Round Eight Recap

As we head to Murray Bridge Sunday for Round 9 of the 2017 Super Series, we look back at the scorching Round 8 at Victoria Park. The short Victoria Park criterium circuit forced fast and aggressive racing despite the hot and humid conditions.Summary – Round 8 WinnersCategory 2 Masters                   Todd Rolton (ADX DepotCategory 2 Men                         Ryan Beaumont (Individual)Category 2 Women                   Bronwyn Dolman (Port Adelaide CC Black)Category 1 Masters                   Mat Franks (Keystone Cycling)Category 1 Elite Men                Sam Welsford (Mitchelton/Scott pb CA)Category 1 Elite Women          Georgia Baker (SASI Blue)Full Results Recap  Round 8 started with the Category 2 Masters Men which saw a 1-2-3 podium for the ADX Depot team after an aggressive attack saw Todd Rolton, Nicholas Chabrel and Greg Jackson breakaway for most of the race.Rolton said there wasn’t too much in terms of tactics “Pretty much go as hard as possible, get that yellow jersey and the points”______Thirty-Five Category 2 Women took to the start line in the second race of the day with an evenly matched field. For most of the race, the bunch stayed together as a tight group with a few breakaway attempts. The rider awarded Most Aggressive, Becca Gross (Coffylosophy Cycling Team), was particularly active, with Bronwyn Dolman (Port Adelaide CC Black) and Jazz Martin (Coffylosophy Cycling Team) also being very active. In a sprint finish, Dolman finished in first place, Annoushka Sathianathan (Port Adelaide Silver CC) in second and Tessa Manning (Blackchrome Butterfields) in a hotly contested third place.When asked about team tactics Dolman said, “Tracey Green (Port Adelaide CC Black) went for a burn off the front, Lisa let me back in every time I went for a burn off the front and needed to get back in myself and everyone else sat around and did their protective work“.The win for Dolman sees her tied for second on equal overall points with Blackchrome Butterfields rider, Emily Hill. The two are only 11 points behind Series leader, Hannah Seeliger (Cycling SA State Development) with two rounds to go.______The Category 2 MenAfter a winning performance in the Team Time Trial Gravier.CC X Spin Cycle Clothing are looking to take the yellow jersey off Cycling SA State Development rider, Harry Askew. Askew has held the Category 2 Men Series lead and yellow jersey since Round 2, but consistent strong performances from Mark Sampson and Nathan Dowie (Gravier.CC X Spin Cycle Clothing) have tightened the gap on Askew’s lead. The Copper Coast Cup Moonta Criterium, saw Askew prove he could hold a solo breakaway and with a strong attempt on Sunday it wasn’t to be for the promising young rider who finished in third behind Mark Sampson in second and Ryan Beaumont in first place.______Category 1 Masters saw a six-man breakaway lead the entire race as the bunch watched from afar. Preme sprint points were awarded to Jason DeRoss (PowerOn-Resonate Accoustics) and Steve Kavanagh (Lightsview) but it was Mat Franks (Keystone Cycling) who claimed victory.Tactics for Franks were to “Try and get someone up the road we had Tom go over and then another Lightsview guy went so I went with it to even the numbers up. So we had the break and in the end Tom buried himself for me and got the win in the sprint.”______Sam Welsford (Mitchelton/Scott pb CA) and Georgia Baker (SASI Blue) emerged Category 1 winners after a hard-fought battle on the Victoria Park short criterium course.The weather didn’t stop the high speeds, with the category 1 Elite Men pushing speeds of 52 km/ph with a world class field of riders.Joshua Harrison (SASI) and Lachlan Glasspool (Cervelo – Olivers Real Food Racing) pushed hard to breakaway early but with Michelton-Scott unrepresented, the race came back together for a final bunch sprint which saw Sam Welsford cross the line first, Russel Gill (Focus Attaquer) in second and Nicholas Yallouris (Mitchelton/Scott pb CA) in third.“Tactics were to try and defend the yellow and put myself and Nick Yallouris in a position to try and hold onto our lead. We controlled the race in the back end and the boys placed me perfectly in the last lap and had a good result.” commented the Rio Olympian, Welsford.______Despite strong breakaway attempts from Ventou Cycling rider, Eloise Vaughan the Category 1 Elite Women’s race stayed together in a tight bunch, with final placings decided in a sprint finish that saw Georgia Baker (SASI) victorious.The Olympic track and Orica-Scott road cyclist, Baker comments “We all positioned really well coming into the final lap, and that was our aim for today’s race to take over the yellow jersey. Found it hard on this circuit with minimal breakaways but was still a really aggressive race. This racing will prepare us for all the races in Melbourne and the big chunk of racing coming up” Follow Cycling South Australia and the 2017 Super Series - Twitter, Facebook, Instagram / #SuperSeries17 #CyclingSA