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Herald Sun Tour 2009
Honda Hybrid Women's Tour
WCN quicklink >> Stage 1 Stage 1 Full Stage 2 Stage 2 Full Stage 3 Stage 3 Full
On this page >> Write-up Comments Results General Classification Photos |
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Stage 1- Rochelle Gilmore sprints to victory. Anglesea - Anglesea, 55.5km
Rochelle
Gilmore (HP Pinarello), outsprinted Kirsty Broun (MB Cycles) to win the
inaugural Honda Hybrid Women’s Tour. Broun lost the wheel of Gilmore on
the tight technical run in to the line but held on for second, ahead of
Davina Summers (Cycle City/felt) who took third. Gilmore, the pre-race
favourite, did not disappoint the crowds waiting at the finish line. With a
very technical last 300m, Gilmore was positioned perfectly for her run to
the line. With
nearly 80 entries, the Honda Hybrid Women’s Tour started in overcast
conditions. Temperatures were below 10 degrees as the bunch rolled out of
Anglesea. As
the bunch approached the first climb, they were strung out and jockeying for
position at the bottom, but strung out into a line during the assent to the
top. At
the top of the climb, it was Simone Grounds (Bundaberg Sugar) who crossed
the line ahead of Whitelaw and Gilmore. Over the top the first attack of the
day was made by Prime Estate Buyers Agen team’s Joanne Hogan, which forced
the bunch to react. Hogan only managed to hold the bunch at 200m, but stayed
ahead for several kilometres before the combined SAS/QAS/NTID team moved to
close this down. A counterattack was launched by Danielle Nykos (Race) and
Rebecca Halliday (Velo Girls). They
were quickly chased down by MB Cycles, when Maryam Rogers (St Kilda A) tried
to get away on a small descent but Louise Kerr and Carlee Taylor (SAS/QAS/NTID)
closed her gap quickly. Rebecca Locke (Prime Estate) attempted to get clear
but only managed an 8m gap before Lauren Kitchen (HP Pinarello) close the
gap. Approaching
the first of the sprint points, MB Cycles were on the front and set up the
Kirsty Broun. They did the same for the second sprint, allowing Broun to
dominate. Despite
a number of attempts to attack on the 15 kilometre lead in to the finish, a
leading group of 40 riders were all together at 5km to go. The fast descent
to the finish saw the bunch hit a top speed of 75km/hr for the final four
kilometers of racing. Whitelaw was on the front to ensure that her team
leader was protected and pulled off with 500m to go to allow Gilmore to see
the series of turns just before the finishing line.
Rochelle
Gilmore (HP Pinarello) was very happy with her win and reflected on
the difficult conditions that faced the women on day one. “I don’t
think conditions could be much worse, wind, rain and freezing cold,” said
Gilmore. “We were under numbered, with only three in the team but
they did a great job. We tried to keep control of the race, we did exactly
what we wanted to do and finished on top," added Gilmore Kirsty
Broun (MC Cycles) was pleased with second, “In the end it
came down to the final sprint, which was very technical, I skidded out on
the roundabout coming into the sprint. We are in contention for the overall
GC so we are happy,” said Broun. “The MB Cycles team worked
really hard for me today. There were a couple of attacks but the team buried
themselves to cover them,” added Broun. Davina
Summers (Cycle City/Felt) said she was very happy with her third
place. “Conditions were difficult out there today, but the racing
was safe and open. The tough technical finish made things difficult right at
the end but it was a great race. I like to win, but I am happy with third
place, especially next to Rochelle Gilmore and Kirsty Broun, who are both
great riders. Being on the podium with them is great,” said
Summers. Micheal
Hands (Race Director) was extremely pleased with the turn out for the
Honda Hybrid Women’s tour. “We have been working to this point for
a number of years and I could not be happier with the number of entries.
Teams have come from right across Australia to participate and the number of
teams is more than I could have hoped for. Companies like Bundaberg Sugar,
who did not have budget to support a team, managed to find some to support
the event,” said Hands. Mark
Higgins (PR Manager- Honda Australia) is sponsoring the Women’s
tour for the first time and was asked how important the event is to Honda he
said, “This is very important, cycling and Honda has had a long
history, Mr Honda’s father, actually set up a bicycle shop in Tokyo and
promoted cycle racing in Japan. They actually started putting engines onto
bicycle frames, so this really was the beginning of the Honda you see it
today, starting, courtesy of the bicycle. Cycle is a wonderful mode of
transport and a great sport and is very green, environmentally friendly and
high tech and these are very important values of Honda, so this is a very
important event for us.” Looking to future involvement in the sport, Higgins added, “At first it was a see how it goes, with the results we have seen so far and the coverage we have received I think, and I am hoping we will have a long future with the sport. I have been really impressed with the quality of the women’ racing, the skill level is mind blowing.”
Results - Top 10 - click here to see full result
General Classification Top 10 - click here to see full GC
Photos Click on any image to enlarge >>
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