Juniors take major line honours

Press, 9 June 1980, Page 21

Juniors take major line honours

By

HAY CAIRNS

The concerted industry of two first-year juniors brought them deserved major line honours in the D.B. harbour race, the 55km handicap event which heralded tlie start of the amateur road cycling season, on Saturday. Nicholas Wolsey, who had a creditable first season as a novice last year, and Tony Salole. who began cycling this season, found Evans Pass the final hurdle which helped them hit the front. But until then, the seasoned front-marker, Graham Milner, appeared to have the race to himself.

A long-respected performer on hills, and a former winner of his club’s Round the Bays, “Nicky” Milner enjoyed a cofavouritism with Ron Kennedy, having 25 and 20min respectively. But Gebbies Pass was the undoing of Kennedy, and Milner then appeared to have the race to himself with Evans Pass the last major barrier. But it was the two 16-year-olds who climbed more friskily, and’ they had caught and passed Milner by the summit. •

Not that victory—which went to Wolsey in a keenly-contested sprint—was then assured. For John Arthur, another frontmarker, made the descent to

Sumner rather better and he got to within 100 m of the two leaders as they dallied on the flat. But he 'could not quite close the gap, and finished a mere eight seconds behind them. Not surprisingly, few bunches finished anything like intact. By the top of Gebbies Pass, only Brian Fowler, Mark Nichols and Blair Stockwell had survived of the scratch bunch, and by the time they got to McCormacks Bay, the 17-year-old Fowler held a length advantage over Nichols in the sprint for fastest time. That continued a developing trend of the best of he juniors featuring prominently-. in the time placings, for Nichols—also then 17—won fastest time the previous. year; and these three, two juniors and Stockwell, the most experienced by far of Canterbury’s back-markers, were clearly superior to their comarkers.

The prospect of the backmarkers going through ths field still appeared possible after the Gebbies Pass climb: Nichols, Fowler and Stockwell were then 15min from the front bunch, which had started 25min before them. J But the pace ’never slackens, no matter the quality of the rider, between Gebbies Pass and Lvttelton, and in spite of their efforts—and the willing assist-

ance from Peter McEwan and John Hughes, the only breakmarkers to survive long with the scratch riders—the sprint for fastest time still came 4min after Wolsey and Salole had finished. There was a stroke of luck attached to Salole's placing, for he was originally handicapped on the 6min bunch, a too-demanding task for the first-year rider. So when he was rehandicapped, it was by a shade too much; for the 16min bunch became the winner, rather than the more fancied Simin group. Steven Batchelor headed off a tired Milner for fourth, and David Clifford was another from 16min who was not too far away. Abbreviations used in the results are: Papanui (P.), Woolston W.M.C. (W.), and Hornby W.M.C. (H.). D.B. harbour race.—N. Wolsey (P.. 16min), 1:37:19, 1; A. Salole (W.,' 16min), 2; J. Arthur (H„ 25min), 1:46:27, 3; S. Batchelor (W., 16min), 1:38:18. 4; G. M. Milner (W., 25min), 1:47:22, 5; J. Pohl (T., 20min), 1:43:3. 6; L; Benschop (P., 16min), 1:39:20, 7; D. J. Savage (W., 25min), 1:48:20.5, 8; T. Hodgson (P., 20min), 1:43:21, 9; D. Fenton (W., 12min), 1:35:59, 10. Fastest time: B. A. Fowler (W., scr.), 1:25:12, 1; M. P. Nichols (H., scr.), 1:25:13, 2: B. G. Stockwell (P., scr.), 1:25.14, 3.