Fowler triumphs over all-comers

Press, 14 July 1980, Page 23

Fowler triumphs over all-comers

Bi-

RAY CAIRNS

Brian Fowler, the latest in a Tecent long line of outstanding Canterbury junior cyclists, stamped impiession" on the Air New ■ Zealand Grand Prix on Saturday. The three stage tour was ostensibly to select a Canterbury team for the national final, but such “■’as the demanding nature of the first stage, especially, and the second stage, that the team could have been chosen without the day’s activity.

Fowler was undoubtedly the master of this field. Only he and Blair Stockwell were left together at the end of the first 60km stage. It was just Fowler, Bruce Brunton, and Toni Horne at the finish of stage two, 80km. When the riders lined up for atage three, round the HalswellCashmere block, only six were left. In the cold and gloom, the race manager (Mr Jack Brunton) wisely gave the riders their own choice of distance, and they elected to ride a single lap of 10km.

Evans Pass took a heavy toll of the field of 19 starters: the three who were to dominate the stage (Horne, Fowler, and Stockwell) were first across the top, and only Brunton and Dace Hewson were still in contact, though

Paul Flattery and John Hughes trere just off the pace. The latter two could not quite close the gap, however, then first Brunton and. a little later, Hewson, were dropped.

And the hills ultimately eliminated Horne, too, but not the climbing. Never the best of descenders, crashes have taken their mental toll on Horne, and he lost contact on the drop into Governor’s Bat- from the Sign of the Kiwi.

It was only bv 20sec, but that was enough for Fowler and Stockwell. They gave Horne no chance of regaining, stretching the gap out to 52sec on Gebbies Pass, more than a minute by the bottom, and the best part of 4min by the finish, Fowler beating Stockwell there by a length. Hewson provided all the activity of the second stage. With Gavin Neale instigating the move, Hewson was away in a break in the first 2km of the second stage and he wa B rid of Neale on Gebbies Pass on the way to Purau.

His lead out to 3min at stages, the gallant Hewson was, however, caught by the field’s top six— Fowler, Stockw’ell, Horne, Flattery. Brunton and Hughes—soon after the turn, and dropped on Gebbies Pass on the return.

toe activity thereafter was on the flat. Horne, an aggressor on Gebbies Pass, made his attack with 10km to ride and only Fowler was quick to respond.

Brunton, in closest contact, fought his wax- up to the pair, but Stockwell, sick all week, had no answer, and Hughes again failed by the merest margin to make contact, and so did Flattery.

So Fowler triumphed again, Brunton a mere half-wheel away, and the tour was all over. Stockwell. putting his health first, withdraw from the final stage, and so did Hewson and Hughes, neither of them available for the national final. Thus the only riders to line up for the quarter hour saunter round the flat were Fowler, Horne, Brunton, Flattery, Russell Nant. and Craig Holding, the latter pair both a quarter-hour down on Fowler by then. Holding was not available for the national final either, so the other five, plus Stockwell and Peter McEwen —another absentee from the final, because of illness —were named as the Canterbury team.

A supporting 50km race was won in the sprint by John McAloon, well clear of Kelly Woodley, and William Rastrick got

fastest time from James Samp-i son. Abbreviations used in the results are Woolston WMC (W), Papanui (P), Hornby WMC (H), Veto Carpet Market <V). Air New Zealand Grand Prix. —Stage one, 60km, Linwood-Bays-Halswell: B. A. Fowler (W) 1. B. G. Stockwell (P) 2. both 1:52:10; T. R. Hoxme <P), 1:55:51, 3; B. W. Brunton (V) 4. J. T. Hughes (P> 5. D. B. Hewson (P) 6, P. S. Flatterv (V) 7, all 2:03:07; R. D. Nant <Vi 8, A. P. [Fuller (Pl 9. P. C. Clare (Hj 10. 1 Stage two, 80km, Hal Swell 1. Brunton 2. Horne 3, all 2:23:32; Hughes 4, Flaterv 5, Stockwell 6, all 2:25:26; Hewson 7, Nant 8, C. Holding (Hi 9. Stage three, 10km, Cashmere block —Brunton 1, Horne 2, Nant 3. Fowler 4, all 15:56; Holding 5, Flattery 6, both 18:40. General classification. —Fowler, 4:31:14, 1; Horne, at 3:57, 2; Brunton, at 7:28. 3; Flattery, at 12:04, 4; Nant. at 15:41, 5; Holding. at 18:29, 6. Inter-club 50km. —J. McAloon (P, 7min) 1. K. Woodley (W,J

■i?min) 2. T. Weston (W, 9min) 3, D. Dishinton (W, 9min) 4, W. J. . E. Rastrick iP, scr) 5 and fastest time; J. A. Sampson (P. sen, 6 ' and second fast time; N. J. ’ Degarnham (P ,scr), 7 and third fastest time; R. W. Fulton iH, . Smin) 8 G. Smallridge <W, snum i 9. G. F. Fuller (P, 3min) 10. i Steve Doherty produced the ride everybodv had waited for in the President’s Trophy race i on Saturday. Doherty got I through to eighth in the cash Nicholas Nickleby 76km handicap event at Templeton. He was the . only scratch rider to finish, t catching and dropping countless riders on the way. I His time was an outstanding . Ih 52min 54sec for what was virtually a time trial. : Results:— , „ , P. Wylie (4Jmin), 1:a3:32, 1, ' and second fast time; F. R. Hooper (4Jmin>, 2 and third fastest time; B. J. Hulbert (6Jmin), : 1:57:03 3 and junior fastest time; S. J. Craig <4jmin) 4, R. Risdon • (ISJminl 5. P. Leigh (ISJmin) 6, P. Carvel! (ISlminl 7, B. P. Doherty (scr), 1:52:54, 8 and fastjest time.