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Lidcombe - Auburn Cycle Club
Inner West Criterium
Sydney Olympic Park
Sun 9th Nov 2003
A
great day was had by all with some 9 Randwick Botany members competing in
the first round of the Criterium series. Liam Kelly, Robbie Cater, Matt
Lucas, John Buckton, Andy Matthews, James Dalton, Luke Davison, Tom Patton
and Adriano Maradini all competed in their respective divisions with Tony
Horneman there to lend moral support.
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The course was
basically a "Hotdog" circuit but with some nasty features, which tested
many of the riders. The upstream turn was very tight and caused a
few tense moments during racing. Left Adriano Maradini rounds the
witches hat and negotiates the sharp top corner. After the corner
and typical of "Hotdog" circuits, it was out of the saddle and sprinting
to stay on with the inevitable elastic band thing happening. |
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The bottom corner was tricky.
Downhill, fast, off-camber and a tight 180 degree. Picture left
shows the peleton entering the turn. There were lot of sounds of
pedals scraping and a few riders went down on the day.
(Click on Images for larger view) |
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As can be seen in the shot the peleton ran very wide
exiting this corner. The finish line was just a short way up
the hill and basically the first rider out of this corner, in the
majority of cases, won the race. The riders knew this so there was
some anxious moments sprinting into it and negotiating through it.
Seemed like the lighter riders were getting through this corner best.
I saw Liam in great position in 2nd wheel entering and he exited in 4th
wheel for the sprint. He told me later that his weight had caused
the bike to slide and he couldn't hold the tight line that the lighter
riders could. |
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Here's Adriano Maradini driving the U13's along.
Adriano eventually placed 4th. |
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Our Division one hopefuls, Liam Kelly and Robbie
Cater. Although he had a nasty transition in the final corner,
Liam managed to hold on for a great 4th place in Division 1.
Robbie Cater found the going a little tough. |
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Our Division 2 rider, Matt Lucas. Matt had a
fantastic ride. As expected Laurant Vignes turned the wick up and
soon broke up the peleton. Matt worked well in a three man break
and eventually went head to head with Laurant for the sprint, just
missing out and taking 2nd place. |
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Here's the 3 riders who got away from the Division 2
peleton. Matt Lucas front left, Owen McPhillamy to his right and
Laurant Vignes, third wheel. |
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The "A" team. Division 4 is where the real
action happened. Division 4? I found the going tougher than
a B grade club race. Next time I think I will ask to ride Division
3. I think Division 4 should be called "Battle of the Burglars"
(myself included of course). Anyway there we are, from left John
Buckton, James Dalton and Andy Matthews. Poor James was spat in
about 2 laps. |
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Andy and I worked well together but the field was
too strong to get away. We tried a couple of times but they just
lifted straight onto our back wheels. I was in 3rd wheel through
the final turn and looking good but like Liam, found the corner very
difficult. I gave Ernie Smith the photographer a few scares on my
exits. Anyway I came out 3rd wheel and just hit the wall in the
short sprint. Luckily Andy had some in the tank and went passed me
on full after burn, grabbing 3rd place. |
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If anyone was behind the eight ball, it was Tom
Patton. At least we were racing our same species. He was
dwarfed by these two giants with legs like Sean Eadie. Photo left
shows Luke Davison (who dwarfs Tom), being himself dwarfed by the other
2 U15 riders. A very gutsy ride from Tom who chased and never gave
up. Luke rode a fantastic race staying with the two giants and
eventually coming through for a 2nd place. Congratulations to 1st & 3rd
placed riders, N Spratt from Penrith and D Scarfe from the Central
Coast. (I am joking by the way fellas.) |
Full Results
click
here |
