In a remarkable display of dominance,
Tasmanian Will Clarke (Genysis Wealth Advisers) took out all three
stages and overall General Classification in the 2010 Great Doherty Tour
of the Southern Grampians. In both road stages, Clarke attacked at the
opportune time, and soloed to victory, leaving the rest of his field in
his wake. Team-mate Ben Grenda rode strongly to finish second and make
it 1-2 for the Genysis Wealth Advisers, who also secured the victory in
the Teams Classification by a remarkable 26 minutes. Clarke and Grenda
also dominated the KOM prizes taking 1st and 2nd in that competition as
well. In third place, an in-form Pat Shaw (Virgin Blue – RBS Morgans)
edged out Tour of the Southern Grampians most consistent placegetter
Shaun McCarthy (Great Doherty).
It was a close fought race in the
Women’s division, with Lisa Jacobs (VIS) taking the yellow jersey,
winning a three way sprint with Jo Hogan (Prime Estate) and Kendelle
Hodges (RACE). However, bonus sprint points in the criterium allowed
Hogan to steal the yellow from Jacobs in Stage 2. Following the moves
in Stage 3, Hogan finished 4th in
the stage and managed to hang onto the yellow and take the overall win
by a mere 18 seconds over Jacobs, with Hodges finished third for the
second year running. Finishing equal on points Hogan took the KOM title
on a countback based on her win in the final KOM on Sunday morning.
In B Grade, a close battle was waged
between the top 6. After nearly 250km and 7 hours of racing less than a
minute separated the top 6 riders. By the end the two up and coming
juniors Brent Nelson and Ciaran Conaughton took 1st and 2nd
respectively. Guy Green rode an impressive race to finish 1st Master
and only 85 seconds behind the winner.
In C Grade, the three riders Matthew
Heath, Tom Paton and Rick Sanders each took 1 stage each, however
Matthew Heath prevailed by 27 sec largely attributable to the 50 sec he
gained in time bonuses in the criterium on Saturday afternoon.
In D Grade, Tom Barry (MTBA)
demonstrated himself as a rising star, leading from start to finish and
taking the overall GC ahead of father and son combination Matt and Doug
Reynolds (4th) and Adam Versteege who took 3rd on a count back due to
his win on the final stage.
