Footscray CC VUT Criteriums – 4 February 2012

By Footscray Cycling Club

A strong field of riders ventured out to the V.U.T. circuit in Hoppers Crossing to contest the Footscray Cycling Club’s Eric Turner Memorial Club Criterium Championships, and spectators weren’t disappointed as A-Grade’s race looked like it would be a ripper from the start; the field brimming with talented riders including defending champ Steve Pilson, gun sprinter Dom Dudkiewicz, previous champ Graham Carlson and a host of talented younger riders keen to earn a place in FCC history, but a boilover saw the favourites frustratingly miss the winning break. Danny Bellis, Ben O’Leary, Darren Henneken, Miles DaCosta and Josh Zammit formed this break immediately, and over the course of the next 10 minutes Steve Antonello, Chris Zucchet and eventual winner Stuart Morgan managed to bridge the gap. By the middle of the race, O’Leary was the only original member of the break to survive, with Antonello, Zucchet and 41 year old Rosanna resident Morgan. ‘The bunch were having trouble pulling the break back so when the opportunity presented itself to bridge across I took a chance.’ Once the foursome had established a half lap lead, the dispirited bunch containing the pre-race favourites lost momentum and it was clear that one of the breakaway four would be the next Club Champion. Going into the last corner, Zucchet lost control of his bike and crashed, with Antonello taking evasive action through the trees, which left Morgan in the box seat. ‘Chris washed himself off and took another guy off as well so it was just Ben and I knew I had to go with the tailwind and come into the straight first wheel’ , Morgan crossed just clear of O’Leary, with Antonello managing to get back on the track and keep third. In his acceptance speech, Morgan generously paid tribute to the Club volunteers: ‘I wanted to acknowledge the great work that happens behind the scenes at Footscray; guys who put in so much time. Racing doesn’t happen by default; it only happens because of enthusiastic people and It’s meaningful to be part of a club that has that level of enthusiasm; I’ve been to a lot of clubs both here and interstate and none are run as well as this one.’ Speaking about how he felt in becoming the Club Champion and wearing the coveted No 1 for the next year, Sports Scientist Morgan summed it up simply; ‘Surprised! I haven’t had a win for over a year; I’ve had some patchy form over the last 6 months and I had put that down to being 41 and started to resign myself to not winning too many races in the future.’

In B-Grade, 47 year old Teacher and perennial bridesmaid Mark Micallef managed to hold off gun sprinters Colin Morris and Delphine Astier to take home the B-Grade medallion. A large field of quality riders set out in the heat to test each other by launching a series of attacks; the early pace seeing several riders dropped early on. Ryan Kenny got everyone’s attention by launching several attacks and attempted to pummel the bunch into submission, but whilst he landed quite a few blows he couldn’t quite deliver the knockout punch, as there were many riders willing to chase down any aggressors. With the bunch weathering all attacks and remaining intact towards the end, it would come down to a bunch sprint, and Micallef knew the wheel to be on. ‘I moved forward with about 10 minutes to go and sat on Ryan’s wheel as he looked so strong; I figured he would break away with 3 laps to go and I could follow. He tried, but after all that effort there they were, right in behind. Ryan just kept the pressure up and stayed on the front driving away, which meant that the bunch were under pressure and strung out and that was perfect for me; it was like a Renshaw lead out. When we reached the straight I just kicked past Ryan and went with all my might and was determined not to get rolled by anyone. After 3 second places it was nice to take the win.’

In C-Grade, 31 year old Tarneit resident Andrew Schieseck weathered a tough race and a mass bunch sprint to take the medallion. ‘It was a hard race from the start; it was a high, consistent pace and the conditions hot, so I positioned myself near the front and waited for the sprint at the end.’ Schieseck managed to hold out promising 16 year old Stephen Liley and was ecstatic with his win. ‘I only started riding a few years ago and now I’m hooked!’; D-Grade’s race was taken out by newcomer Glen Detering, who only started racing with the club a few months ago; Detering holding off Tim Marcus and veteran Glenn Wilkins.

A: 1st Stuart Morgan, 2nd Ben O’Leary, 3rd Steven Antonello, 4th Matt Heath & 5th Shaun Gatter.

B: 1st Mark Micallef, 2nd Colin Morris, 3rd Delphine Astier, 4th Trevor Perry & 5th Darren Payne.

C: 1st Andrew Schieseck, 2nd Stephen Liley, 3rd Ian Duffin, 4th Paul Farrugia, & 5th Joe Caruana.

D: 1st Glen Detering, 2nd Tim Marcus, 3rd Glenn Wilkins, 4th Robert Stonehouse & 5th Graeme Wilson