Fowler outclasses field in cycling championships

Press, 11 September 1989, Page 24

Fowler outclasses field in cycling championships

By

MALCOLM CONDIE

in Timaru Brian Fowler, of Woolston, yesterday proved beyond any doubt that he is the best road cyclist in Canterbury. Fowler convincingly won the provincial championships, by riding away from the 23strong bunch after only 15km and completing the 157.5 km race on his own. He effortlessly broke from the bunch with Peter Coates just before the first 17.5 km lap was completed, Coates slipped back to the bunch, and Fowler ii._reased his lead minute by minute. It was a gamble for Fowler to commit himself to such a long solo ride, but since he has struck form in the past couple of weeks, the gamble paid off. “I really wanted to take someone with me,” Fowler said. “At the end of the third lap I was a bit worried about being on my own because the bunch was still quite close.” Nonetheless Fowler continued the awesome task he set himself in the second lap, and by the penultimate lap had a lead of nearly eight minutes on the next riders. The finishing margin to

second place was eight minutes and 235. Considering the undulating nature of the course and that Fowler’s time was under four hours for a one hundred mile race, his average speed of about 40 km/h is exceptional.

Several times the bunch split up as riders attempted to bridge the gap to Fowler but none of these attacks were successful. Jason Smith, of Woolston, rode well by staying away from the main bunch for nearly two laps, but was pulled in with two laps remaining.

Peter Coates showed a return to form with several strong attacks and a gutsy chase back to the bunch after a puncture. Nigel Donnelly performed a similar chase after he punctured on the start-finish line. Michael McLister impressed early in the race with some good spurts up the Sleeper parts of the course, but he was always sucked back to the fold on downhill and flat sections. Aaron Lauder, back from Europe, also rode well by chasing several breaks. His example was copied by Dean Kilpatrick and Mark Lucas on a

couple of occasions. Even though Fowler’s win was convincing, he says the attitude of most of the province’s riders is still very negative. “No-one in Canterbury wants to race. I wanted a hard race for the nationals,” he said. “It doesn’t really matter what happens here, but when those guys strike a tough course and some good opposition they’re not going to know what hit them.” Chris Barnsley, of Papanui, won the junior race over a distance of 87.5 km.

Barnsley won the sprint from his team-mate, Julian Slade. Third was Scott McDonnell, of Woolston, who was followed by Simon Rusbatch, of Papanui. Timaru’s big hope in this event, Evan Blake, was fifth. One of the finest displays of cycling at the championships was seen in the women’s race on Saturday. A small field of only a dozen riders faced the 70km race and by the end of the first lap the title was as good as decided.

Sally Fraser, a former New Zealand and provincial titleholder, rode away from the

bunch several times during the first lap but the prospect of completing four laps on her own was too daunting and she waited for the bunch to catch her. After the first lap she found herself out in front once again, but this time steadily increased her lead on the field.

Fraser ended up 4min 20s ahead of the second-placed rider, Kay Jones, and her over-all time, of Ihr 58min 08s, was nearly seven minutes quicker than the class-two veterans’ finishing time. Considering she practically time trialed most of her race it was a top performance and evidence of a return to the form she displayed as national champion in 1987. Paul Kristiansen successfully defended his class two veterans title by sprinting a small field of over 45-year-olds in the 70km event. Results.—

Senior, 157.5 km: B. Fowler (Woolston) 1, M. McLister (Papanui) 2, D. Kircher (Hornby) 3, A. Lauder (Hqrnby) 4, N. Donnelly (Papanui) 5. Time: 3:57. Junior, 87.5 km: C. Barnsley (Papanui) 1, J. Slade (Papa-

nui) 2, S. McDonnell (Woolston’) 3, S. Rusbatch (Papanui) 4, E. Blake (Timaru) 5. Time: 2:24.36.

Women, 70km: S. Fraser (Woolston) 1, K. Jones (Papanui) 2, L. Kristiansen (Papanui) 3, R. Reekie (Hornby) 4, L. O’Brian (Papanui) 5. Time: 1:58.08.

Veteran: class one, 87.5 km: J. Ryder (Timaru) 1, J. de Gernham (Woolston) 2, R. Scott (Hornby) 3, G. Howes (Timaru) 4. Time: 2:22.50. ,

Veteran, class two, 70km: P. Kirstiansen (Papanui) 1, R.Bush (Papanui) 2, R. Kennedy (Papanui) 3, A. Perry (Hornby) 4, R. Pemberton (Woolston) 5. Time: 2:05.48. . Senior novice, 35km: C. Denny (Hornby) 1, S. Park (Hornby) 2, J. Vercos (Timaru) 3, G. Lawson (Timaru) 4, A. Miller (Mairehau) 5. Time: 56min 455.

Junior novice, 17.5 km: M. Lumb (Mairehau) 1, K. Gorrie (Woolston) 2, A. Bennett (Mairehau) 3. Time: 32min 325.

Novice girls, 17.5 km: N. Thorne (Hornby) 1, A. Emms (Mairehau) 2, A. Powell (Hornby) 3. Time: 35min 455.