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Good morning ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the 47^th Grafton to Inverell Road Classic. It is a beautiful morning here in Grafton. It’s 24’ with no wind, the sky is clear and it looks like being a perfect day to ride the Grafton.

Report

By Brian Crawford Cycling NSW , all photos are copyright of Brad Hooker/ www.cyclingimagesonline.com.

The race has rolled out of Grafton with the police escort. Spectators  are lining the road and the field includes riders such as South Australia.com sprinter Nic Sanderson, FRF-NSWIS ace Peter McDonald, Shaun Higgerson, VIS riders Patrick Shaw and Nicholas Walker, Ord Minnett rider Cameron Hughes, NSW Road Champion and KOM Cyclery team leader Blair Martin.

5km the bunch has had a fairly easy start, rolling out of Grafton onto the Gwydir Hwy.

14km Fuller, Cater, Moore, Nicholls, and Furmston attacked up some of the hills however the bunch has shut each down and returned to a steady pace.

17km the same riders attack again and pull a gap. The peloton is strung out single file however the break has a mix of 4 teams and is building on the lead.

20km The break has grown to 1.35 and is still in sight on the long straights.

24km The break of 5 has built a lead of 2.50. The results of the  Cattle Creek Sprint are Brian Fuller, Daniel Furmston Robbie Cater and Gavin Nicholls. It looks like this group will stay away at least until the range. What happens on the range will be interesting as McDonald and the SA.com riders are still in the bunch.

29km Cameron Hughes takes the chance during a lull in the pace to take a nature break on the back. After freewheeling for 500m he quickly rejoins the bunch.

34km The bunch is still maintaining a steady pace and has shown  no urgency to bring the break back. Some riders will be waiting for the range to show their cards. Peter Herzig has a front puncture and drops back through the bunch to the spares vehicle.

35km Herzig got quick change and has rejoined the peloton. We have now been riding for 1 hr and the peloton has averaged 35.km. We won’t be breaking the race record this year. The lead bunch has built their lead to 450.

40km The leaders have been riding away from the bunch and now  have a gap of 4.50. Kooragang Rider Matthew Johns (from Newcastle but not the footballer) has taken a flier of the front of the bunch, and is holding a good gap.

43km The leaders have ridden through Jackadgery with 5 min on the chasing bunch. Johns has 1 min on the peloton.

47km Mann River Sprint won by

Spectators cheers the riders on as the daunting range approaches

56km the gap to the leaders has grown to 5.50 as a bunch of 5 crosses the gap to Johns.

60km Bunch Stops for a nature break

66km We’ve had a few small groups of 4 or 5 try to break of the front, but nothing has been given more than 400m before the peleton puts the hammer down and brings it back together.

68km

70km Feed Station at the bottom of the range. 3 leaders, Nichols  and Moore have been dropped in the first few kms of the climb. Then the group 5 including Johns. With a chasing group of 4. The Peloton has dropped FRF rider Joe McDonnell and Francis Le Brun

74km Mc Donald is setting the pace on the front of the peloton bring back both bunches that were off the front.

76km Race Favorite Peter McDonald has ride off the front of the peloton in an attempt to bridge the gap over more than 5 minutes. The peloton isn’t keen to allow Peter to ride into the distance and immediately increase the pace. The bunch has splintered and Peter has ridden away from them like a true mountain goat. The riders soon recognize they won’t being seeing Peter for a while and form 2 groups.

77km At this point the race has Cater, Furmston and Fuller in the lead, Gavin Nicholls and Jim Moore quickly losing time to the leaders, a splintered chase group 6 minutes down on the leading triplet., and Peter MacDonald climbing very quickly somewhere in the middle

78.5 A strong pace in the lead group set by Fuller and Cater has  resulted in Daniel Furmston cracking. Back in the chasing pack Shane Gill is dropped following an attack by Cameron Hughes (Ord Minnett) and Patrick Shaw (VIS) who want to take their chances at catching Peter McDonald and the leading 3. The bunch tries to respond to the latest break by Hughes and Shaw and the resulting surge sees South Australia.com sprinter Nic Sanderson has cracked. During this breakaway rider Gavin Nicholls has dropped through the peloton.

78 Peleton drops Brad Scarfe

79.5 The two chasing bunches are re grouping on the climb and hopefully will compose a peloton that can chase the leaders after the main hill.

80km Hughes and Shaw are caught in no-mans-land between leaders and chasing bunch. Richard Lang dropped

85km William Forde and Brendan Jones are struggling in Bunch 2 now composed of 8 riders Brendan Brooks, Rob Hodgson, Shaun Higgerson,  Blair Martin, Nic Walker, Rosenlund, Brendan Jones, William Forde has fought back to reduce the deficit to 4.20 on the leading triplet.

87km with the summit not far away the peloton continues to chase  Shaw and Hughes with Peter MacDonald and slowly drops William Forde, Angus Morton and early breakaway rider Jim Moore.

The placings over the summit are Robbie Cater with Brian Fuller, 2^nd was Peter MacDonald only 40 seconds behind, Cameron Hughes and Patrick Shaw with a 3.20 gap to the peloton.

95km Ben King catches the peloton and immediately there is discussion in the pack regarding who is rolling through though the riders know there is a long way to the finish and is hoping the distance will hurt the leaders. While Peter MacDonald may be in sight on some of the straights, there is not urgency in the bunch.

114km The second group on the road has caught the peloton and  Tim Berkel, Andrew Grady, Ben Mather, join the group of 8. Blair Martin, Ben King and Ben Mather have been consistent in their turns on the front and are not impressed that they have been caught by the chasing group. FRF-NSWIS team mates Herzig and Brooks have been sharing their turns in the pack so at least one FRF rider is doing a turn.

124km Feed station at Mt Mitchell, Peter McDonald finally bridges across the gap to the break now consisting of Cater, Hughes and Fuller and the gap to the peloton sits at 2.35.

125km The peloton rolls through the feed station though Simon Pearson misses his feed and the commissaires allow his feeders to feed him from their car. The riders top up their reserves for the long ride to Inverell and soon Ben King, having heard that the gap is only 2.35 gets annoyed at lack of motivation and launches and attack, briefly increasing the pace of the bunch.

129km Despite King’s efforts the deficit has grown to 2.40.

134km Ben King launches another attack which is again shut down by the peloton without any major effort.

144km cross winds are getting stronger and the peloton must be thinking that the leaders will tire over the distance on the open and windy roads. The Gaps are 1.30 to chasers 2.20 to peloton.

150km The chasing pair of Hughes and Shaw have bridged the gap and the lead group is now 5 strong with the peloton at 2.30

156km Strong Cross winds results in the bunch is sitting in the gutter to force any passengers to work.

160km Cameron Hughes has attacked the race leaders going into   the town of Glen Innes and is pulling a good lead on the other 3. The peloton is now sitting at 4min and consists of Nicolas Walker, Ben King, Simon Pearson, Shaun Higgerson, Blair Martin, Ben Mather, Brendan Brooks, Peter Herzig

163km Everyone passes through the feed station without incident

168km The riders begin the climb up Waterloo Range. Peter MacDonald attacks Cater, Fuller and Shaw and wants to chase Hughes on his own. He’s putting in an enormous effort but the gap to Hughes has blown out to 2.20. Peter is showing why he was a favorite for the race as he’s got the gap down to 60 seconds but he has to be regretting the effort he spent bridging the gap to the leaders before Mt Mitchell.

178km. Peter wants to give it one more effort to catch Hughes. He’s powering along the road but Hughes is flying.

186km McDonald has cracked and hits the wall! He’s cracked big time and must be regretting his solo efforts earlier in the race.

208km The lead group is now only Shaw, Hughes, Cater and Fuller  and their lead to the peloton has grown to 4min but they trail Hughes by 2 min. MacDonald has through the chasers but he’s hit the wall and he gave his last effort everything he had.

212 The peloton has caught Peter McDonald however they have  lost their momentum and are losing time to the leaders who are powering to the finish. Peter is quickly dropped and can’t hold onto the C grade stragglers. It’s been a hard day at the office for Pete.

214km Brendan Brooks and Simon Pearson attack the peloton at Wire Gully dropping Herzig who hasn’t looked comfortable since he had a flat before Gibraltar Range.

216 Nicolas Walker attacks peloton shuts down his move.

228km Patrick Shaw leads out the sprint coming into town and  Cater rolls around him to finish 2nd.

225 Savings and Loans rider Simon Pearson launches an attack from the rear of the peloton. The riders hesitate to chase him and he makes pulling a gap look easy.

228km Higgerson attacks the bunch and also succeeds in opening a  gap. The riders in the bunch hesitate to work too hard on the front as the headwind finish rolling downhill suits a lead-out.

Photos

All photos are copyright of Brad Hooker. See over 900 photos from the Grafton at www.cyclingimagesonline.com.

Results

A Grade
 
1 Cameron Hughes (Ord Minnett Racing Team)            6.51.11
2 Robert Cater (FRF - NSWIS 2)                           3.49
3 Patrick Shaw (Victorian Institute of Sport)
4 Blair Martin (KOM Northern Sydney Cycling Club)        9.34
5 Simon Pearson                                          9.39
6 Shaun Higgerson                                        9.46
7 Ben Mather (Praties Cycling Team)                      9.47
8 Benjamin King
9 Nicholas Walker (Victorian Institute of Sport)         9.48
10 Brendan Brooks (FRF - NSWIS)                          9.49
11 Peter Herzig (FRF - NSWIS)                           14.11
12 Peter McDonald (FRF - NSWIS)                         15.14
13 Andrew Grady                                         21.14
14 Joshua Chugg (Praties Cycling Team)                  22.28
15 Daniel Furmston (Praties Cycling Team)               30.46
16 Jarrod Harman (Praties Cycling Team)
17 Stephen Isbel                                        30.47
18 Robert Hodgson (KOM Northern Sydney Cycling Club)    54.17
DNF Brendan Jones (FRF - NSWIS 2)
DNF Richard Lang (Real Aussie Kids)
DNF Angus Morton (Real Aussie Kids)
DNF Russell Gill
DNF Joe McDonnell (FRF - NSWIS 2)
DNF David Kemp (Victorian Institute of Sport)
DNF Gilbert Gutowski (Ord Minnett Racing Team)
DNF Dale Scarfe (Real Aussie Kids)
DNF Matt King
DNF Gavin Nicholls (Ord Minnett Racing Team)
DNF Darcy Rosenlund (Ord Minnett Racing Team)
DNF Will Grey
DNF Michael McGee
DNF William Ford
DNF Nicholas Sanderson
DNF Jason Hegert (FRF - NSWIS)
DNF Chris Jory (FRF - NSWIS)
DNF Matthew Werrell
 
B Grade
 
1 Brian Fuller                                        6.55.04
2 Jarrett Wood (Two Wheel Industries)                   19.13
3 Paul Wild
4 Matthew Johns (Two Wheel Industries)
5 Erin Rogers                                           19.14
6 Tony Brindle                                          19.16
7 Tim Berkel (Real Aussie Kids)                         22.18
8 Alex Malone (KOM Northern Sydney Cycling Club)        26.51
9 Owen Belton                                           26.52
10 Nik Eliads                                           32.04
11 Hayden Kegg (KOM Northern Sydney Cycling Club)       46.11
12 Glenn Mathiske
13 Graham Seers                                         47.15
14 Craig Taylor                                         58.57
15 Adam Connelly                                      1.14.02
DNF Shane Gill
DNF Jim Moore
DNF Jon Guy
DNF Francis Le Brun
DNF Mathew Camilleri (Two Wheel Industries)
DNF Gerard Donaldson
DNF Paul Sterling
DNF Lewis Garland (Two Wheel Industries)
DNF Nathan Chiswell
DNF Brad Scarfe
DNF Tony Balzan
 
C Grade
 
1 Rod Mason (Inverell Cycle 'n' Tri)                  7.21.59
2 Daniel Wilks (Inverell Cycle 'n' Tri Team 2)
3 Howard Avery                                           0.01
4 Michael Hoynes (Inverell Cycle 'n' Tri)                0.08
5 Paul Wilks (Inverell Cycle 'n' Tri Team 2)             5.36
6 Glenn Fordham                                          5.37
7 Kiernan Smithson
8 Craig Paull (Illawarra CC)
9 Dennis Van Mill (Port Macquarie CC)
10 Nicholas Chevalley
11 Spencer Flugge
12 Phil Scheidegger (Dulwich Hill Black)                 5.38
13 Darren Halliday (Inverell Cycle 'n' Tri Team 2)
14 Cameron Bartram
15 Tim Norris (Manning Valley Cycle Club)
16 Eugen Schilter (Dulwich Hill Black)                   5.39
17 Michael Smith
18 Neil Soden                                            5.41
19 Adam Socha                                           18.18
20 Sam Horwood (Inverell Cycle 'n' Tri Team 2)          18.20
21 Peter Horwood (Inverell Cycle 'n' Tri)               18.44
22 Lloyd Newell (Port Macquarie CC)                     18.48
23 Warren Bennett                                       18.49
24 Matthew Worth (Manning Valley Cycle Club)            18.50
25 Beau Harper (Manning Valley Cycle Club)
26 Rowan McMurray
27 Neale McLennan (Northern Rivers CC)
28 Paul Howard                                          18.51
29 John Nicholls
30 Michael Lawson
31 Stephen Murray
32 Andrew PATTEN (Hamilfast Uni)                        18.52
33 Brett Newton (Inverell Cycle 'n' Tri)                18.54
34 Morgan Pilley (Byron Bay Freeloaders)                18.55
35 Paolo Lencioni                                       19.00
36 Craig Briant (Hamilfast Uni)                         19.48
37 Graham Norris (Manning Valley Cycle Club)            37.59
38 Mick Patton                                          38.00
39 Michael Sparke (Team Coffs)
40 Craig McAlister
41 Peter Reaburn
42 Mark Skeates (Team Coffs)
43 Michael Coles                                        38.02
44 John Evangelista
45 Conrad Exton (Team Coffs)                            38.03
46 Grant Cracknell (Hamilfast Uni)                      44.35
47 Huw Morgan (Dulwich Hill Black)
48 Ian Gillott (Hamilfast Uni)
49 Michael Frost (FSA)                                  52.34
50 Kevin Menz (Balmoral Cycle Club)
51 Garry Reardon                                        52.35
52 Samuel Alley (Manning Valley Cycle Club)
53 David McDonald (Port Macquarie CC)                   55.23
54 Tony Clarke (Byron Bay Freeloaders)                  58.21
55 Russell Hinwood                                    1.04.47
56 Peter Sabulis (Balmoral Cycle Club)
57 Steven Sanders (Port Macquarie CC)                 1.04.48
58 Frank Day (Northern Rivers CC)
59 Raymond Potter                                     1.04.49
60 Marc Goodall                                       1.04.51
61 David Gerrish
62 Andrew Forrest                                     1.04.53
63 David Palmer                                       1.10.01
64 Robert Williams                                    1.12.41
65 Bryan Ferris                                       1.15.04
66 Simon Donnelly                                     1.16.03
67 Kendall Munday (Inverell Cycle 'n' Tri Team 2)
68 Anthony Burgin                                     1.16.04
69 Matt Powell
70 Peter Kent (Hamilfast Uni)
71 George Youhanna                                    1.16.06
72 David Thomas                                       1.26.20
73 Jeff Brown                                         1.29.59
74 Brad Gooda                                         1.30.52
75 Peter Baz                                          1.34.29
76 Barry Bourke
77 Peter McMahon                                      1.41.45
78 David Roughley                                     1.42.47
79 Paul Younan                                        1.46.20
80 Evan Elliott                                       1.46.46
81 Simon Llewellyn (Dulwich Hill Red)                 1.48.03
82 Richard Clarke (Macksville CC)                     1.50.17
83 Adrian Emilsen (Dulwich Hill Red)                  1.50.42
84 Wayne Brien (Byron Bay Freeloaders)                1.51.39
85 James Fowler (Dulwich Hill Black)                  1.52.35
86 Joe Grasso (Dulwich Hill Black)                    1.55.02
DNF Grant Bond (Dulwich Hill Red)
DNF Stephen Carson
DNF David Brown
DNF Fraser Chapman
DNF Adam Robinson
DNF Maurice Mathe
DNF Jeffrey Gray (Illawarra CC)
DNF Ian Porteous (Macksville CC)
DNF Brian Russell (Macksville CC)
DNF Paul Kelly-Taylor
DNF John Osbrough
DNF Morris Trelour
DNF Shane Hulbert (Northern Rivers CC)
DNF Ian Lake (Northern Rivers CC)
DNF Dean Winchester
DNF Graeme Pont (FSA)
DNF John Williams
DNF Mark GALLACHER (Balmoral Cycle Club)
DNF Scott Hodder (Balmoral Cycle Club)
DNF David Wighton
DNF Keith White
DNF David Morton (Port Macquarie CC)
DNF Andrew Caie
DNF Gary Leahey
 
Teams classification
 
A-B Grade
 
1 FRF - NSWIS                      21.12.49
2 Praties Cycling Team                23.48
3 KOM Northern Sydney Cycling Club    51.08
 
C Grade
 
1 Inverell Cycle 'n' Tri Team 2    22.17.14
2 Inverell Cycle 'n' Tri               7.37
3 Manning Valley Cycle Club           32.03
4 Dulwich Hill Black                  44.36
5 Port Macquarie CC                 1.08.33
6 Hamilfast Uni                     1.11.59
7 Team Coffs                        1.42.47
8 Byron Bay Freeloaders             2.57.40