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Jayco Bay Series Classics

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Race 1

Williamstown

Race Writeup

Josie Tomic (Plan B) outclassed the bunch, attacking with three laps to go, with speed that could not be matched by the bunch. The 19 year old West Australian moved to the front of the bunch with five laps to go and just before the final corner approaching the finish straight she powered away from the bunch, quickly gaining a 6 second advantage. Within one lap her lead had increased to 19 seconds. She held this gap to the finish having enough time to celebrate from the corner for the entire length of the finish straight.  

Raced over 45 minutes, the Williamstown circuit is probably one of the fastest criterium circuits in the world. Williamstown is a seaside town across the bay from Melbourne city and has much of the existing Victorian architecture. The main street hosted the start finish area and the 850m course was relatively flat and despite a few technical corners, the riders were able to maintain a fast pace for the entire race.

The bunch, were all together over the fist 10 minutes of the race, with riders from Jayco VIS, MB Cycles, Skilled and Plan B evident at the front keep tempo. As the first of the sprints approached the pace of the race increased, so much, that the bunch were strung out for the entire length of the finish straight. At the head of the bunch was Tomic’s team mate Sarah Kent. Kent sat on the front for 4 laps but unfortunately for her team, the sprinters had managed to get themselves onto her wheel. As they approached the bell, Kent had, Emma Mackie (Pitcher Partners), Gina Grain (MB Cycles) and her team mate the current Australian Criterium champion Kirsty Broun on her wheel. Rochelle Gilmore (NSWIS) was tucked on Broun’s wheel and by time the bunch cornered the last turn, Gilmore was on the front, Peta Mullens (Jayco VIS) was on her wheel and Broun in third. They crossed the line in that order to take 3, 2 1 points respectively.

As a result of the speed going into the sprint, the bunch splintered. There were twenty riders left at the front of the race with the remaining riders spread out over the course.

Liza Rachetta (MB Cycles) kept the pace high on the front, closely followed by her team.

The lead group stayed together over the next few laps before Tiffany Cromwell (Skilled) attacked from the front, quickly gaining 30m on the chasers. Cromwell held the lead for four laps before being swallowed up by the bunch as they approached the bell lap for the second sprint. The chase to close Cromwell down was led again by Kent .

As the riders approached the finish line it was Gilmore, ahead of Broun and Mullens for the points, securing the sprinters jersey for Gilmore.

With only 13 minutes of racing remaining, the sprint again caused a split in the bunch. Fifteen riders remained to race out the final laps. The group included some of the favourites, Broun, Gilmore, Tomic, Mackie, Nikki Butterfield (nee Egyed) (Skilled), Belinda Goss (Pitcher Partners) who had managed to keep herself well hidden in the bunch until this stage of the race.

The pace remained high and as they crossed the start/finish line with 10 minutes of racing remaining, Mullens attacked. She was quickly closed down by Grain and again the bunch was back together. Tomic moved to the front with five to go and stayed there until she kicked with 3 to go.

Tomic finished clear of the bunch. The sprint for second was won by Gilmore ahead of Broun.

Josie Tomic (Plan B) used her pursuiting skills to get away from the bunch to win race 1 of the Jayco Bay Cycling Classic for 2009. Tomic was very happy with her win, “I am really happy, I didn’t expect that [her win] I just wanted to get through the first race. I saw an opportunity so I went for it and I am really, really happy with the win” said Tomic. Tomic discussed the tactics for the race and confirmed that she had attacked because she knows she doesn’t have a strong sprint. “I knew against riders like Rochelle [Gilmore] and Belinda [Goss] I would not stand a chance in a sprint, so I just took a chance and it paid off today so it’s good” added Tomic.

This was Tomic’s second year riding the Bay classics, last year riding with Kate and Natalie Bates and Alexis Rhodes. At only 19, Tomic is one of a number of new talented Australian cyclists filling the void left since the retirement of Olivia Gollan, Natalie Bates and Oenone Wood.

Rochelle Gilmore (NSWIS) had exceptional form coming into the event and dominated the sprint jersey competition and the bunch sprint at the end of the race. “I felt really good today, obviously that attack from Josie [Tomic] came very fast and strong and it was at a moment when everyone was suffering. I felt quite well myself and regret not getting on top of it straight away myself but this is also a race when you have to be smart, we have 5 days of racing. We do have a strong team but unfortunately they weren’t at the front when the attack happened. Josie is not a nobody, she got strength a really strong field and she deserves the win. Our team did a good job and we are happy with second place at this stage” said Gilmore. Gilmore was asked about being on a team with young talented riders like Megan Dunn and Lauren Kitchen, she added “It is probably the strongest team I have ever ridden in at Bay Crits and it was the first day that I have ever raced with Megan. Lauren [Kitchen] and Sky-lee [Armstrong] and they were unbelievable. They new when it was time to get on the front and go for it, I could rely on them, they are smart girls and I am looking forward to riding with them over the next few days.”

The NSWIS team are being managed by the retired Olivia Gollan, who had ridden the Bay Criteriums many times over her career; Gilmore was asked if this was an advantage to the team. “I think the main advantage is the Olivia knows me, she knows my strengths and weaknesses and she is getting to know the other riders as well.”  

Kirsty Broun (MB Cycles) proudly wore the colours of the Australian Criterium champion on her MB Cycles kit. This was the first race as the newly crowned champion and Broun spoke about the race and wearing the jersey. “It is an honour to wear the Australian colours and to wear them on my sponsors MB Cycles kit” said Broun. Broun was asked about the race tactics today and added “It was good that it was a break away, the girls worked pretty hard and had to chase hard too when Josie [Tomic] got away. It was good to have a hit out and a sprint and warm up the legs for the next few days.” Broun was asked how difficult it was to recover from the sprints and maintain the high speed of the race, “It depends on your fitness, it all comes down to whether or not you can recover in a short period of time, obviously if the attacked just keep going every couple of minutes it makes it harder to recover. It all comes down to fitness and endurance and how quickly you can recover from the sprint” added Broun.  

Gina Grain (MB Cycles) is taking time out from the Canadian winter to get some valuable warm weather training on the Gold Coast and supporting team mate Kristy Broun through the criterium circuit. She was the key lead out to help Broun to her Australian title and was repeating that task during the first race of the Bay Classics. Grain was asked how she has coped with the transition from winter to summer racing speed. “It has not been tough because it has been so much fun. We have such a great team to ride for and it is easy to give it your all. It is tough because I am definitely not in that good form, so you really have to learn how to suffer like you have never suffered before”

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