Newest Album

Tooleybuc-Manangatang (Central Murray Football League)

Tooleybuc-Manangatang (Central Murray Football League)

Date: 02/16/2010


Partners:














Affliates:

Great Deals On Cycle Clothing & Gear At Probikekit.Com

Welcome to The Licorice Gallery
The Licorice Gallery photography by freelance photographer Shane Goss. The Licorice Gallery specialises in photography of cycling events in Australia, this includes road and track events. Photography from a host of other sports are also included on this site. Images are available for purchase via our online order system. The Licorice Gallery also includes a number of interviews and stories on cycling and other sport in Australia.
 
The might of the Meyer brothers in Buninyong

Twenty year old Western Australian Travis Meyer completed a rare double on the tenth of January by winning the National Elite Mens Road Race held in Buninyong on the outskirts of Ballarat in Victoria. Meyer's older brother Cameron had won the gold medal in the elite men's time trial on the Wednesday before giving the Meyer household cause for family celebrations around the dinner table.

Image
You beauty: Travis Meyer with his gold medal in Buninyong.
The brothers have recently joined American based Pro-Tour team Garmin Transitions and would have delighted the squad's heirachy with their efforts at the championships. Twenty-one year old Cameron's gold medal was tipped early among cycling experts, however Travis's win was a suprise given the quality of the field that lined up in main street of Buninyong.

Drawcard Robbie McEwen withdrew from the race due to injury but even he rated his chances as only slim on a course that suits a reasonable climber with plenty of endurance as Mt.Buninyong chews away at riders' legs after 16 laps. Previous winners Matt Lloyd, Matt Wilson and Darren Lapthorne have all worn the green and gold jersey after breaking through the pain barrier in Buninyong and riding solo in the final laps to win.

2009 champion Peter McDonald sprung a major upset when he outsprinted HTC Columbia's Michael Rogers and Adam Hansen, reversing the trend of recent years when the aforementioned had broke clear for solo wins. In this year's race, no-one could have predicted the winning move be made on the first lap when fifteen riders formed and waved goodbye to the peloton, five of them never to see the main field again until changing into civvies after the race!

On the second lap the gap had already reached 1:50 minutes and the fifteen reduced to ten and you could be excused for thinking the leaders had committed 'hari-kuri', especially with the temperature on the road hitting the forty-degree mark!

Image
Travis Meyer (Garmin Transitions) celebrates his win on the line in Buninyong.
The lead increased lap-by-lap. When criterium champion Aaron Kemps of Fly V Australia drifted from the lead group, the gap had blown out to more than seven minutes. Punters on Mt.Buninyong were scratching their heads and wondering how serious the peloton were. Each time the lead goup went over the climb the gap stretched and it was becoming clearer that the winner was coming from the front bunch.

With around fifty kilometres remaining South Australian Jack Bobridge began what is a natural thing for this rising star - attack; trying to bridge the gap with six others including Garmin Transitions team-mate Cameron Meyer, Fly V Australia's Bernard Sulzberger and Genesys Wealth Advisers rider William Clarke.

At the same time Matt Lloyd (Lotto), Wes Sulzberger (Francais des Jeux) and another Garmin rider and previous winner Matt Wilson steered the peloton towards the leaders but it was too little too late.

In the final two laps four of the initial fifteen that broke clear on the first lap reamined. Meyer, Kemp, South Australian Russell Van Hout and local rider Damien Turner who had already sewn up the King of the Mountains jersey with some heavy work at the front.

On the final climb up the Midland Highway Meyer attacked the trio and at the top before tunring onto the road up Mt.Buninyong he passed Garmin Transitions Director Matt White. White yelled encouragement and spurred on his young charge as Meyer headed towards the gold medal.

At the finish Meyer had ample time to celebrate well before the line, in almost disbelief holding his head down the straight in-front of in excess of 10,000 fans he crossed the line 31 seconds ahead of Kemp with  a further 37 seconds back to a jubilant Turner who rode over the line like a winner. Turner has vision in his right eye only and it was one of the more gutsy efforts seen in Buninyong since the championships were held there in 2002.

But the championships belonged to the Meyer brothers who are already being touted as the new Schleck brothers from Luxemburg. Equally adept on the track the duo from the west are headed for greater things in Europe. It will be great to watch the green and gold of the Australian jersey being worn proudly on the back of another one of this country's talented young riders around the racing curcuit in Europe.

 
Sutton and Gilmore too good in Jayco Bay Classic Series.

Chris Sutton and Rochelle Gilmore won the men's and women's sections respectively of the recent Jayco Bay Classic Series held in Geelong and Melbourne. Sutton from New South Wales had missed out in October last year when he finished second to Garmin teammate Brad Wiggins in the Jayco Herald Sun Tour.

Image
Chris Sutton celebrates his series win in Williamstown.
A multiple stage winner from that race, Sutton was confident of a bold showing in what is regarded as the fastest criterium series in the world. After taking over the series leader's yellow jersey from Urban's Graeme Brown with one stage to go, Sutton, riding for the Skilled/Lowe Farms outfit needed to hold out Mazda'a Greg Henderson to win the series.

Ironically they both made the five-man break on the final day in Williamstown. But with Sutton's teammate Baden Cooke among them it was always going to be difficult for the New Zealander. The group, also containing Budget Forklift's Cameron Jennings and Drapac Porsche's Joseph Lewis ( who was later disqualified) got out to around a 42 second lead at one stage and the race was all but over.

Cooke taking out the final race before another great crowd ahead of Henderson and Sutton. Sutton winning the series by two points from his new Team Sky Racing teammate Henderson with a further four points back to Brown in third place.

Image
Rochelle Gilmore (Honda) takes out another stage of the series in Williamstown.
In the women's it was a case of Rochelle Gilmore (Honda) first and daylight second. Gilmore winning three of the four stages on offer and easily winning the series by 11 points from MB Cycles Chloe Hosking. Rising star Megan Dunn finished in third place some 17 points behind Gilmore.

Gilmore thanked her Honda Womens Cycling Team teammtes after her win in Williamstown. "There is now way i would be standing here on the victory dais without my teammates. We are a fantastic team", she said.

The series received great support from crowds in Geelong and Williamstown and marked the return to racing of Robbie McEwen after a crash in Belguim last May that put him out of racing for seven months, he finished fifth overall on the men's GC for the series.