2013 Bay Crits: Graham Briggs 4th

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Raleigh’s Graham Briggs was 4th in the first of the Bay Crits in Australia on New Years day with Simon Yates 8th.

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The 2013 cycling season got underway in Australia with an attacking circuit race at Geelong which hosted the World Road Championships a few years ago. It was a great start for Team Raleigh riders with third (Tom Scully) and fourth (Graham Briggs) and Simon Yates of the GB academy 8th (provisional).

2012_Hillclimb_Briggs_featureThe race ended in a sprint of sorts with eventual winner Caleb Ewan managing to bridge to the two escapees, Jens Mouris (Orica-GreenEdge) and Raleigh’s Tom Scully in the final 200 metres and despite being hotly pursed by Graham Briggs (Raleigh), Ewan held on to win from escapees Mouris and Scully.

The former British Circuit Race Champion Graham Briggs was said to be in an aggressive mood in the race, staying near the front and getting a few sprint points behind Greg Henderson in the second sprint of the race. The Brits certainly gave the commentators something to talk about and perhaps also those who had ignored them in their previews as they lit the race up from time to time under sunny skies and in front of a big crowd.

The race proved to be a good one for Raleigh as they were able to see their new signings such as Tom Scully go into war with the British riders prior to a season in Britain where the circuit races will be an important element to most teams goals.

The Kiwi Tom Scully escaped with Dutchman Mouris, a noted pursuiter, with five to go following Briggs having got in a four man move. The rider many see as a potential rival to Mark Cavendish in the coming years however, Caleb Ewan, prevented Raleigh from having a winning start by blasting past both Mouris and Scully to clinch the first win of 2013.

Celab Ewan was second in the Junior Worlds this year and last year, won two of the Bay Crits and nearly pulled off a series win from under the noses of the World Tour rider Alan Davis. At 18, he is certainly a hot prospect!

Graham Briggs explained afterwards “The race was solid and there was no let up so it was quite hard. Little moves were going but there was a good tempo and nothing got clear until the end. The result shows the work I have put in over Christmas has been solid too and I’m happy with where I’m at.”

“I’d heard how hard they were going to be so it’s nice to have a good result in the first of them when there were some fast riders up there.”

“Prior to the final lap, there were two away and Jonathan Cantwell got on the front and brought it back to a few seconds and then Caleb Ewan hit out with a lap to go and it was like a drag race from then on between four or five of us and we caught the break on the line.”

On beating Tour of Spain stage winner Greg Henderson, Graham said that was a nice scalp to get in the final sprint to the line. “I’m happy with that!” he added. The result explained Graham gives him confidence going into the next race on January second and we wish him and the rest lots of luck against the little Aussie pocket rocket Ewan.

Result 

1. Caleb EWAN (Bikebug) 1h00:21
2. Jens MOURIS (Orica GreenEDGE)
3. Thomas SCULLY (Raleigh)
4. Graham BRIGGS (Raleigh)
5. Greg HENDERSON (Degani Bakery Café) +0
6. Thomas PALMER (DRAPAC Professional) +0
7. Leigh HOWARD (Orica GreenEDGE) +0
8. Simon YATES (GBR National Team) +3
9. Brenton JONES (Huon Salmon – Genesys) +3
10. Anthony GIACOPPO (Huon Salmon – Genesys) +6
11. Jonathan CANTWELL (Bikebug) +6
12. Shaun MCCARTHY (Team Budgetforklifts) +6
13. Luke DURBRIDGE (Orica GreenEDGE) +10
14. Shannon JOHNSON (Total Rush / Hyster Racing) +10
15. Rico ROGERS (Total Rush / Hyster Racing) +10
16. Samuel WITMITZ (Raleigh) +10
17. James BOAL (Target – Trek Racing) +10
18. Josh ATKINS (Grays Online) +10
19. Michael NORTHEY (Grays Online) +10
20. James ORAM (Grays Online) +10
21. Vaughan BOWMAN (Target – Trek Racing) +16
22. Blair WINDSOR (Team Budgetforklifts) +22
23. Kristian HOUSE (Rapha Condor JLT) +26
24. Robert-Jon MCCARTHY (Team SASI) +29
25. Harry CARPENTER (Team SASI) +29
26. Scott LAW (GPM /DATA #3) +35

dnf 12 Alastair SLATER (GBR National Team)
dnf 13 Samuel LOWE (GBR National Team)
dnf 14 Christopher LATHAM (GBR National Team)
dnf 17 Richard HANDLEY (Rapha Condor JLT)
dnf 18 Aaron BUGGLE (Rapha Condor JLT)
dnf 19 Luke GRIVELL-MELLOR (Rapha Condor JLT)
dnf 20 Felix ENGLISH (Rapha Condor JLT)
dnf 37 Dean WINDSOR (Degani Bakery Café)
dnf 52 George TANSLEY (Team SASI)
dnf 69 Richard LANG (Bikebug)

Intermediate Sprint 1
1. 36 Greg HENDERSON (Degani Bakery Café) 3 pt
2. 3 Mitchell DOCKER (Orica GreenEDGE) 2
3. 42 Joseph LEWIS (GPM /DATA #3) 1

Intermediate Sprint 2
1. 36 Greg HENDERSON (Degani Bakery Café) 3 pt
2. 15 Graham BRIGGS (GBR National Team) 2
3. 35 Shaun MCCARTHY (Team Budgetforklifts) 1

Intermediate Sprint 3
1. 3 Mitchell DOCKER (Orica GreenEDGE) 3 pt
2. 68 Jack EDWARDS (Bikebug) 2
3. 50 Vaughan BOWMAN (Target – Trek Racing) 1

General Classification
1. Caleb EWAN (Bikebug) 12 pt
2. Jens MOURIS (Orica GreenEDGE) 10
3. Thomas SCULLY (Grays Online) 8
4. Graham BRIGGS (GBR National Team) 7
5. Greg HENDERSON (Degani Bakery Café) 6
6. Thomas PALMER (DRAPAC Professional) 5
7. Leigh HOWARD (Orica GreenEDGE) 4
8. Simon YATES (GBR National Team) 3
9. Brenton JONES (Huon Salmon – Genesys) 2
10. Anthony GIACOPPO (Huon Salmon – Genesys) 1

Sprint Ace Competition
After Stage 1
1. Greg HENDERSON (Degani Bakery Café) 6 pt
2. Mitchell DOCKER (Orica GreenEDGE) 5
3. Graham BRIGGS (GBR National Team) 2
4. Jack EDWARDS (Bikebug) 2
5. Shaun MCCARTHY (Team Budgetforklifts) 1
6. Vaughan BOWMAN (Target – Trek Racing) 1
7. Joseph LEWIS (GPM /DATA #3) 1

Teams Classification
1. Orica GreenEDGE 14 pt
2. Bikebug 12
3. GBR National Team 10
4. Grays Online 8
5. Degani Bakery Café 6
6. DRAPAC Professional 5
7. Huon Salmon – Genesys 3

Support Race

1. Alexander MORGAN (Jayco VIS) 45:19
2. Samuel DAVIS (Huon Salmon – Genesys) +0
3. Nathan EARLE (Huon Salmon – Genesys) +0
14.  Edward LAVERACK (Rapha Condor JLT) +26
23.  Elliott PORTER (Rapha Condor JLT) +32
dnf  Michael CUMMINGS (Rapha Condor JLT)
dnf  Hugh CARTHY (Rapha Condor JLT)

 

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