2007 News
2007 AUSTRALIAN OPEN ROAD CYCLING CHAMPIONSHIPS
UNDER 23 MEN'S TIME TRIAL CHAMPIONSHIPS Mt Buninyong, Ballarat, Victoria
Thursday, January 11, 2007
FROM ROD MORRIS IN BALLARAT
The single minded goal of getting to the Beijing Olympics next year was the driving force behind Zak Dempster’s win in the Australian Under 23 Men’s Time Trial Cycling Championship in Ballarat today.
Dempster, just 19 and from Bendigo, is hell bent on representing Australia at the next Olympiad and is determined to not let anything undermine his ambition.
WOMEN’S TIME TRIAL CHAMPIONSHIP
Mt Buninyong, Ballarat, Victoria
Thursday, January 11, 2007
FROM ROD MORRIS IN BALLARAT
A former triathlete with a penchant for middle distance running, today won the Australian Women’s Cycling Time Trial Championship……….on a borrowed bike!
Twenty-one year old Brisbane based Carla Ryan upstaged defending champion, Kathy Watt in an exciting 28 km time trial, which was held on the noted Mt Buninyong circuit near Ballarat in central Victoria.
Ryan, originally from Shepparton, Victoria now lives in Queensland and has only shown an interest in road cycling for the last two years.
Robbie McEwen comes to Ballarat
Tour de France sprint champion Robbie McEwen hopes to throw off a troublesome chest infection in time to contest the Australian open road championship at Buninyong, near Ballarat, on Sunday.
McEwen is one of 301 entries in the four-day titles – a record since the open championship concept was introduced into Australian cycling in 1999.
McEwen’s respiratory disorder forced him to withdraw from the final leg of the Bay Series event at Docklands yesterday.
He has not shown his early-season sparkle, but has targeted the Milan-San Remo World Cup classic in March as his first goal in 2007.
“My training is structured around Milan-San Remo,” he said today. “It’s something I really want to aim at.”
Baden Cooke and Sara Carigan to race in Buninyong
Tour de France stars Baden Cooke, Allan Davis, Simon Gerrans and Matt Wilson will be striving to win the coveted green and gold jersey and wear it in their overseas appearances.
Wilson won the national title in a daring breakaway when it was last held at Buninyong in 2004.
The championships, sponsored by the City of Ballarat and Tourism Victoria, will be held from January 11 – 14.
Six events will be conducted over the four days, with individual time trials and road races for men, women and Under 23 men.
Athens Olympic Games gold medallist Sara Carrigan will make a much-anticipated return to Buninyong, a happy stamping ground for the Queenslander.
Local guys will make a splash
The Australian Open Road Cycling Championships will bring hundreds of elite riders to Ballarat from all around , but it is our local boys who could take the title.
The Cycle City Team will enter six local riders to compete in the Championships, which will be held in Ballarat from Thursday 11 to Sunday 14 January.
Cycle City Team Manager and Coach, Stu Sanders, is confident his team will impress during the prestigious sporting event.
“The Men’s Road Race is an absolute lottery in terms of who’ll win, but anyone, on the day, could be in the final group,” he said.
"We’re hoping for a top 10 finish from at least one of our riders.”
Simon Gillett to ride for Amy
Simon Gillett, husband of Amy Gillett and avid cyclist will take part in the Ride for the Champions recreational ride as part of the Australian Open Road Cycling Championships in his home town of Buninyong this month.
Ride with the Champions will be held on Sunday 14 January, 2007 from 9am to 10am. The ride is a fun way to raise funds for the Amy Gillett Foundation and is a great way to warm up for a day of elite cycling action. This recreational ride is aimed at cyclists of all levels. So calling on all Ballarat and Buninyong residents… bring your mates, bring you bike and have a go.
Luke Roberts Seeks revenge
Athens Olympic Games gold medallist Luke Roberts hopes to exact revenge on the tough Mount Buninyong circuit at the Australian Open Road Cycling Championships, being held in Ballarat from 11 to 14 January 2007.
Roberts, 29, is still haunted by the memory of the 2003 Herald Sun Tour’s final day when he blew a 40-second lead on Buninyong’s unforgiving climbs.
The affable South Australian led the tour for the last five stages but succumbed to American Tim Johnson when his team disintegrated during the tour’s 82km grand finale at Buninyong.
“My team was suffering and I got hung out to dry a bit,” Roberts said.
Simon Gerrans prepares for the Championship.
Dual Herald Sun Tour winner Simon Gerrans aims to add another notch to his growing collection of triumphs by winning the Australian men’s Open Road Cycling Championship at Ballarat next month.
Gerrans, 26, believes the tough Buninyong circuit suits his racing style, even though the pain will be enormous. The popular Gerrans, winner of the 2003 Melbourne to Warrnambool Classic and a stage placegetter in last year’s Tour de France, will have six weeks’ solid training before tackling the 163km Championship.
“It would be a huge honour to be crowned the Australian Champion,” he said. “I truly believe I am capable of winning – it’s always at the back of my mind.”
Read more here: Gerrans gets ready
Australia's biggest team tackles the title.
Australia's biggest cycling team – South Australia.com/AIS – will send a powerful squad of 16 riders to the Australian open road cycling championships at Ballarat next month.The team will include Olympic track pursuit gold medallists Peter Dawson, of Western Australia, and Sydney’s Stephen Wooldridge.
Melbourne Commonwealth Games gold medallist Sean Finning and Tasmania’s 2006 Tattersall’s Cup winner Wes Sulzberger are also in the line-up. Read more on the SA.com/AIS team here.
Mt Buninyong, Ballarat, Victoria
