October 11, 2006 — Day four of the 2006 Jayco Herald Sun Tour produced an almost carbon copy version of the previous day, with a long breakaway dominating the action for most of the day, before a cat and mouse battle endured over the final kilometres ending with Japan’s Satoshi Hirose as Stage 4 winner

The finish had the Benalla crowd on its toes with local boy David Tanner in the leading group of four as the head of the race sped past the eventual finish line at the library with a three kilometre circuit of the town’s streets all that was left to complete the 178.4 kms of racing on the day, from Mitchelton Winery (Nagambie) to Benalla.

In the end it was perhaps only a slightly indirect line to the finish that cost Tanner a hometown victory – losing to his Japanese rival by just the width of a tyre.

“I can’t be too disappointed. I gave myself a chance and almost got there. I didn’t rate myself in a kick of 16 guys so I kept attacking until I had a smaller group around me.

“When I heard there was going to be a stage finish in Benalla I thought a lot about it – although when they put the circuit at the end it was not that favourable for me and I had to change my tactics a bit,” the 22 year old who is riding for the Australian Under 23 team, said after the finish.

For 31-year-old Hirose it was a welcome return to form having struggled for three years to recapture the form that delivered him victory in the Tour of Hokkaido in 2003.

Despite winning over 30 races in his native Japan and having taken a ninth placing in a pro stage race in France, the Japanese rider regarded today’s as his most significant win in his long career.

“I had a amateur stage win in Europe, but this is definitely my best win internationally. With two of us in the lead group, we were able to help each other, but I am happy to be the winner.”

When asked about his chances for the rest of the Tour, including tomorrow’s much awaited climb up Lake Mountain, Hirose was surprisingly upbeat, despite the reservations of his team manager about his ability on the hills,

“No problem up the mountain – at school I was a mountain biker and did not take up road racing until I was at university.

“Today gave me good motivation. I think I am finally in good condition after three years with a problem in my lower back. Training has been getting better every day.”

For Team Navigators’ lead man, Hilton Clarke it was a day of mixed emotions. Whilst he succeeded in recovering the sprinter’s green jersey from Germany’s Tobias Erler, he was bitterly disappointed with the news that younger brother Johnny had failed only in the last kilometre to emulate his own efforts of last Sunday and win a stage of the Tour.

The race for the sprint crown now looks to have boiled down to a man on man battle between Clarke and Erler. The Victorian made every effort today to push ahead taking second in both intermediate sprints but the German made his presence felt picking up third in Seymour and then getting support from his Giant Asia Racing team mate, Stephen Gallagher who nudged Clarke out in the win in Violet Town.

HealthNet’s Karl Menzies continues to maintain a lead on general classification over Erler, who reduced the gap to just four seconds after picking up a time bonus today. The Tasmanian was again prominent as the main bunch crossed the line, showing little concern about the earlier arrivals, none of whom were within range of an overall win,

“My HealthNet team mates took up the responsibility again today — just keeping the bunch where it should be. But who knows what is going to happen tomorrow.”

There was no change in the other categories with the Jayco Australian national team still with a seemingly unbeatable lead in the teams competition, and Simon Clarke (South Australia.com) maintaining the edge over Jayco rider Trent Lowe in the young rider classification, although the two locked together on the same overall time.

Tomorrow’s 183km stage is the 2006 Tour’s longest taking the 90 rider field from Benalla through sprints at Buxton and Alexandra, before the testing 22km climb to the finish at Lake Mountain.

Results

1 Satoshi Hirose (Jpn) Japanese National Team 4.19.07 (41.31 km/h)
2 David Tanner (Aus) Australian National U23 Team
3 Peter McDonald (Aus) FRF Couriers-Caravello
4 Jonathon Clarke (Aus) Southaustralia.com-AIS 0.14
5 Hossein Askari (IRI) Giant Asia Racing Team 1.19
6 Tony Mann (Aus) Australian National Team 1.21
7 Manuel Cardoso (Por) Carvalhelhos-Boavista
8 Ger Soepenberg (Ned) Dutch National Team 1.23
9 Patrick Shaw (Aus) Australian National U23 Team 1.25
10 Brandon Crichton (Can) Canadian National Team


36 Ryan Mackenzie (Can) Canadian National Team
40 Bruno Langlois (Can) Canadian National Team 9.16
45 Dominique Rollin (Can) Canadian National Team
48 Mark Walters (Can) Navigators Insurance Cycling Team
58 Eric Wolhberg (Can) Canadian National Team
86 Dustin Macburnie (Can) Canadian National Team
87 Derek McMaster (Can) Canadian National Team

GC after Stage 4

1 Karl Menzies (Aus) Health Net Presented By Maxxis 14.09.24
2 Tobias Erler (Ger) Giant Asia Racing Team 0.04
3 Dominique Rollin (Can) Canadian National Team 0.15
4 Simon Gerrans (Aus) Australian National Team 0.22
5 David McCann (Irl) Giant Asia Racing Team 0.26
6 Robert McLachlan (Aus) Drapac Porsche 0.27
7 Chris Jongewaard (Aus) Savings & Loans Cycling Team
8 Phil Zajicek (USA) Navigators Insurance Cycling Team
9 Kirk O’Bee (USA) Health Net Presented By Maxxis
10 Simon Clarke (Aus) Southaustralia.com-AIS 1.13

34 Brandon Crichton (Can) Canadian National Team 25.52
35 Mark Walters (Can) Navigators Insurance Cycling Team 28.07
39 Eric Wolhberg (Can) Canadian National Team 29.47
54 Bruno Langlois (Can) Canadian National Team 30.25
72 Derek McMaster (Can) Canadian National Team 33.23
77 Ryan Mackenzie (Can) Canadian National Team 33.58
79 Dustin Macburnie (Can) Canadian National Team