My new job has been delayed for a week and I can’t tell you how happy that makes me. I got a call this morning to go out for a ride with a few Beach Road Warriors named Gerro, Renshaw, Hunt and Henderson. And what a ride it was! In case you missed it here’s the live race report from cyclingnews:
November 10: Melbourné – Frankstoné – Melbourné Classique 91km
Complete live report
Live commentary by: Phil Liggett
7:55 AEST
Welcome to Cyclingnews’ live coverage of the 101st edition of the Melbourné – Frankstoné – Melbourné Classique.
7:56 AEST
Today’s stage takes over 90km from Melbourné to Frankstoné and then back to Melbourné. There’s only one way to describe the conditions being faced by the riders today: HOT. Well, perhaps few words: hot, with lots of traffic lights and crazy bogan drivers on their way to work. It’s gonna be EPIC!
8:01 AEST
91km to go. Two O2 riders have broken away from the peloton right after leaving Cafe Racer. Naylor (O2 Racing) and Loaksy (O2 Racing) have managed to slip away right after the neutral zone in St Kilda. The nerves are likely up and the seven lattes between them isn’t helping.
8:05 AEST
85km to go. The O2 breakaway attempt was never going to be much of a threat at this point in the race and fortunately for Cervelo and HTC-Columbia that traffic lights at Brighton have brought the peloton back together.
8:10 AEST
80km to go. Henderson and Renshaw are now up front controlling the tempo so no one can sneak away. It’s strungout at the back as car doors are flying open on the left, tradies are trying passing on the right. It’s complete and utter mayhem.
8:20 AEST
70km to go. The pace has settled in now. There’s a few attacks off the front after traffic lights but nothing is sticking. The stakes are too high this morning. No one is getting away.
8:31 AEST
61km to go. Cervelo takes to the front as the Mordi roundabout is fast approaching. Everyone knows that if there’s going to be a split in the field this is where it’ll happen. No one wants to get caught chasing back on at this critical point.
8:32 AEST
60km to go. Jez Hunt (Cervelo) attacks! He hits them hard at the Mordi roundabout as soon as a gap in the traffic opened up! The rest of the peloton is smashed to pieces in one’s and two’s trying to break their way through the chaos at the roundabout. The fans are going nuts! Horns are honking, people screaming and waving their fists in excitement! What a day for a classic such as this!
8:42 AEST
55km to go. The chase is on! Hunt (Cervelo) is alone and has dodged a red light by a sliver! The rest of the peloton is looking at each other wondering who’s going to take up the chase. Mooksy (O2 Racing) comes from behind, assumes responsibility and drives the pace up to 60km/hr. Hunt (Cervelo) is too dangerous to let slip away at this crucial moment. He’ll ride on walkways, through sandy beach, over cobbled alleyways…whatever it takes to win his first Classic.
8:51 AEST
40km to go. Tough luck for Jez (Cervelo). Caught through some tough traffic conditions leading up to Frankstoné and red lights galore. In a Classic such as this, you don’t necessarily need good luck to win, but you have to avoid the bad luck…and bad luck is what Jez (Cervelo) is encountering.
8:53 AEST
38km to go. The turn around at the BP Station is usually sacred territory. Under these blistering conditions no one can afford to miss a feed. There’s a strange lack of swanys and handlers present so riders have to fend for themselves. Renshaw is baffled doesn’t even know what to do! He has no choice but to carry on without a feed.
8:55 AEST
35km to go. Another attack off the lights! This time is Gerro (Cervelo)! There’s a bit of a headwind – will he be able to hold it!?
9:01 AEST
30km to go. Gerro (Cervelo) fades as Henderson (Columbia-HTC) and Renshaw (Columbia-HTC) work together bring him back.
9:15 AEST
19km to go. Hunt (Cervelo) leads the charge as the peloton enters the Mordi roundabout. It’s a hard left and the pack is fighting to stay together as it’s strung out for what seems like miles. It’s Cervelo and O2 Racing on the front driving the pace hard not letting anyone slip away.
9:24 AEST
12km to go. KOM up Ricketts Point is fast approaching and it’s Henderson (HTC-Columbia) and Renshaw (HTC-Columbia) who unleash a blistering attack! Loaksy (O2 Racing) and Gerro (Cervelo) jump on the back and barely say on!
9:26 AEST
11km to go. Henderson (HTC-Columbia) leading out Renshaw (HTC-Columbia) and drops him off at the start of the Ricketts Point KOM. Renshaw (HTC-Columbia) is flying! Gerro (Cervelo) and Loaksy (O2 Racing) can’t hold his wheel!
9:26:52 AEST
9km to go. Renshaw has done it! He has smashed Anna Meares’ record up Ricketts Point posting a time of 52 seconds! He’s done it! What legend!
9:28 AEST
8km to go. Renshaw is out of site! I don’t think the DS has told him where the finish line is! He is on a mission ladies and gentleman. No one in the peloton is responding to this blistering acceleration and it’s Renshaw’s race for the taking. Enough with being the lead-out man for Cavendish. This one is his! Can he hold it to Cafe Racer?
9:31 AEST
6km to go. Traffic light at Brighton – “Stopping!” A disappointed Renshaw is reeled back in and relegated to the back of the peloton.
9:37 AEST
3km to go. Traffic light at Elwood – “Stopping!”
9:38 AEST
3km to go. Gerro (Cervelo) hits them hard off the green! He has dropped a bomb on the field ladies and gentleman! The peloton has split and the elastic has snapped! It’s just up to Gerro (Cervelo) now to hold them off to the BP sprint. He’s out there alone and all he can do is suffer.
9:41 AEST
1km to go. The peloton is chasing hard and the HTC-Columbia train has taken complete control to bring back the Cervelo man in white. The pace has lifted to 65km/hr and it’s going to be a close one.
9:42 AEST
500m to go. Gerro (Cervelo) still has a 50m gap and is digging deep into that suitcase of courage! The peloton is driving hard…will he hold it!??
9:42 AEST
100m to go and Gerro has been swallowed up and spit out the back with Columbia and HTC flying straight past!
9:43 AEST
FINISH: What the…?? It’s Mooksy (O2 Racing) to crosses the line first! What an astonishing surprise victory! Columbia-HTC does all the work and Mooksy (O2 Racing) sneaks aboard the yellow train and comes up with a sensational first season win for the O2 Racing squad! He pulled a sickie from work today but as we can all see it was well worth it.
9:45 AEST
As for the preliminary stage results, it was as follows:
1. Mooksy (O2 Racing)
2. Renshaw (HTC-Columbia)
3. Henderson (HTC-Columbia)
4. Loaksy (O2 Racing)
5. Naylor (O2 Racing)
6. Gerro (Cervelo)
7. CT (O2 Racing)
9:55 AEST
Thanks for joining Cyclingnews on the Melbourné – Frankstoné – Melbourné Classique. Join us on Saturday as we present live coverage of the 1,303rd edition of the Hell Ridé. See you then!



{ 42 comments }
awesome stuff mate
Jealous. More pics!
Sorry – this was the only one I was able to take. Not bad for my old iPhone though. I didn't want to seem like too much of a dork out there ;-)
Terrific stuff!
Yes, more pics!!
Hahaha Fantastic read… Love it! :D
Hoo boy. Starting at this job is going to be like starting back at school after the best summer holidays of your life.
Great post…and I'm glad we've all got an extra week of this as well.
Terrific write up! Very entertaining.
Love it!!
Bravo!
Good stuff!
What a cracka!! Jez isn't in the final results. You didn't leave him at the comfort station at frangas did you?
Jez Hunt (Cervelo): DNF. …abandoned to go kiteboarding
;-)
You had me hunched over the desk reading, sweating….(hoping SBS were not going to a commercial break at a vital point in the race), phew…02 draw 1st Blood.
But, I feel the war has just started
Gold
I was waiting for CT to do a spectacular victory salute…
You lucky fokkin bastard! (pardon my Dutch)
Just wanted to make mention here, Stuart O'Grady was admitted to hospital today after collapsing in Spain. All the best to him.
1. Has Mooksy negotiated a new O2 Beach Rd Pro contract yet?
2. Will O2 be looking to recruit Renshaw as lead out for the Mooksy Missyle?
Woof.
Great write up mate it had me laughing, just what I needed to get through the afternoon.
Tom
So they say you're only as good as the company you keep… I guess you're ok CT :)
You lucky bugger CT! I'd love to ride with those guys although I fear I may have dropped off somewhere around 10m from the start. Great post and good luck with the new job.
yes…they were talking about this on the ride. Here's the details from ABC news:
——————————————————-
Australian cycling star Stuart O'Grady hopes to be out of hospital in the next 24 hours after collapsing at the Valencia MotoGP in Spain.
The Olympic gold medallist and Paris-Roubaix winner had just taken a hot lap of the course on the back of a modified racing bike when he passed out.
The incident happened on a Sunday at a corporate event, where O'Grady was a guest of Australian MotoGP ace Casey Stoner.
O'Grady, one of Australia's greatest cyclists, was taken to hospital and he will have an MRI scan.
As a precaution, O'Grady will also drive back to his Monaco home, rather than fly.
“He hopes to be released in the next 24 hours and he appreciates all the well-wishes,” said Cycling South Australia executive manager Max Stevens.
Well done you lucky bastard! Stuey appears to be ok! http://www.ozcycling.com/newsarticle/index.html...
Ok, now I am really jealous. I live in Italy and I never get to ride with the pros, LOL. Good on ya'.
Son of a ….!
when i grow up, I wanna be CT:-)
I grew up once and then found it wasn't all it was cracked up to be.
Pfft, more Beach Road posers in full team kit. Wait a minute….
9:15 Mordy Roundabout … 9:24 Rickets Point ——- cricky now thats quick… Are you sure Fabian Cancellara wasn't there too ???
9:15 Mordi Roundabout
9:24 Aproaching Rickets point KOM
now thats darn quick ….. Are you sure Fabian Cancellara wans't there too ???
Haha funny post
Very funny.
Those posers clearly didn't read up on how to look PRO.
No Bike brands on your kit.
Lucky they can ride PRO.
Keep it up CT
;-)
So I went for a Beach Road ride last night, dreaming of riding with the PRO's! :)
… All I got was car doors, narrow misses; chest beating drunken bogans; 'doof doof'; rat tails (I thought they were extinct); and angry/stupid motorists whom have never seen a cyclist before.
What's the deal? – All the sudden it gets hot and every ****head flocks to the beach? Can't wait for another couple of weeks till these imbeciles to move on.
And to that silly mole on the motorcycle who missed me by 1mm and forced me onto the footpath at 45k running southbound outside Black Rock Yacht Club last Saturday about 4pm …. FU!
OK, sorry I had to get that off my chest, its very uncool to vent at motorists and not the place here and using such language puts me into the 'bogan' arena as well.
PS: How long has Henderson been out here for?, reckon I rode with him last weekend?
Be careful out there. This heatwave means an early start to bogan season in Melbourne. Make no mistake, they're out there, driving all crazy and spreading broken glass in the bike lane.
Congrats Wade – not bad for a blogger from Melbourne – riding with Cav's leadout man and a multi GT stage winner!!
I used to live on Beach Rd in Sandy (in between Sandy Pub and old Red Bluff). Summer was at the same time horrible and wonderful.
Wonderful: tri, marathon road closures – to wake up to the joyful sound of hushed voices, feet stamping the road and wheels spinning.
Getting home on bike, punching out a 5-10k run, then a long swim. Then a beer. Sometimes a swim in the morning before work.
Getting up early Saturday, wacking the surfboards on the roof, grabbing a coffee in Sandy, then hoofing it down the highway to 13th.
Horrible: all the twats coming down in lowered Commodores fully sic bro! Loud noises. Burnouts up and down the road till late. Acting like absolute twits toward girls on the beach.
The +1 wanted to move to Elwood, something I had to nix. The beach there is woeful.
We settled on Hampton up Holyrood.
Beach Rd: tis a wonderful dichotomy of all the good and bad things in the world – one big melting pot
Too right JC – five of us insomniacs made an early start for Frankston this morning and part way down Nepean Highway at 5.30am with hardly another car in sight and several empty lanes to choose from a bogan with anger-management problems picked a fight with us for not being in the service road – there was a moment when we thought he was going to run us down for backchatting him.
There's something about hot weather …
………and bogans they just dont seem to mix
Too right JC – five of us insomniacs made an early start for Frankston this morning and part way down Nepean Highway at 5.30am with hardly another car in sight and several empty lanes to choose from a bogan with anger-management problems picked a fight with us for not being in the service road – there was a moment when we thought he was going to run us down for backchatting him.
There's something about hot weather …
Sounds familiar MVN,
It is likely that your bogan was on his way to work and probably still drunk from last night. When you come across a bogan in his natural habitat (i.e. Frankston) you must exercise caution. Do not react to the bogans taunts and for christ's sake do not under any circumstances make any sudden movements or the bogan will attack.
I have a strange mental image of David Attenborough standing in the bushes in Frankston with lycra on talking about the bogan's natural habitat. I need to focus on my job more!!!!
great! :)
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