Bay Crits: Podium for Raleigh’s Sulzberger in Bay Crits

Jayco Bay Crits (Australia, Jan 2): Podium for Raleigh’s Bernie Sulzberger in Bay Crits as he moves up to second in the series. Endura Racing’s Zak Dempster 5th and Dean Windsor 7th on the night

Australia’s Bernie Sulzberger who races for British team Raleigh in 2012, was third behind New South Wales rider Caleb Ewan in the second round of the Bay Crits. Allan Davis of GreenEdge was second and takes over the series lead from Sulzberger. For Endura Racing, Zak Dempster was 5th admitting later that he messed his position on the run in while Dean Windsor, also for Endura Racing, was 7th.

The winner from the Australian state of New South Wales, teenager Caleb Ewan, explained to Cycling Central (SBS TV channel) “I knew yesterday that if you’re first around most of those corners it’s much easier than riding at the back so I tried to be as aggressive as I could during the race to stay up the front and that worked alright. In this race you can sort of drop back and sit on for a bit and conserve a bit more energy so that’s what I did. Towards the end I had to weave my way up to the front and found myself on Allan Davis’s wheel, which was the right one in the end.”

Race story from GreenEdge
Allan Davis moved into the leader’s jersey after the second day of racing at the Jacyo Bay Cycling Classic. Davis finished second on stage two behind Junior Omnium World Champion Caleb Ewen (NSWIS). Davis’ second place finish today combined with his third place yesterday moves him into the series lead by two points over Bernie Sulzberger (Urban Hotels).

“It wasn’t the goal coming into the race to win the overall series,” said Sports Director Matt White. “We were looking for stage wins and the opportunity to test out key sprint combinations. We saw the chance to take the race lead with Allan Davis, and we took it. Now that we have the leader’s jersey, we plan on keeping it.”

As with stage one, a large break dominated the second day of racing in Geelong. Thirteen riders formed an early break. Davis and Zak Dempster (Endura Racing) bridged across to the move. Between the GreenEDGE and Mitchelton Wines – Lowe Farms squads, there were four GreenEDGE riders represented in the winning move.

“The break grew to include 14 riders, and that was it,” explained White. “They went out to over a minute at one point before the gap dropped back a little bit. It’s a really hot day — nearly 45°C — and the field couldn’t bring the break back in that heat. In the final, no one even attacked. Everybody was dead tired. It came down to a sprint, and Allan just barely got beaten by Caleb.”

Dean Windsor explained afterwards “Never have I seen a feed station on a crit circuit, and I never thought I would use it for five bottles in 1 hour!”

Tomorrow promises to be another hot day on a brutal course. “The circuit tomorrow is hilly,” noted White. “One side is completely uphill and the other side is downhill. It’s a really hard criterium. We’ll defend the race lead and use the final day of racing to play around with our sprint combinations.”

Results
1     Caleb Ewan NSWIS     0:49:27
2     Allan Davis Mitchelton Wines / Lowe Farms
3     Bernie Sulzberger, Raleigh
4     Nathan Haas Bike Bug
5     Zak Dempster, Endura Racing
6     James Mowatt Rapido Cycles / Four Points Geelong
7     Dean Windsor, Endura Racing
8     Mitch Docker GreenEdge Cycling
9     Trent Derecourt John West Cycling     0:00:05
10     Johnnie Walker Degani Bakery Cafe
11     Wesley Sulzberger GreenEdge Cycling     0:00:28
12     Luke Durbridge Mitchelton Wines / Lowe Farms     0:00:36
13     Campbell Flakemore Genesys Wealth Advisers     0:00:47
14     Mark O’Brien Budget Forklifts     0:01:18
15     Greg Henderson Degani Bakery Cafe     0:01:19
16     Patrick Lane Mitchelton Wines / Lowe Farms     0:02:00
17     Michael Hepburn Mitchelton Wines / Lowe Farms
18     Robbie McEwen GreenEdge Cycling
19     Blair Windsor Budget Forklifts
20     Oliver Kent-Spark John West Cycling
21     Leigh Howard GreenEdge Cycling
22     Sam Witmitz Budget Forklifts
23     Kazushige Kuboki Japan
24     Rene Kolbach John West Cycling
25     Scott Liston Rapido Cycles / Four Points Geelong
26     Chris Sutton Urban Hotels     0:02:05
27     Matthew Goss GreenEdge Cycling
28     Luke Williams NSWIS
29     Anthony Giacoppo Bike Bug
30     Steele Von Hoff Bike Bug
31     Baden Cooke Mitchelton Wines / Lowe Farms
32     Nathan Bradshaw NSWIS
33     Blake Hose Genesys Wealth Advisers
34     Richard Lang Rapha Condor Sharp
35     Heinrich Haussler Bike Bug
36     Nic Sanderson Genesys Wealth Advisers
37     Alex Carver Bike Bug
38     Joel Pearson Genesys Wealth Advisers
39     Michael Knoff John West Cycling
40     Tom Leezer Rapido Cycles / Four Points Geelong
41     Kazuhiro Mori, Japan
42     Taiji Nishitani, Japan

SPRINT COMPETITION

Sprint 1
1. Bernie Sulzberger  (Raleigh) 3 points
2. Mitch Docker GreenEdge Cycling  2
3. Wesley Sulzberger GreenEdge Cycling  1

Sprint 2
1. Nathan Haas Bike Bug  3   points
2. Mitch Docker GreenEdge Cycling  2
3. Bernie Sulzberger (Raleigh) 1 1

Sprint 3
1. Mitch Docker GreenEdge Cycling  3   points
2. Bernie Sulzberger (Raleigh) 2
3. Trent Derecourt John West Cycling  1

Overall after Stage 2
1. Allan Davis Mitchelton Wines/Lowe Farms  18   points
2. Bernie Sulzberger, Raleigh 15
3. Caleb Ewan NSWIS 14
4. Greg Henderson (NZ) Degani Bakery Cafe  12
5. Chris Sutton Urban Hotels  10
6. Dean Windsor, (Endura Racing)  8
7. Nathan Haas Bike Bug  7
8. Zak Dempster, (Endura Racing)  7
9. Steele Von Hoff Bike Bug  6
10. Anthony Giacoppo Bike Bug  5
11. James Mowatt Rapido Cycles/Four Points Geelong  5
12. Leigh Howard GreenEdge Cycling  3
13. Mitch Docker GreenEdge Cycling  3
14. Trent Derecourt John West Cycling  2
15. Johnnie Walker Degani Bakery Cafe  1

Sprint Ace Competition Overall
1.  Bernie Sulzberger Urban Hotels  12   points
2.  Mitch Docker GreenEdge Cycling  9
3.  Nathan Haas Bike Bug  6
4.  Caleb Ewan NSWIS  3
5.  Dean Windsor Degani Bakery Cafe  2
6.  Zak Dempster Degani Bakery Cafe  1
7.  Trent Derecourt John West Cycling  1
8.  Wesley Sulzberger GreenEdge Cycling  1
9.  Baden Cooke Mitchelton Wines / Lowe Farms  1

Women’s Race – Victory for Loren Rowney

Winner of the Women’s race was Loren Rowney who denied GreenEdge the win while Nicole Cooke was 12th. Amanda Spratt (GreenEdge) finished second from a two-rider break to give the GreenEDGE-AIS squad its first podium of the day. Leading in the field, Melissa Hoskins (GreenEdge) won the bunch sprint for third. Loren Rowney (Total Rush / Hyster) bested the GreenEDGE duo to claim victory in Eastern Park.

“Chloe and I had talked this morning with our Total Rush teammates and she said ‘whatever happens, someone from our team needs to be in every break,'” said Rowney. “I saw a break go with none of us in it and knew I had to get across.” Rowney had to play a smart game to outsmart the strong Green Edge riders. When Amanda Spratt went on the late attack out of the break, Loren covered her and was able to go past her for the win.

“Loren was so strong today,” said Hosking. “She’s amazing and she rode the perfect race. We’re really looking forward to seeing what’s going to happen tomorrow. hosking now leads the series by only one point with two stages remaining.

Meanwhile,GreenEdge Sports Director Dave McPartland explained “the plan was for Spratt to jump out of the bunch, and she eventually did that. Loren Rowney went with her, and I was very confident with Spratty in the two-rider move. Surprisingly in the finish, Spratt led out the sprint. This was the one mistake she made, and it cost her the stage. Loren came off her wheel to take the win. Spratt was second.”

With 25 minutes left to race, Maclean jumped from the bunch with one other rider. Spratt joined a chase group of six that bridged up to Maclean’s break. The eight riders gained a sizeable gap on the field before Spratt made her move. Rowney was the only rider able to follow Spratt’s wheel, and the duo opened the gap to nearly a minute with five laps remaining.

With Spratt taking care of business at the head of affairs, the rest of the team focused on the field sprint. “We had a leadout train for Mel, and she was able to win the sprint,” noted McPartland. “It’s a good little result for us. Mel’s actually beaten Chloe [Hosking] and Rochelle [Gilmore] now. It’s good for the confidence of the team to know that have the fastest sprinter in the race.”

Hoskins remains second overall in the race series with Hoskings, winner of stage one, leading by one point.

“It’s a good position to be in,” said McPartland. “Obviously, I’d like to see us win a stage and take the series. I still think we can do both.”

1. Loren Rowney (Total Rush/Hyster)     0:46:45
2. Amanda Spratt (Greenedge-AIS)     0:00:02
3. Melissa Hoskins (Greenedge-AIS)     0:00:31
4. Chloe Hosking (Total Rush/Hyster)
5. Rochelle Gilmore (BikeExchange Dream Team)
6. Annette Edmondson (Pitcher Partners)
7. Isabella King (Pitcher Partners)
8. Liza Rachetto (Spencers Race)
9. Kate Finegan (Spencers Race)
10. Gracie Elvin (Jayco – AIS)
11. Shara Gillow (Greenedge-AIS)     0:00:38
12.  Nicole Cooke (Gbr)     0:00:48
13. Tiffany Cromwell (Greenedge-AIS)
14. Jessie Maclean (Greenedge-AIS)     0:00:50

 

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