Rochelle Gilmore was again the star in the women’s race whilst New Zealander Greg Henderson prevailed in a hotly contested men’s event that delivered both action and accusation on the second day of the 2010 Jayco Bay Classic.
Gilmore, riding at the head of the Honda Women’s Cycling team was again prepared to contest both the sprints and the stage, and as a result holds both the yellow and green jerseys after day two.
As it turned out after controlling the race throughout, the 28 year-old prevailed only by a tiny margin over Pitcher Partners, Belinda Goss but that hardly seemed to faze the commensurate performer both on and off the road.
“Winning a race is about winning it, not by how much,” Gilmore said.
“Today was a very satisfying win. Everyone threw everything at us. It is very hard to read a race on day two because the other teams have had a chance to look at you on day one and work out their tactics.
“And also when you are going for a series win, it makes it hard sometimes to get a race win.”
But she also revealed that the race had not gone exactly as her team had hoped.
“The plan was to get a team-mate up the road for a win but the race was too fast and a break was not possible,” Gilmore said.
The decision by Goss to bypass the first race following five heavy days of racing during the Tasmanian Christmas Carnivals may prove costly for her, as she was clearly competitive with Gilmore in the battle for the stage win today.
Chloe Hosking (MB Cycles) remains in second spot on general classification with 18 points, six behind Gilmore, whilst Australian criterium champion, Kirsty Broun (Jayco AIS) is third on 14.
Gilmore’s hold on the green jersey for the Sprint Ace is a little more tenuous, having just a single point lead over Ashlee Ankudinoff (Jayco VIS/NSWIS). The Honda squad however has a big margin already in the teams’ contest, 16 points clear of their closest rivals.
The second day of the men’s race was all about a dominating team performance by the Mazda outfit, which yielded it both a stage victory and a narrow lead in the teams’ competition.
Mathew Hayman showed the way for his team-mates early in the one hour race which eventually comprised 26 laps of a new testing 1.8km circuit in Eastern Park, Geelong.
The Commonwealth Games road champion, was part of several breakaway moves and picked up second spot in the first two of the intermediate sprints. Then it was the turn of team leader, Robbie McEwen to make his presence felt joining eight other riders after 38 minutes of racing in another break, that at one stage had a 13 second lead over the peloton.
Finally, the moment their move was extinguished, it was Henderson who, combining with Matt Wilson (Jayco VIS), Chris Sutton (Skilled/Lowe Farms), Daniel Braunsteins (Degani Cycling Cafe) and Mark O’Brien (Prime Estate/The Freedom Machine), made the final and crucial move in the stage.
The group stayed away for the remaining six laps, even though it looked like they might be caught as the bell sounded, when their lead had been reduced to just six seconds.
In the end, Henderson produced the skill and strength that took him to a stage victory in the 2009 Tour of Spain, to snatch the win from Sutton, whilst Braunsteins just held off a rapidly closing Graeme Brown (Urban) who had dashed away from the main pack in pursuit of valuable general classification points.
The latter’s efforts were sufficient for him to retain the Classic leader’s yellow jersey with 19 points but Sutton’s performance in the opening two stages sees him just two points in arrears, with Henderson, McEwen and Matt Goss (Degani Cycling Cafe) all ominously poised on 14.
Henderson later made it clear the stage was raced according to the team plan.
“It was really about riding for Mazda today. We thought the break would go really early so we were active early. I made my move after a really hard section of the race and then I was lucky enough to be fast enough across the line,” Henderson said.
“We will challenge for the overall win even though the three of us (he, McEwen and Hayman) are not a hundred percent right now. We will get better as the race goes on.
“The race tomorrow is on a really hard circuit and the strongest team should win.”
But he conceded planning will play a part as well,
“With more guys in contention in the overall now, it becomes more tactical.”
Brown seemed to agree on both counts.
“Mazda have got three excellent riders. As a professional team they did a very good job today. We are going to have to think about it a little bit more to beat them,” the overall race leader said.
After two days’ racing on the relatively open circuits in Eastern Park, the move along the foreshore to Ritchie Boulevard and its tight “hot dog” format with just 600 metres to each lap will provide plenty of contrast and no doubt plenty of fire after an exchange or two towards the end of today’s race.
After Brown and McEwen re-engaged their long standing rivalry in a relatively friendly manner on day one, it was another of the race’s colourful characters, Baden Cooke (Skilled/Lowe Farms) who entered the fray, accused by the Brown of slowing up the chasing peloton on the second last lap, when his team-mates from Urban had led the pursuit of the five breakaways. But Cooke was equally quick and pointed with his retort.
“Graeme’s team were chasing and they were starting to splinter, these guys were getting tired. As they were coming into the corner, I rolled in front of them under brakes. He knew if I was in front, the pace would slow down because I had my rider in front,” Cooke explained.
“So he’s basically come to the front and tried to run me into the barrier. In the space of 500m, they’ve nearly knocked me off twice. I might be trying to slow down the pace to help my man, but I’m not endangering anyone’s life or trying to put anyone into the barriers. It’s very amusing to me that he’s waving his hand and yelling and screaming and trying to put me into the barriers.”
Which sets the scene for some fascinating racing on day three, on which in the third of the Classic’s contests, the male support race, West Australian Mitchell Benson will line-up for the second day in a row in the leader’s yellow jersey, after finishing sixth in today’s stage behind Chinese Taipei cyclist, Po Hung Wu, riding here for the NSWIS number 2 team. Benson has a three point lead overall ahead of another NSWIS rider, Ethan Kimmice.
The 21st Jayco Bay Classic is raced over four days, concluding on Tuesday on the Williamstown foreshore.
RESULTS – Day Two, Eastern Park, Geelong
(New Course – 1.8km per lap)
ELITE MEN
Stage Two Results
1. Greg Henderson (Mazda)
2. Chris Sutton (Skilled/Lowe Farms)
3. Daniel Braunsteins (Degani Cycling Cafe)
4. Graeme Brown (Urban)
5. Robbie McEwen (Mazda)
6. Baden Cooke (Skilled/Lowe Farms)
7. Matthew Goss (Degani Cycling Cafe)
8. Joel Pearson (Genesys Wealth Advisers)
9. Koen de Kort (O2 Networks)
10. Nicholas Walker (Degani Cycling Cafe)
General Classification – After Stage Two
1. Graeme Brown (Urban)
2. Chris Sutton (Skilled/Lowe Farms)
3. Greg Henderson (Mazda)
4. Matthew Goss (Degani Cycling Cafe)
5. Robbie McEwen (Mazda)
6. Joel Pearson (Genesys Wealth Advisers)
7. Daniel Braunsteins (Degani Cycling Cafe)
8. Baden Cooke (Skilled/Lowe Farms)
9. Rico Rodgers (Total Rush)
10. Leigh Howard (Jayco VIS)
Sprint Ace – After Stage Two
1. Graeme Brown (Urban)
2. Mathew Hayman (Mazda)
3. four riders
Teams – After Stage Two
1. Mazda
2. Skilled/Lowe Farms
3. Degani Cycling Cafe
4. Urban
5. Genesys Wealth Systems
6. Total Rush
7. Jayco VIS
8. O2 Networks
ELITE WOMEN
Stage Two Results
1. Rochelle Gilmore (Honda)
2. Belinda Goss (Pitcher Partners)
3. Chloe Hosking (MB Cycles)
4. Megan Dunn (Jayco VIS/NSWIS)
5. Kirsty Broun (Jayco AIS) &n
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6. Isabella King (Plan B Racing WA)
7. Nicole Whitburn (Unattached/Vic)
8. Peta Mullens (Honda)
9. Melissa Hoskins (Plan B Racing WA)
10. Emma Mackie (Race)
General Classification – After Stage Two
1. Rochelle Gilmore (Honda)
2. Chloe Hosking (MB Cycles)
3. Kirsty Broun (Jayco AIS)
4. Megan Dunn (Jayco VIS/NSWIS)
5. Belinda Goss (Pitcher Partners)
6. Peta Mullens (Honda)
7. Isabella King (Plan B Racing WA)
8. Nicole Whitburn (Unattached/Vic)
9. Rowena Fry (Degani)
10. Ashlee Ankudinoff (Jayco VIS/NSWIS)
10. Melissa Hoskins (Plan B Racing WA)
Sprint Ace – After Stage Two
1. Rochelle Gilmore (Honda)
2. Ashlee Ankudinoff (Jayco VIS/NSWIS)
3. Jenny MacPherson (Race)
4. Peta Mullens (Honda)
Teams – After Stage Two
1. Honda
2. MB Cycles
3. Jayco VIS/NSWIS
4. Jayco AIS
5. Plan B Racing WA
6. Pitcher Partners
7. Team Degani
8. Race
