‘Cross is here: An Australian start to the season of mud and cowbells
It may be just about as far away from the spiritual home of cyclocross in mainland Europe that you can get, but Australia leapt into the realms of international cyclocross racing on the weekend with no shortage of enthusiasm. They brought the noisy crowds, cow bells, beer, frites and even a bit of mud and hail to add to the atmosphere of the first international race the nation has ever held.
The Airport Toyota Melbourne Grand Prix of Cyclocross was a weekend of firsts for more than Australia as well. The first two days of UCI C2 racing in Australia, ever, may have been closing down the local season for the Southern Hemisphere nation’s in style, but they were also ringing in the start of the 2017/18 global season.
Riders from six nations lined up at the Essendon Fields race course, a permanent venue utilising suburban Melbourne land next to an airfield, in dry conditions on Saturday. Then overnight rain and even hail on the support races completely changed conditions. The course, which was being run in the reverse direction on Sunday, now had slippery mud and for the second day of racing played to the strengths of a whole different type of rider.
The fiercest competition for the local riders was in the women’s field, with three of the international riders considered an extremely strong chance for the win. There was less depth in the men’s international top-end, but there was one standout. Anthony Clark (Squid) from the United States was certainly determined to go out and do his best to throw a wild card into the home nation’s stacked deck.
Saturday: A day for the Aussies
Women’s Elite
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- Emily Kachorek (Squid Bikes) from the United States (51), the top-ranked rider in the field, was flanked by the Australian National Champion Peta Mullens (Focus-Attaquer) and Squid team mate Samantha Runnels on the left. The other top international favourite, New Zealander Kim Hurst (Vanderkitten), was tucked into the second row.
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- The field on the charge with some riding but most opting to run up the climb, labelled heckle hill. One look at the crowd shouting out is enough to tell you why it got the name.
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- Kachorek initially sprinted right out to the front of the race with newly-minted Australian champion Peta Mullens. Then after Mullens had a small crash, stretched out a gap in the second lap, making the most of the start to her international CX tour. She knew there was plenty more work ahead of her to maintain that early lead though, saying before the race: “it’s going to be a long leg buster, there is not a lot of resting on this course.”
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- As the race played out it was Mullens who started reeling Kachorek’s gap in.
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- Though Kachorek’s team mate Runnels spent a considerable amount of time on Mullen’s wheel in third, putting her in a Squid sandwich.
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- Melissa Anset had been floating around fourth position early in the race, but a slip out around a corner meant she lost ground as she had to stop and twist her skewed seat back into position. One spot where she consistently took back time though was on the steps. She, along with the also pictured former Australian champion Rebecca Locke (Team WillyLocke), was among the handful of female riders who stayed on the bike up them.
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- In the end it was Kim Hurst who hauled herself back into fourth, with the pain written all over her face a result of setting a screaming pace and the fastest lap to make up for a less than ideal start. Despite being one of the race favourites, she had a second row position as the unofficial nature of the New Zealand National Cyclocross Championships, which she won the weekend before, meant that she came to Australia with no UCI points to her name.
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- Mullens dropped Runnels and caught Kachorek. “I just tried to be patient and when I got back to her, sort of tried to break her spirit and then pretty much grovelled to the finish line,” said Mullens. “It was incredibly hard.”
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- An Australian Champion wins the nation’s first international cyclocross race ever. Kachorek took second, Runnels third, Hurst fourth and Naomi Williams (Team WillyLocke) fifth.
Men’s Elite
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- Rider 2, Anthony Clark (Squid Bikes), was itching to blow away the cobwebs after a long flight out from the United States.
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- The field included a couple of past Australian champions. The first men’s national champion in 2013 was Allan Iacuone above.
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- There was also Paul van der Ploeg, who was pumping it out on the track where he earned the national title two years ago.
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- Garry Millburn (Speedvagen-MAAP) snuck into the lead early. Clark chased his wheel and went onto grab first briefly, while Australian champion Chris Jongewaard (Flanders-Jblood) joined the pair to make a tight trio up front.
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- At times the tight group of three may have been just a little too tight.
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- That may not have been a bad thing for Adrian Jackson (Orbea).
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- Out of the berm Jackson jumped on the back to make it a group of four.
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- Then mountain biker Jackson, who is heading off to the World Championship in Cairns in a couple of weeks, and Jongewaard left the pair of Millburn and Clark behind before long.
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- Jackson and Jongerwaard were out the front together for much of the race, until with two laps to go the Australian champion put down the hammer and left Jackson on his own.
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- In the end Jongewaard delivered a clear win, making it a day for the reigning Australian champions. And while the top three steps may have ended up being local riders the international competition certainly altered the flavour of the race. ”To have another rider in there, it changes the way you think, you’ve got to really figure out a new athlete during the race,” said winner Jongewaard.
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- The top 5 ended up being Jongewaard, Jackson, Millburn, Clark and Christopher Aitken (Focus-Attaquer).
Kids Racing
We couldn’t resist also including a couple of pictures from the kids race, not classified C2 but treated with just as much respect by the organisers with timing chips, medals and some pretty funky socks as prizes.
Sunday: Hail, wind and the all important mud
Women’s Elite
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- Naomi Williams (Team WillyLocke), who came fifth on Saturday, charged off the start line to take the early lead. ”I was very happy to get the hole shot,” said Williams (front right). “I don’t normally go for it but on the course today because it was so muddy it was really important to get out the front.”
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- Spectators hid under umbrellas and donned raincoats in some parts of the race, as light rain came over. The conditions, however, were much kinder than the hail and heavy rain which swept through some of the support races earlier in the day.
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- The earlier heavy rain, however, made it a slippery scramble for position.
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- The crowd erupted with excitement as soon as young Australian rider Stacey Riedel (La Velocita) hit the descent. She shifted from about fourth to first in one run as she barrelled down the slippery muddy surface clipped in while her competitors tentatively rolled down with one leg out.
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- Yesterday’s second place Kachorek held around fifth on Sunday, while her team mate Runnels worked her way up the front. However she still drew plenty of attention, as every one strained for a closer look at the brightly painted Squid Bike as she ran on by.
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- Most riders had a hell of a grimace on their face by this point of the muddy slippery climb, but not Williams. Must have been something the commentators said. Williams was saying after the race that you could hear the commentary by former three time Australian champion Lisa Jacobs and Norm Douglas right round the course and every now and then no matter how hard she was going something they’d say would mean she couldn’t help but let out a little chuckle.
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- It was all about the chase for Mullens on Sunday, after slipping back to around eighth early in the race she really had to go on the charge to take back ground near the end.
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- By the final laps Runnels and Williams had a clear lead. The pair’s style varied, with Runnels favouring the bike carry on the tricky sections while Williams opted to ride whenever possible.
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- In the end Runnels broke away from Williams to take the victory. “I really like riding in the mud so I was really stoked today and it was a really rad race,” said Runnels. “It’s my first UCI win so it was definitely a successful trip.” Williams held on for a clear second while Mullens chased hard near the end to take third, Riedel held on for fourth and Kachorek graced the podium for a second day with fifth.
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- Riedel couldn’t have been happier with her podium position, with the perfect conditions for her to revel in the home crowd support before she heads overseas to throw herself into months of the global cross season in her first year out of the Under 23 category. “I love the mud, I was hoping for rain last night and I got it,” said Riedel. “It was an amazing atmosphere and I could definitely hear everyone cheering.”
Men’s Elite
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- The rain stayed away for the men’s race and Millburn made an early run for the front.
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- Spectators perched on the hill to watch the riders slip and slide their way down.
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- Most riders opted for the one foot clipped out option so they could touch down on the sharp left hand turn at the bottom.
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- The pain faces being pulled on Saturday when the course ran up the hill took on a whole new character when it became a downhill. And the kids sitting at the bottom might have had to block their ears a few times!
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- But as spectacular as the action on the hill was, it was hard for anyone to take their eyes off the battle at the front. Millburn and Jongewaard had a clear gap, to play out another chapter in their long on the bike rivalry. Over the years they have had constant close battles but frustratingly for Millburn, Jongewaard always seems to end them on the top step.
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- Aitken was looking comfortable in third, until a slip allowed Clark to close the gap.
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- Clark out enjoying the focus of being on his bike near the pointy end of the field. “The course was great, I had a blast both days, it feels good to go really hard and not be able to think of anything but riding your bike.” The American was starting his season in Australia before heading off to China.
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- Lap after lap, Millburn was out the front with Jongewaard on his wheel. Then on the final lap when Jongewaard went to make his move and, if the story went the way it usually has, take the win.
But then this happened.
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- Jongewaard went down, the gap opened up and Millburn absolutely put everything into making sure it didn’t close down again. Jongewaard initially chased hard but then, in a rare sight, he looked to concede that he was defeated.
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- For Millburn there was no letting up till he could be completely sure of crossing that line ahead of the man nicknamed JBlood.
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- So how’s the win feel? ”It’s nice that it is at a C2, but what’s better is beating Blood,” said Millburn. “He has been pretty much unbeatable for two, three years and, he may have been having a little off day, but I took it to him and led from the front and it’s nice to get the win.” Jongewaard held on for second, Aitken came third, Clark again took fourth and Jackson fifth.
To find out what happened in the rest of the field and in the rest of the races you can see all the results here. For more information on the race see the Melbourne Grand Prix of Cyclocross website.
