Jayco Bay Series

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Race 3

Geelong - Ritchie Boulevard, 45 minutes

Race Writeup

The third day of the series moved to the fast and frantic ‘hot dog’ circuit on Geelong’s sea front. Thankfully today had a grateful relief in the temperature, helped by the sea breeze again. The race started at a frantic pace and all credit has to go to the skills of the women in this race. The earlier ‘B’ grade men's race saw a crash on the turns every few laps. The women controlled the turns well and there were only a couple of minor crashes in the whole race.  

Bianca Rogers (Volvo) was working to protect the lead for her team-mate in the yellow jersey, Belinda Goss. She attacked after the first three laps but no teams were prepared to let any breaks go today or so they planned….

There were a number of attempts to break the bunch but it wasn’t until the sprint lap that Olympic Champion Carrigan (Rapido Cycles) showed early form and attacked taking the first of the intermediate sprints. The minor places were taken by Emma Richards (Jayco VIS) and Naomi Williams (NSW IS). The bunch came back together after a few more laps and despite attacks from a number of riders, notably the NZ Team members Michelle Hyland, Bradshaw and Rosara Joseph. By lap 26 it was the current Australian Criterium Champion, Alex Rhodes (Pitcher Partners), who took the initiative and attacked as the pace eased. Jenny MacPherson (Jayco VIS) was the on her wheel and Goss tried to follow but her move was countered and the race protected by Rhodes team make Gollan, who moved to the front of the bunch to allow her team-mate to get a break. It almost worked but Bianca Rogers (Volvo) came through on the inside and attacked the peloton. Kate Bates was on her wheel and took control again just as the second sprint came up. This time it was Macpherson who took the first place over the line, followed by Rhodes and leading the bunch, Bates.

The move by Kate Bates was enough to allow Rhodes and Macpherson away; they quickly gained a 60m gap. Carrigan took up the chase and got close but could not catch the leaders. The pair quickly gained a 14 second gap on the peloton; Carrigan sitting in the middle of leaders and bunch was 8 seconds behind them. Carrigan tired, so too did Macpherson. Rhodes showed her class and picked up the pace again. She moved 20m ahead of Macpherson and maintained her lead almost lapping the bunch at the bell lap. In a style which was a repeat of 2006, when she won here too, Rhodes was strong right to the line, 47 seconds ahead of second placed Macpherson. In the race for third, Kate Bates beat Egyed and Goss to the line. This means Bates will wear the yellow jersey in the Botanical Gardens in Geelong on Saturday.