09/01/2005 Gilmore battuta solo dalla Wood nella prova unica del campionato australiano Criterium Titolo nazionale australiano Criterium sfiorato per Rochelle Gilmore, battuta solo dalla regina di Coppa del Mondo 2004 Oenone Wood. Di seguito tutti i risultati ottenuti allo Jayco Bay Classic corso dal 5 al 9 gennaio. Classifica finale 1 Oenone Wood (Mercure Grand Hotel on Swanston) 56 pts 2 Jenny MacPherson (Jayco VIS) 41 3 Rochelle Gilmore (NSW IS) 35 4 Kate Nichols (NSW IS) 33 5 Emma Rickard (Jayco VIS) 21 6 Sky-Lee Armstong (Mercure Grand Hotel on Swanston) 19 7 Belinda Goss (Drapac-Porsche Cycling Team) 17 8 Bianca Rogers (Siemens) 15 9 Bridget Evans (Mercure Geelong) 14 10 Amanda Spratt (NSW IS) 10 5 tappa - January 9: Docklands 1 Oenone Wood (Mercure Grand Hotel on Swanston) 2 Jenny MacPherson (Jayco VIS) 3 Belinda Goss (Drapac-Porsche Cycling Team) 4 Rochelle Gilmore (NSW IS) 5 Kate Nichols (NSW IS) 6 Bianca Rogers (Siemens) 7 Emma Rickard (Jayco VIS) 8 Bridget Evans (Mercure Geelong) 9 Therese Cliff-Ryan (ACT) 10 Claire Baxter (Siemens) DIARY ROCHELLE - The weather for the last day of the Bay Classic Series was nice and hot. Once we arrived at the Docklands course and received team placing information we grouped the NSWIS girls together and assessed the situation. We came to the consensus that the main objective of the day should be to get an NSWIS rider across the line first. The race started hard and fast, with attacks coming regularly. Everyone was having a go and it seemed like all the teams wanted to end the series on a high note. Our plan was to attack for the first three quarters of the race and try to get one of our younger riders into a break. However, Oenone was watching everything and pulled them back in for a bunch sprint. As the race came down to the final lap, I never managed to get myself into a good position for the sprint and basically I had run out of legs. Even through I didn't pick up the results that I wanted from this week, the season has started off well and it is great to be back racing at an elite level. At this stage of the season I am happy with the way that my training is going and where my fitness is at. Making it through this week injury and illness free has been a major plus and something that I can continue to build on as the rest of the year unfolds. 4 tappa - January 8: Geelong Botanic Gardens 1 Jenny MacPherson (Jayco VIS) 2 Oenone Wood (Mercure Grand Hotel on Swanston) 3 Belinda Goss (TIS-Cyclingnews) 4 Emma Rickards Jayco VIS) 5 Amanda Spratt (NSWIS) 6 Rochelle Gilmore (NSWIS) DIARY ROCHELLE - It was the strong Victorian rider, Jenny McPherson who took the win today. A well deserved win after running places all week and working hard in the break. Jenny out-sprinted Oenone Wood, one of the fastest sprinters in the world tonight, a fine achievement. The first promising break of the evening included Emma Rickards, Oenone Wood and Katie Brown but unfortunately for us it was brought back quickly. The winning break of five formed shortly after the half way point and we were fortunate enough to have Amanda Spratt (Junior World Champ) in the break. I was confident to leave Amanda out there for us; she has had strong legs all week and deserved an opportunity to have her go. Things did not go her way in the end when she was jumped in the sprint and had to settle for 5th, I rolled in for 6th ahead of the main bunch. We NSWIS have just one more day (opportunity) to pull it together! 3 tappa - January 7: Geelong - Ritchie Boulevard Australian Criterium Champions 1 Oenone Wood (Mercure Grand Hotel on Swanston) 2 Rochelle Gilmore (NSW IS) 3 Emma Rickard (JaycoVIS) 4 Bianca Rogers (Siemens) 5 Jenny MacPherson (Jayco VIS) 6 Kate Nichols (NSW IS) 7 Katie Brown (NSW IS) 8 Haley Rutherford (Mercure Geelong) 9 Sky-Lee Armstong (Mercure Grand Hotel on Swanston) 10 Kirsty Bortolin (Drapac-Porsche Cycling Team) DIARY ROCHELLE - Finally we had race on dry roads! It was actually very nice conditions out there this evening for the 3rd round of the Bay Classic, which was also the Australian National Criterium Championship. It was great to see the entire peloton having a go, I think the fact that it was a National Title made all the difference, everyone gave themselves every opportunity to get onto the podium. Anyone could have predicted the way this evening's race went, Oenone was always going to be the strongest and the one to beat. The only way I could have beaten her was to arrive at the sprint with fresher legs than her, she had a tough ride today and covered every single attack. All the riders gave it everything to catch Oenone napping but Oenone did not miss one move, she closed everything down immediately. I was giving myself the best opportunity to win the title tonight by following Oenone, I was doing my job well until the last lap. Crossing through the line with one lap to go I found myself in a terrible position. I was on the outside of the bunch coming into the 2nd last hairpin and I got stuck between a rider and the fence just as 10 or more riders ducked under me to go through the turn. I came out of that turn more than 10 riders back and realised I had to sprint 100% up the back straight to reach the front riders who had already started their lead-outs. Entering the last turn I was still flying up the inside with four riders still in front, I took a risk that I now regret as it may have caused riders to wobble and fall in the last corner. I took the inside line in third position next to a rider that fell on my outside, when I exited the last corner I had lost 15m on Oenone and she would be impossible to catch, but there was another rider, Emma Rickards who I managed to run down to take second. I am disappointed with my result tonight but extremely happy with the way I felt, I was just floating around tonight feeling fitter than my competitors. It’s not a feeling that we will often experience but when you have a race like that it can do wonders for your confidence. I am looking forward to tomorrow's race in the Botanic Gardens. Night. 2 tappa - January 6: Portarlington 1 Oenone Wood (Mercure Grand Hotel on Swanston) 2 Kate Nichols (NSW IS) 3 Jenny MacPherson (Jayco VIS) 4 Rochelle Gilmore (NSW IS) 5 Bridget Evans (Mercure Geelong) 6 Sky-Lee Armstong (Mercure Grand Hotel on Swanston) 7 Amanda Spratt (NSW IS) 8 Bianca Rogers (Siemens) 9 Emma Ricard (Jayco VIS) 10 Tiffany Cromwell (Mercure Geelong) DIARY ROCHELLE - It was another dangerous, rainy day at the Bay Classic. Oenone Wood proved her dominance on the toughest of all the Bay Classic circuits. A small group of five riders broke away from the main bunch after just 10 minutes. It was once again Sky-Lee Armstrong who initiated the break dragging along with her Oenone Wood, Bridget Evans, Kate Nichols and a strong Victorian rider - Jenny MacPherson (Jayco VIS). Oenone Wood drove the bunch so hard that no riders could hang on for the distance. First it was Sky-Lee who decided to drop back to the bunch; following her shortly after was Bridget Evans. With 20 minutes to go Oenone had just two more riders to offload, it was Kate Nichols and Jenny MacPherson who were still hanging on until Kate slid out in a tight wet corner. While Kate was taking her two free laps out Oenone hit nitro and dropped the Victorian rider which meant that Kate had to rejoin with the second rider, leaving Oenone out in front solo. The two riders endeavoured to chase Oenone down without success. Oenone was a class act out there today proving that no other Australian here can match her when she is on a mission. Kate rolled in solo for second with the Jenny outsprinting my tired legs for 3rd. 1 tappa - 5 January : Williamstown 1 Sky-Lee Armstong (Mercure Grand Hotel on Swanston) 12 pts 2 Oenone Wood (Mercure Grand Hotel on Swanston) 10 3 Kate Nichols (NSW IS) 8 4 Emma James (Mercure Geelong) 7 5 Rochelle Gilmore (NSW IS) 6 6 Jenny MacPherson (Jayco VIS) 5 7 Haley Rutherford (Mercure Geelong) 4 8 Bridget Evans (Mercure Geelong) 3 9 Therese Cliff-Ryan (ACT) 2 10 Belinda Goss (Drapac-Porsche Cycling Team) 1 DIARY ROCHELLE - It was a great day in the office for NSWIS; we finished 1st, 3rd, 4th and 5th. Unfortunately the winner Sky-Lee Armstrong was not entered with the NSWIS team for this series so we can't technically claim her stage win as ours. The race was delayed due to extremely heavy rain. Race organisers decided to neutralise the first 5 laps hoping to avoid crashes in the very wet and slippery conditions. Sky-Lee attacked immediately after the end of the 5 laps neutral and continued to increase her lead over the bunch for the first half of the race, while being out there alone she also took maximum points in the first intermediate sprint. Another NSWIS rider - Katie Nichols attacked with Oenone Wood just after the half way point and managed to catch Sky with 5 laps to go. During the 2nd half of the race NSWIS controlled the pace of the bunch. Oenone and Sky are riding on the same team and I believe there was some confusion up front about who would work for whom leading into the sprint. Both Sky and Kate are NSWIS riders but this time Sky is riding with Oenone's team - Mercure. Sky led out the sprint after riding solo for most of the race, she displayed awesome strength and speed to hold off Oenone and Kate to take the win. Emma James, also an NSWIS rider jumped away from the bunch in the final laps to take out 4th, I won the bunch sprint for 5th. The main bunch was very controlled today so apart from those who were in the breaks, there should be a lot of fresh legs ready to get stuck into tomorrow's tough circuit. More tomorrow. ROCHELLE GILMORE - super sprinter and scratch race silver medallist at the 2002 world track championships - is a woman of ambition. After proving her prowess on the track, she's aiming to forge a successful career on the road. In 2004, she rode for Denmark-based Team S.A.T.S but in 2005, Rochelle joins the one of the longest-named teams in women's cycling, G.S. Safi-Pasta Zara Manhattan, where she'll team up with Britain's Nicole Cooke to make a formidable duo for the finale of any major race. Follow Rochelle as she continues her rise to the top of the tree in 2005 with her regular diary updates. (diary by www.cyclingnews.it) L'australiana Rochelle Gilmore