Cycling First by Nichols

Press, 1 September 1980, Page 21

Cycling First by Nichols

By RAY CAIRNS

’ History was made by Craig I ■ Nichols ‘in his winning •of the. Healing mini-tour at Sefton yesterday. Bv far die main aggres- - sor of the first stage, from Ka- < ngiora to Oxford, Nichols became < the first to win that stage in a , breakaway. - That 51s advantage meant > Nichols had the wanning of the • tour, because he was able to V withstand all that Del Woodford, of Dunedin, could throw at him. , That first stage victory by * Nichols was the best solo performance since the first stage has gone to Oxford, where there i ’ is generally a big bunch disputing first place. ~ \ - Woodford kept chipping away at Nichol's lead, however. He had an aggressive second stage, through the gorges, and still won » -the sprint; and, as expected, won the time trial handsomely from Nichols. !«.* ■ .. ._;r . , . |

Nor was there lack of action from Woodford in the final stage, by which time he had the “King of the Mountains” title sewn up. But Nichols still had an answer to everything, even if this was Woodford’s stage in —all respects, for he won it, too. A splendid finish from Michael Hazeldine, the best sprinter after Woodford, took him to third, 9s clear of the best of the Southlanders, Stephen Harcourt, and another two seconds clear of Alan Miller, of Blenheim. Ivan Stanicich was the next best ot the Canterbury riders, 67s down on Nichols. Abbreviations used in the results are: Mairehau (M). Dunedin (D). Murihiku (Mu), Hornby W.M.C. (II), Blenheim (B), Rangiora (Rl. « , j Stage one, Rangiora-Oxford, 38km—C. P. Nichols (M). 72:47, 1- D. Woodford (D) 2, M. B. Hazeidine (M) 3. P. Coates (M) 4. S Harcourt (Mu) 5, and bunch.

all jit 465. Stage two, Oxford-Ashley, 45 km.—Woodford 1. M. Hewitt (Mu) 2, A. Miller (B) 3, C. Jordan (B) 4, G. Bewley (Mu) 5, and bunch, all 1:22:43. Stage three, Ashley, 3km time trial.—Woodford, 3:35, 1; Nichols, 3:45, 2; S. Hall (B). 3:46. 3; I. Stanicich (R), 3;48, 4; Hewitt, Hazeldine, Harcourt, all 3:49, equal 5. Stage four, Sefton block. 28km. —Woodford 1. Hazeldine 2. Harcourt 3, Nichols 4, M. Leahy (Mu) 5, and bunch, all 55:01. General classification.—Nichols. 3:38:58, 1; Woodford, at 14s. 2; Hazeldine, at 535, 3; Harcourt, at 625, 4; Miller, at 645, 5;- Stanicich at 675, 6; Hewitt, at 735, 7; Jordan, at 735, 8: M. E. Robertson, at 735, 9; Coates, at 745, 10.

King of the Mountains.—Woodford. 22. 1; Hewitt. 13, 2; Harcourt. 12, 3; Nichols, 6,4; Bewley, 5, 5.