Tour Of Wellington Stages 1 and 2 LOTS OF PICS

For Stage 1 - Time Trial Gallery CLICK HERE
For Stage 2 - Road Race Gallery CLICK HERE

Results of Time Trial CLICK HERE
AND Spreadsheet of Results of Stages One and Two - CLICK HERE

On arriving at Briag, it was great to see riders from Latrobe, Bairnsdale and Wellington all getting ready for the "SHORT/SHARP" day of racing. Be on your game - an 11.3km ITT and a 25km road race, just full throttle for both events..........

The ITT was first and 29 riders were sent away at 30 second intervals......Although full results are not quite ready and will be available on the WCC website asap.

Then the road race, and intermediate sprints and final finishes were hotly contested by all riders. I have put up a selection of pics, and all images will be available for viewing tomorrow night

I did notice a couple of things:-

- Mike Renehan had a BIG smile on his face all day (CONGRATULATIONS on winning the MMAS7 Gold Medal in the Vic Champs last week)

- CONGRATULATIONS ALSO to Danny Gafa (LCCC) for MMAS2 Gold at the Vic Masters and Dave Arnup for his Silver medal in the MMAS2 ITT.
- Ben was on time (although at 30 seconds to go in the Time Trial - Wheres Ben? He turned up with 10 seconds to go
- A couple of riders had a strict "no side profiles" clause in their photo contracts.....that is what winter does (My hands up too - Guilty here too!)
- Riders said the Time Trial was tough..........A rider named Bill Dove once said to me in a time trial, "If it is not hurting then you are not going hard enough!!"
- Quite a few helpers from Briag and I saw a couple of riders stop and say thanks to the Marshalls as they rode away from the finish (Great sportsmanship there. :))
- Riders toughest choice of the day was "Which of Grants delicious cakes should they have........fruit cake/lemon slice or chocolate cake.....)

The Marshalls certainly worked hard today checking numbers and placings i tight finishes

Grant had the race under control

After thanking Dave for a lead out at the Masters Champs it was certainly rivalry between the two champs today

Dave had his serious race-face on

Special note - Daryl did a fantastic job holding every rider except two and his face was very focussed (or asleep??)

Not sure about the look on Daryls face here, but he Gave Kristy a big push

With 5 seconds to the start - Ben is held and pushed on his way (WHERE IS BEN??)

Some riders kept Daryl amused

Danny finished and had not been passed on route by anyone

According to my camera Dave finished 10 seconds later

A moment of prayer before the big race

Happy riders before a tough road race

Coming to the first sprint

Taken by Nick Jehu

Marshalls discussing the race

Charming race face Kristy

Serious sprinting in B Grade 

Cute puppy at the finish