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19th Trust House Classic (Tour of Wellington) - 2.2
New Zealand, January 25-29, 2006
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Stage 4 - January 27: Masterton - Pahiatua, 158.5 km
Oliphant wins breakaway sprint
By Nick Warren in Masterton
An eventful stage four at the Tour of Wellington saw Scotsman Evan Oliphant claim victory over his seven breakaway companions in Masterton. Putting his track skills to good use, Oliphant started his sprint early but managed to hold off Wesley Sulzberger (SouthAustralia.com-AIS) and Dean Windsor (Mercedes Benz-AIS) after a highly successful day for the Scottish National Team.
Compatriot Duncan Urquhart, one of the heroes of the successful 100km break from Thursday morning's stage two, again attacked early in the race, going clear with Sean Finning (SouthAustralia.com-AIS). An active bunch held them at no more than two minutes for 50km, but soon settled down and by the first King of the Mountains after 75km of racing the duo were five minutes ahead. Urquhart, who was already wearing the climber's jersey after winning the previous day's only mountain points, obviously decided to repeat the feat and try to secure the jersey, Laurent Jalabert style.
After Pahiatua the route turned South into a headwind and Finning was struggling. By the next categorised climb after 105km Urquhart had powered away and Finning had completely blown. By this stage the peloton which had been policed by overall leader Tim Gudsell's Samsung NZ National Team, was becoming restless. A group of four went clear and caught a flagging Urquhart. They were soon joined by Rob McLachlan (Trust House), and then four more riders also bridged the gap. The new ten-strong lead group had barely a minute over the bunch, but failed to gel and riders consistently attacking each other. Urquhart, paying for his efforts but having secured maximum mountain points was dropped along with Peter Dawson (SouthAustralia.com-AIS) with 20km remaining.
The remaining eight escapees, containing Oliphant, Sulzberger, Windsor, Greg Henderson (Subway), Logan Hutchins (Samsung NZ National Team), Stuart Shaw (Trust House) and Darren Lapthorne (Trust House) pressed on, but with the three Trust House team members growing increasingly agitated. Henderson and Hutchins, protecting the overall position of their respective team leaders, Hayden Roulston (second on GC) and Tim Gudsell, refused to work at the front. McLachlan and Shaw repeatedly gestured and shouted at them for them to come through but to no avail.
A pan flat final 10km meant the eight stayed together, Oliphant winding his sprint up with 500m to go.
"Our plan today was to help Duncan (Urquhart) get the mountains jersey," said Oliphant. "Once he got the points and came back, I could go for the stage. It was a bit worrying having those two sitting on and I thought they might get up for the sprint, but I'm pleased I held on."
Gudsell, who retains his yellow jersey by 23 seconds from Oliphant gave credit to his Samsung team: "They were awesome today, they gave me a free ride. We were quite happy with a little break up the road all day. We were a bit concerned with (the final eight-man) break, but it wasn't just up to us to chase and we got some help."
Aware of tomorrow's tough stage which finishes on top of Admiral Hill, Gudsell says he'll try his best to hang onto the lead. "I'm not sure I'm looking forward to it, but I'll give it a good nudge."
Urquhart was happy with his ride. "I lost some time (at last night's criterium) and thought I'd put all my eggs in one basket and go for the mountains jersey. I should have done enough to keep it until Sunday."
Top professional Julian Dean was forced to withdraw from the Tour following Thursday night's stage after being taken to hospital. Initial reports suggested Dean had his appendix removed, however this now appears not to be the case. Dean was due to fly to Spain after the Tour which finishes on Sunday.
Results
1 Evan Oliphant (GBr) UKNZjobs.com Scotland National Team 3.50.01 2 Wesley Sulzberger (Aus) SouthAustralia.com - AIS 3 Dean Windsor (Aus) Mercedes Benz - Wellington Star 4 Logan Hutchings (NZl) Samsung New Zealand Team 5 Stuart Shaw (Aus) Trust House Team 6 Greg Henderson (NZl) Team Subway 7 Rob MacLachlan (Aus) Trust House Team 7 Darren Lapthorn (Aus) Trust House Team 9 Michael Cupitt (Aus) Trust House Team 1.06 9 Dylan Cooper (Aus) Trust House Team 9 Fabio Calabria (Aus) Trust House Team 9 Cameron Holt (NZl) Mercedes Benz - Wellington Star 9 Stephen Stannard (NZl) Mercedes Benz - Wellington Star 9 Michael Torkler (NZl) Mercedes Benz - Wellington Star 9 Michael Frankovich (NZl) Mercedes Benz - Wellington Star 9 Alex Coutts (GBr) UKNZjobs.com Scotland National Team 9 Gareth Montgomer (GBr) UKNZjobs.com Scotland National Team 9 James Mccallum (GBr) UKNZjobs.com Scotland National Team 9 Tim Gudsell (NZl) Samsung New Zealand Team 9 Gordon McCauley (NZl) Samsung New Zealand Team 9 Peter Latham (NZl) Samsung New Zealand Team 9 Marc Ryan (NZl) Samsung New Zealand Team 9 Jason Allen (NZl) Samsung New Zealand Team 9 Graeme Stone (NZl) R+R 9 Brady Gibbons (NZl) R+R 9 Peter Dawson (Aus) SouthAustralia.com - AIS 9 Miles Olman (Aus) SouthAustralia.com - AIS 9 Stephen Wooldridge (Aus) SouthAustralia.com - AIS 9 Ashley Hutchinson (Aus) SouthAustralia.com - AIS 9 Paul Sumich (NZl) Cytosport 9 Scott Strong (NZl) Cytosport 9 Dion Neems (NZl) Cytosport 9 Blair Brydon (NZl) Cytosport 9 Blair Sutherland (NZl) Cytosport 9 Aaron Wheeler (NZl) Cytosport 9 Will Alexander (NZl) Pravda 9 Darrin Strahan (NZl) Pravda 9 Joseph Crooks (NZl) Pravda 9 Mark Jamieson (Aus) Pravda 9 Ross Mackintosh (NZl) Handy Rentals 9 Don Oakley (NZl) Handy Rentals 9 Paul Odlin (NZl) Handy Rentals 9 Ben Oleson (NZl) Handy Rentals 9 Courtney Black (NZl) Handy Rentals 9 Geoff Burndred (NZl) Penny Cycles 9 Matthew Gorter (NZl) Penny Cycles 9 Justin Kerr (NZl) Penny Cycles 9 Chris Van Houtte (NZl) Penny Cycles 9 Dan Warren (NZl) BP NZ 9 Josh Brannigan (NZl) BP NZ 9 Saul Webb (NZl) BP NZ 9 Scott Wilder (NZl) BP NZ 9 Hayden Roulston (NZl) Team Subway 9 Hayden Godfrey (NZl) Team Subway 9 Jeremy Vennell (NZl) Team Subway 9 Sam Bewley (NZl) Team Subway 9 Michael Northey (NZl) Team Subway 9 Edwin Crossling (NZl) Tait Communications 9 Adam Coker (NZl) Tait Communications 9 Matt Sillars (NZl) Infinity Solutions 9 Benjamin Mackinnon (NZl) Infinity Solutions 9 Dan Waluszews (NZl) Infinity Solutions 9 Scott Lyttle (NZl) Infinity Solutions 9 Josh Wilson (Aus) Infinity Solutions 9 Patrick Frutschi (Swi) EMC2 Bikes 9 Andrew Thompson (NZl) EMC2 Bikes 9 Matthew Gilbert (NZl) EMC2 Bikes 9 Ross Steward (NZl) EMC2 Bikes 9 Mitch Chapman (Aus) EMC2 Bikes 70 Duncan Urquhart (GBr) UKNZjobs.com Scotland National Team 1.21 71 Justin Ralph (NZl) Penny Cycles 2.11 72 Laurent Beuret (Swi) EMC2 Bikes 18.21 73 Sam Horn (NZl) Tait Communications 30.59 74 Sean Finning (Aus) SouthAustralia.com - AIS 31.21 General classification after stage 4 1 Tim Gudsell (NZl) Samsung New Zealand Team 8.47.56 2 Evan Oliphant (GBr) UKNZjobs.com Scotland National Team 0.23 3 Hayden Roulston (NZl) Team Subway 0.33 4 Rob MacLachlan (Aus) Trust House Team 0.37 5 Peter Dawson (Aus) SouthAustralia.com - AIS 0.39 5 Gordon McCauley (NZl) Samsung New Zealand Team 7 Greg Henderson (NZl) Team Subway 0.44 8 Stuart Shaw (Aus) Trust House Team 1.01 9 Darren Lapthorn (Aus) Trust House Team 1.05 10 Wesley Sulzberger (Aus) SouthAustralia.com - AIS 1.46 11 Dean Windsor (Aus) Mercedes Benz - Wellington Star 1.48 12 Logan Hutchings (NZl) Samsung New Zealand Team 1.52 13 Miles Olman (Aus) SouthAustralia.com - AIS 2.04 14 Sam Bewley (NZl) Team Subway 2.05 15 Peter Latham (NZl) Samsung New Zealand Team 2.58 15 Michael Torkler (NZl) Mercedes Benz - Wellington Star 15 Mitch Chapman (Aus) EMC2 Bikes 15 Edwin Crossling (NZl) Tait Communications 15 Scott Lyttle (NZl) Infinity Solutions 15 Josh Wilson (Aus) Infinity Solutions 15 Michael Northey (NZl) Team Subway 15 Will Alexander (NZl) Pravda 15 Geoff Burndred (NZl) Penny Cycles 15 Fabio Calabria (Aus) Trust House Team 15 Alex Coutts (GBr) UKNZjobs.com Scotland National Team 15 Michael Cupitt (Aus) Trust House Team 15 Hayden Godfrey (NZl) Team Subway 15 Ashley Hutchinson (Aus) SouthAustralia.com - AIS 15 Justin Kerr (NZl) Penny Cycles 15 Paul Odlin (NZl) Handy Rentals 15 Stephen Stannard (NZl) Mercedes Benz - Wellington Star 15 Graeme Stone (NZl) R+R 15 Darrin Strahan (NZl) Pravda 15 Jeremy Vennell (NZl) Team Subway 15 Dan Warren (NZl) BP NZ 15 Stephen Wooldridge (Aus) SouthAustralia.com - AIS 37 Adam Coker (NZl) Tait Communications 3.36 38 Aaron Wheeler (NZl) Cytosport 3.40 39 Dylan Cooper (Aus) Trust House Team 4.02 40 Justin Ralph (NZl) Penny Cycles 4.03 41 Matthew Gilbert (NZl) EMC2 Bikes 4.09 42 Cameron Holt (NZl) Mercedes Benz - Wellington Star 4.25 43 Ben Oleson (NZl) Handy Rentals 4.39 44 Duncan Urquhart (GBr) UKNZjobs.com Scotland National Team 4.42 45 Marc Ryan (NZl) Samsung New Zealand Team 5.04 46 Michael Frankovich (NZl) Mercedes Benz - Wellington Star 5.36 46 Matthew Gorter (NZl) Penny Cycles 46 Dan Waluszews (NZl) Infinity Solutions 46 Don Oakley (NZl) Handy Rentals 46 Scott Wilder (NZl) BP NZ 51 Mark Jamieson (Aus) Pravda 5.53 52 Jason Allen (NZl) Samsung New Zealand Team 5.58 53 James Mccallum (GBr) UKNZjobs.com Scotland National Team 6.00 54 Matt Sillars (NZl) Infinity Solutions 6.10 54 Saul Webb (NZl) BP NZ 56 Ross Steward (NZl) EMC2 Bikes 6.27 57 Josh Brannigan (NZl) BP NZ 6.32 58 Gareth Montgomer (GBr) UKNZjobs.com Scotland National Team 6.50 59 Patrick Frutschi (Swi) EMC2 Bikes 7.01 60 Brady Gibbons (NZl) R+R 7.58 61 Blair Brydon (NZl) Cytosport 9.36 61 Dion Neems (NZl) Cytosport 61 Blair Sutherland (NZl) Cytosport 64 Courtney Black (NZl) Handy Rentals 9.42 65 Joseph Crooks (NZl) Pravda 11.16 65 Benjamin Mackinnon (NZl) Infinity Solutions 65 Ross Mackintosh (NZl) Handy Rentals 65 Scott Strong (NZl) Cytosport 65 Paul Sumich (NZl) Cytosport 70 Chris Van Houtte (NZl) Penny Cycles 11.47 71 Andrew Thompson (NZl) EMC2 Bikes 11.59 72 Laurent Beuret (Swi) EMC2 Bikes 21.24 73 Sean Finning (Aus) SouthAustralia.com - AIS 34.17 74 Sam Horn (NZl) Tait Communications 41.09 Mountains classification 1 Duncan Urquhart (GBr) Scottish National Team 18 pts 2 Peter Dawson (Aus) SouthAustralia.com-AIS 4 2 Sean Finning (Aus) SouthAustralia.com-AIS 4 2 Stuart Shaw (Aus) Trust House 4 Sprints classification 1 Sam Bewley (NZl) Subway 12 pts 2 Tim Gudsell (NZl) Samsung NZ National Team 11 3 Dean Windsor (NZl) Mercedes Benz-Wellington Star 10
