AORC, and the winner is ....

Bleve said:

Not allowed to wear the Aust Champs jersey! *what*?!

Will Walker, despite winning the AORC today, is not the AORC champion,
Russel van Hout is (who finished 3rd!). Will's 20, and therefore is
not eligable.

Good call Roo, you were right about him being a chance. I didn't think
he'd have it, but he did.

180 starters... and only 21 finished the race!? damn!...

cheers,
GPL

Cycling winner denied champion status
http://theage.com.au/news/Sport/Cycling-winner-denied-champion-status/2006/01/14/1137119000798.html
January 14, 2006 - 5:14PM

The Australian road cycling championships ended in confusion and controversy when men's road race winner Will Walker was denied the coveted national jersey.

The 20-year-old rising star from Melbourne was shattered when he learnt soon after his win that he would be awarded the under-23 jersey, but not the open jersey.

It was a bizarre sight at the awards podium where Walker and third-placed Russell Van Hout, the top-placed open competitor, were standing next to each other wearing near-identical national champion jerseys.

Straight after the finish Walker's reaction was: "It feels pretty good being a 20-year-old national champion."

When the jersey situation was explained to him, his mood changed dramatically.

"That's ruined my day then, that's a bit disappointing, I can't really understand those rules, but I guess that's life," he said.

Later he added: "We race against the pros, we should be able to wear a pro jersey, it seems ridiculous that they can't do it - they should change it."

Walker's long-time coach Dave Sanders pointed out the absurdity of the situation.

"Jan Ullrich was under-23 when he won the Tour de France (1997), let's get real," he said.

Cycling Australia (CA) wanted to run separate open and under-23 road races this year, but organisers were locked into one event.

The race contract is currently up for tender and from next year the two races will be separate.

Walker finished by himself, 27 seconds ahead of a seven-rider sprint, after making a solo attack over the last 15km.

Open competitor Henk Vogels crossed the line fifth and was furious when he learned that he could have still won the national jersey.

"I was not aware of that fact, what a kick in the guts," Vogels said.

Vogels was already seething because Gene Bates nearly sent him into the barriers as they sprinted to the line.

Bates, who apologised to Vogels, was relegated from fourth to eighth for irregular sprinting after protests and appeals that lasted an hour, delaying the awards ceremony.

Van Hout took third behind another under-23 rider, Tasmanian Wes Sulzberger, and was delighted to win the open jersey.

"It's big, it's huge.....all the big guys have won this," Van Hout said.

A crash at 4km into the 175.5km race also brought down more than 30 riders and dramatically changed the nature of the event.

Big guns such as Allan Davis and Luke Roberts had to pull out early with mechanical problems, while defending champion Robbie McEwen was well off his best form and did not finish.

Only 25 riders finished from a field of about 180.

The 19.5km Mt Torrens circuit was making its debut as a national championships venue.

Cycling winner denied champion status
http://theage.com.au/news/Sport/Cycling-winner-denied-champion-status/2006/01/14/1137119000798.html
January 14, 2006 - 5:14PM

The Australian road cycling championships ended in confusion and controversy when men's road race winner Will Walker was denied the coveted national jersey.

The 20-year-old rising star from Melbourne was shattered when he learnt soon after his win that he would be awarded the under-23 jersey, but not the open jersey.

It was a bizarre sight at the awards podium where Walker and third-placed Russell Van Hout, the top-placed open competitor, were standing next to each other wearing near-identical national champion jerseys.

Straight after the finish Walker's reaction was: "It feels pretty good being a 20-year-old national champion."

When the jersey situation was explained to him, his mood changed dramatically.

"That's ruined my day then, that's a bit disappointing, I can't really understand those rules, but I guess that's life," he said.

Later he added: "We race against the pros, we should be able to wear a pro jersey, it seems ridiculous that they can't do it - they should change it."

Walker's long-time coach Dave Sanders pointed out the absurdity of the situation.

"Jan Ullrich was under-23 when he won the Tour de France (1997), let's get real," he said.

Cycling Australia (CA) wanted to run separate open and under-23 road races this year, but organisers were locked into one event.

The race contract is currently up for tender and from next year the two races will be separate.

Walker finished by himself, 27 seconds ahead of a seven-rider sprint, after making a solo attack over the last 15km.

Open competitor Henk Vogels crossed the line fifth and was furious when he learned that he could have still won the national jersey.

"I was not aware of that fact, what a kick in the guts," Vogels said.

Vogels was already seething because Gene Bates nearly sent him into the barriers as they sprinted to the line.

Bates, who apologised to Vogels, was relegated from fourth to eighth for irregular sprinting after protests and appeals that lasted an hour, delaying the awards ceremony.

Van Hout took third behind another under-23 rider, Tasmanian Wes Sulzberger, and was delighted to win the open jersey.

"It's big, it's huge.....all the big guys have won this," Van Hout said.

A crash at 4km into the 175.5km race also brought down more than 30 riders and dramatically changed the nature of the event.

Big guns such as Allan Davis and Luke Roberts had to pull out early with mechanical problems, while defending champion Robbie McEwen was well off his best form and did not finish.

Only 25 riders finished from a field of about 180.

The 19.5km Mt Torrens circuit was making its debut as a national championships venue.

Bleve said:

Not allowed to wear the Aust Champs jersey! *what*?!

Will Walker, despite winning the AORC today, is not the AORC champion,
Russel van Hout is (who finished 3rd!). Will's 20, and therefore is
not eligable.

Good call Roo, you were right about him being a chance. I didn't think
he'd have it, but he did.

and I didnt place a bet either...darn it ! could've cleaned up big time 🙁

That is one of the STUPIDEST things I've heard this week. Why can't he be the national champ and the Under 23 champ if he is good enough?!?!? Absurd I say! :eek:

SuzieB said:

That is one of the STUPIDEST things I've heard this week. Why can't he
be the national champ and the Under 23 champ if he is good enough?!?!?
Absurd I say! :eek:

Beaurocraps 🙂

Robbie's comments about making the CommGames under25's only kinda makes sense now...

rooman said:

and I didnt place a bet either...darn it ! could've cleaned up big time 🙁

umm how come only 25 finished the race ?? what the race was that tough, or they just could not be stuffed finishing, when they knew they were not going to win ???? If that is the case, that is very sad.

does not surprise me at all, the under 23/open thing... this is the sort of thing that happens all the time in Australian sports doesn't it.?? stupid rules by stupid people.

"Bleve" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Not allowed to wear the Aust Champs jersey! *what*?!

Will Walker, despite winning the AORC today, is not the AORC champion,
Russel van Hout is (who finished 3rd!). Will's 20, and therefore is
not eligable.

Good call Roo, you were right about him being a chance. I didn't think
he'd have it, but he did.

He'd be feeling quite justifiably [censored], I can imagine. Weirdness.

Resound wrote -

Quoted message said:

He'd be feeling quite justifiably [censored], I can imagine. Weirdness.

The "logic" is that you can only win or place in the event you entered - if
you entered U23 then that's the best you can win - a less than perfect
arrangement but them's the rules - pity they don't make them more explicit.

best, Andrew

Resound said:

"Bleve" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Not allowed to wear the Aust Champs jersey! *what*?!

Will Walker, despite winning the AORC today, is not the AORC champion,
Russel van Hout is (who finished 3rd!). Will's 20, and therefore is
not eligable.

Good call Roo, you were right about him being a chance. I didn't think
he'd have it, but he did.

He'd be feeling quite justifiably [censored], I can imagine. Weirdness.

Even worse, imagine having to live the lie of being the "Elite Winner"
when in actual fact you only came third. It's a lose-lose situation.

"Bleve" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Not allowed to wear the Aust Champs jersey! *what*?!

Will Walker, despite winning the AORC today, is not the AORC champion,
Russel van Hout is (who finished 3rd!). Will's 20, and therefore is
not eligable.

I reckon it's [censored]. Either run them as two seperate events, or if combined
if you win outright you should win both classes. It seems many riders were
mistaken about the rules.

Adam

MikeyOz said:

umm how come only 25 finished the race ?? what the race was that tough, or they just could not be stuffed finishing, when they knew they were not going to win ???? If that is the case, that is very sad.

The reason this happened is because the peloton was pulled off the course on I think lap 8 because the leading break and chase group were deemed to be too close and possibly a chance of lapping the peloton, so the Commissaires told them to stop, and this is why the overwhelming majority did not finish.

Bleve said:

Not allowed to wear the Aust Champs jersey! *what*?!

Will Walker, despite winning the AORC today, is not the AORC champion,
Russel van Hout is (who finished 3rd!). Will's 20, and therefore is
not eligable.

Good call Roo, you were right about him being a chance. I didn't think
he'd have it, but he did.

The problem stems from the fact that Will is not a Elite level rider, ie he rides for a Division 3 team (Rabobanks feeder team) and as such is not elegible for the top level jersey, regardless of age.

As for the level of loss of riders during the race, this was down to the criteriam rule that Cycling Australia brought in after a debacle that happened at the first stage of the Tour Down Under in 2004 where the lead bunch lapped the peleton and created a whole lot of confusion. The response was that on any crit where the riders at the back are going to be caught, ie the leaders are more then 1/2 around the track ahead of the rear, then those riders must withdraw.

adam85 said:

"Bleve" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Not allowed to wear the Aust Champs jersey! *what*?!

Will Walker, despite winning the AORC today, is not the AORC champion,
Russel van Hout is (who finished 3rd!). Will's 20, and therefore is
not eligable.

I reckon it's [censored]. Either run them as two seperate events, or if combined
if you win outright you should win both classes. It seems many riders were
mistaken about the rules.

Adam

It does suck. If a junior (Well you know) wins the outright event we
wont let him keep it cos he is a junior. Hmmmmmm

Dave

On 2006-01-15, jcjordan (aka Bruce)
was almost, but not quite, entirely unlike tea:

Quoted message said:

As for the level of loss of riders during the race, this was down to
the criteriam rule that Cycling Australia brought in after a debacle
that happened at the first stage of the Tour Down Under in 2004 where
the lead bunch lapped the peleton and created a whole lot of confusion.
The response was that on any crit where the riders at the back are
going to be caught, ie the leaders are more then 1/2 around the track
ahead of the rear, then those riders must withdraw.

So what happens then, when 2 riders in a breakaway lap the field?

Mwah!

--
TimC
Jun 26 14:08:17 kernel: troll-o-meter (pid 15134) killed: memory exhausted

jcjordan said:

As for the level of loss of riders during the race, this was down to
the criteriam rule that Cycling Australia brought in after a debacle
that happened at the first stage of the Tour Down Under in 2004 where
the lead bunch lapped the peleton and created a whole lot of confusion.
The response was that on any crit where the riders at the back are
going to be caught, ie the leaders are more then 1/2 around the track
ahead of the rear, then those riders must withdraw.

The AORC was not a criterium. I haven't seen the rule though, so don't
know if it applies to long lap road races.

jcjordan said:

The problem stems from the fact that Will is not a Elite level rider, ie he rides for a Division 3 team (Rabobanks feeder team) and as such is not elegible for the top level jersey, regardless of age.

As for the level of loss of riders during the race, this was down to the criteriam rule that Cycling Australia brought in after a debacle that happened at the first stage of the Tour Down Under in 2004 where the lead bunch lapped the peleton and created a whole lot of confusion. The response was that on any crit where the riders at the back are going to be caught, ie the leaders are more then 1/2 around the track ahead of the rear, then those riders must withdraw.

Has nothing to do with what division he rides in. Plenty of seniors ride in division 3.

Bleve said:

The AORC was not a criterium. I haven't seen the rule though, so don't
know if it applies to long lap road races.

By the rules it is seen as one as the race is done on a repeated loop track