cameron Hughes 2 pts General classificationa after stage 8 1 Peter McDonald 11.02.51 2 David Pell 0.27 3 Grant Irwin 0.29 4 Patrick Shaw 0.32 5 Cameron Hughes 0.37 6 Benjamin King 0.52 7 Leigh Howard 0.59 8 Jack Bobridge 1.18 9 Tom Middleton 10 John Ebeling 1.19 11 David Kemp 1.34 12 Miles Watson 7.10 13 Brad Edmunds 9.58 14 Mark Jamieson 10.11 15 Nicholas Sanderson 10.34 16 Peter Dawson 12.16 17 Tony Mann 18 Darcy Rosenlund 13.02 19 Timothy Decker 15.24 20 Robert Cater 15.54 21 Gavin Nicholls 16.00 22 Michael Stallard 16.42 23 Steven Robb 16.48 24 Gilbert Gutowski 17.03 25 Hayden Josefski 17.07 26 Daniel McCulloch 17.27 27 Miles Olman 18.29 28 Jarrod Harman 23.47 29 Russell Gill 26.29 30 Chris Steffanoni 26.32 31 Chris Jory 32 Ben Mather 26.36 33 Jacob Lea 26.44 34 Evan Corry 35 Will Dickeson 26.45 36 Jamie Crass 26.48 37 Brendan Schultz 27.00 38 Matt King 27.02 39 Lachlan Stewart 27.28 40 Peter Milostic 28.17 41 Daniel Furmston 29.27 42 David Tozer 29.55 43 Re Meneaud-Young 30.00 44 Shaun Higgerson 31.56 45 Douglas Repacholi 32.52 46 Matt Sillars 33.41 47 Brett Aitken 35.52 48 Craig Robertson 36.39 49 Samuel Rix 38.12 50 Luke Aggett 39.13 51 Daniel Braunsteins 40.29 52 Glen Peterson 40.48 53 Jason Hegert 41.48 54 Nathan Wise 42.50 55 Matthew Sherwin 43.26 56 Gary Mueller 43.33 57 Sean Finning 44.24 58 Peter Smith 45.12 59 Nigel Sullivan 45.14 60 Thomas Baxter 49.38 61 Will Wettenhall 50.06 62 Travis Frisby 50.50 63 Malcolm Rudolph 51.04 64 Stephen Price 54.33 65 Brendan Jones 1.01.16 66 Brendon Sharratt 1.02.35 67 Grant Webster 1.04.11 68 Vaughan Bowman 1.06.03 69 Simon Brown 1.21.13 70 Jeremy Hills 1.55.13 Sprints classification 27 Miles Watson 73 pts 4 Peter McDonald 46 20 Darcy Rosenlund 44 14 Patrick Shaw 37 86 David Pell 34 23 Benjamin King 30 7 Sean Finning 26 3 Peter Dawson 23 25 Cameron Hughes 20 40 Robert Cater 19 9 Grant Irwin 15 72 Brendon Sharratt 15 35 Brad Edmunds 13 21 Steven Robb 9 8 Mark Jamieson 8 47 Jack Bobridge 8 15 Leigh Howard 7 85 Nathan Wise 6 18 Tony Mann 5 34 Gilbert Gutowski 5 38 John Ebeling 5 73 Michael Stallard 4 6 David Kemp 3 71 Malcolm Rudolph 3 83 Matthew Sherwin 2 66 Gavin Nicholls 2 26 Timothy Decker 2 81 Vaughan Bowman 2 75 Lachlan Stewart 2 77 David Tozer 1 31 Tom Middleton 1 12 Matt Sillars 1 42 Will Dickeson 1 41 Brendan Jones 1 11 Miles Olman 1 Criterium championships classification 9 Grant Irwin 34 pts 16 Nicholas Sanderson 21 40 Robert Cater 19 14 Patrick Shaw 17 100 Gary Mueller 17 15 Leigh Howard 16 3 Peter Dawson 13 2 Brett Aitken 13 68 Douglas Repacholi 12 44 Russell Gill 12 20 Darcy Rosenlund 12 27 Miles Watson 11 4 Peter McDonald 11 7 Sean Finning 10 25 Cameron Hughes 8 33 Jarrod Harman 7 86 David Pell 7 38 John Ebeling 4 84 Peter Smith 4 47 Jack Bobridge 3 11 Miles Olman 3 72 Brendon Sharratt 3 31 Tom Middleton 3 42 Will Dickeson 1 83 Matthew Sherwin 1 Most aggressive rider classification 8 Mark Jamieson 4 pts 86 David Pell 2 84 Peter Smith 2 25 Cameron Hughes 2 7 Sean Finning 2 4 Peter McDonald 2
