ID :
40074
Sun, 01/11/2009 - 20:15
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://oananews.org//node/40074
The shortlink copeid
McDonald stuns at Aussie road champs
Until Sunday at the Australian Open road cycling championships, ProTour cyclists Michael Rogers and Adam Hansen knew next to nothing about Peter McDonald.
Now they ruefully wish it had stayed that way.
McDonald, a 30-year-old bike mechanic from the Sydney suburb of Randwick, produced the ride of his life to win the elite men's national title in a massive upset.
The draining 163.2km race at Buninyong, near Ballarat, came down to a three-man sprint between McDonald - David - and his two Goliath opponents.
As Rogers later noted, in 99 out of 100 professional road races, he or Hansen would have won.
Not only are they much better-credentialled, but Rogers and Hansen are team-mates at highly-rated outfit Columbia-HighRoad, so this was definitely two against one.
The key was that he and Hansen are time-trial specialists, whereas McDonald had a better finishing sprint.
"It's the biggest win (of my career) so far by a mile," said McDonald, who rides for the Drapace-Porsche team.
"When Adam came across, it changed everything - I thought 'aw, there's no way now'.
"Two guys who race full-time for one of the biggest teams in the world, it's amazing that I got across the line ahead of them."
At the last of 16 laps on the testing 10km circuit, Rogers had a 34-second lead on a chase group of six.
First McDonald, then Hansen bridged the gap to set up a great end to an intriguing bike race.
The intrigue continued afterwards, with McDonald surprisingly passing up his opportunity to ride at next week's prestige Tour Down Under.
If the winner of the Australian title does not have a Tour start, he is offered a spot on the composite UniSA national team.
But McDonald will instead honour his commitment to ride for Drapac-Porsche at the Tour of Wellington in New Zealand.
So Matt Wilson, who was fifth, will gain the Tour Down Under slot.
The UniSA start was created after the controversy involving another Drapac rider, Darren Lapthorne, who won the national title two years ago and did not have a Tour Down Under ride.
Lapthorne's win was also an upset and Drapac now have another unlikely national title.
They are a continental team, two levels below ProTour status.
Drapac compete in Europe, but McDonald still works as a mechanic to supplement his income.
"We're only a little team, but we can do big things," he said proudly.
Hansen, on the other hand, was probably only half-joking when he said he wanted to give Columbia director Allan Peiper a wide berth.
Peiper was at the race and Hansen was not looking forward to their race de-brief.
"When I came up to Mick, I thought 'yep, we've got this'," Hansen said.
"I know he (Peiper) has got an earlier flight and I don't want to see him, to be honest."
Riders set a searing pace throughout, with an early breakaway of six leading at one stage by five minutes, and only 45 out of the 132 starters finished.
Now they ruefully wish it had stayed that way.
McDonald, a 30-year-old bike mechanic from the Sydney suburb of Randwick, produced the ride of his life to win the elite men's national title in a massive upset.
The draining 163.2km race at Buninyong, near Ballarat, came down to a three-man sprint between McDonald - David - and his two Goliath opponents.
As Rogers later noted, in 99 out of 100 professional road races, he or Hansen would have won.
Not only are they much better-credentialled, but Rogers and Hansen are team-mates at highly-rated outfit Columbia-HighRoad, so this was definitely two against one.
The key was that he and Hansen are time-trial specialists, whereas McDonald had a better finishing sprint.
"It's the biggest win (of my career) so far by a mile," said McDonald, who rides for the Drapace-Porsche team.
"When Adam came across, it changed everything - I thought 'aw, there's no way now'.
"Two guys who race full-time for one of the biggest teams in the world, it's amazing that I got across the line ahead of them."
At the last of 16 laps on the testing 10km circuit, Rogers had a 34-second lead on a chase group of six.
First McDonald, then Hansen bridged the gap to set up a great end to an intriguing bike race.
The intrigue continued afterwards, with McDonald surprisingly passing up his opportunity to ride at next week's prestige Tour Down Under.
If the winner of the Australian title does not have a Tour start, he is offered a spot on the composite UniSA national team.
But McDonald will instead honour his commitment to ride for Drapac-Porsche at the Tour of Wellington in New Zealand.
So Matt Wilson, who was fifth, will gain the Tour Down Under slot.
The UniSA start was created after the controversy involving another Drapac rider, Darren Lapthorne, who won the national title two years ago and did not have a Tour Down Under ride.
Lapthorne's win was also an upset and Drapac now have another unlikely national title.
They are a continental team, two levels below ProTour status.
Drapac compete in Europe, but McDonald still works as a mechanic to supplement his income.
"We're only a little team, but we can do big things," he said proudly.
Hansen, on the other hand, was probably only half-joking when he said he wanted to give Columbia director Allan Peiper a wide berth.
Peiper was at the race and Hansen was not looking forward to their race de-brief.
"When I came up to Mick, I thought 'yep, we've got this'," Hansen said.
"I know he (Peiper) has got an earlier flight and I don't want to see him, to be honest."
Riders set a searing pace throughout, with an early breakaway of six leading at one stage by five minutes, and only 45 out of the 132 starters finished.
