Swart on the homeward run

Press, 4 November 1978, Page 60

Swart on the homeward run

From RAY CAIRNS at Palmerston North

Jack Swart has now cleared all hurdles but one in his quest to win the nineteenth Dulux seven-day cycling tour. An eventful penultimate day, in which Canterbury, riders were the principal performers, ended with, Swart extending his lead; from Paul Jesson to a minute, going to a 2min 2s lead, over Garry Bell, and finishing ahead of Steve Cox by I 3min 575. Only Blair Stockweli • avoided losing further, ground to Swart, and his' deficit has been reduced to smin 28s after Stockwell’s first stage victory of thej tour, from Inglewood to 1 Wanganui. To all intents and pur-j poses, though, Swart has the, tour won unless Jesson, — who remains the only other with a chance, can make a major effort on the Paekakariki Climb. Swart has shown that when he is in a defensive mood, no-one can slip away on a moderate ciimb or on the flat. A major mountain could be his only downfall. But that is in the near [future. Looking back at the i longest day’s racing yester[day, Toni Horne occupies a special place. From the time of the start at Inglewood, shifted in the morning from New Plymouth. Horne raced away alone and stamped a major impression on Taranaki with his sprint victories at Stratford, Eltham, Hawera, Manawapou and Patea. For the grand distance jf 90km, he was in solitarysplendour and threatening to be caught by only another Canterbury man, Jim Ryder. Ryder actually got within 30s of Horne, when he himself was being pursued by I Anthony Cuff, Roger Sumich 1 and Tony Mellsop, but t almost as those three picked up Ryder, the effort petered I out and Horne remained i without company. But it was too much to 1 expect such an effort to last t for the full I3skm. The next i move was to come from ( Stockwell. ' Horne had been picked up c

• just out of Patea, ther> ’ Stockwell punctured as the ■ bunch left Waverley. A swift change, and he was not only hack with the bunch but riu ing away from it on the Waitotara Climb and getting l as much as a minute and a lihplf clear. i But. Swart would hav e ■ none of that. If there was no 1, activity, Stockwell could • have slipped into the danger •irone. Swart’s efforts were 'mainly responsible for limit I ing Stockwell's winning rimargin to 47>. That effort of Swart s split j the bunch still further. Only ; Jesson, Bell. Greg Parke and ' Vern Hauaray were with ■ him in the sprint for second. Cox finishing 14s behind •jafter a puncture, and the ‘I gallant Horne tn fifteenth ■ place, 3min back. All the principals were : there again in the early afternoon break, on the 79km ride to Palmerston North. Joining the first seven on general classification were Hanaray, Peter Goding, and Sumich. who seized the opportunity to take the King of the Mountains lead from Jesson. Sumich won both after noon climbs to move five points clear of Jesson. while Ulric Drake, the otherwise unremarkable Aucklander, picked up the Waitotara Climb in the morning to trail Jesson by nine points — and to lead Swart and Ryder by one and three points respectively — in third place. There was nothing very dramatic about the afternoon stage otherwise, except that when Swart chose to go, Sumich with him, no-one else had an answer. Jesson will have to ask a different sort of a question on Paekakariki today if he is to win the tour for the second time in three years. General classification: Swart, 23h smin 395, 1; Jesson, down 265, 2, Bell, down II min 30s, 3; Cox, down 3min 275, 4: Stockwell, down 4min 575, 5: Ryder, down lOmin 535, 6; Kevin Blackwell (Waikato), down 15min 16s, 7; E. Duffieux (New Cale donia), down 23min 50s, 8.