ICME - Stage 3

Stage 3 started at the old telegraph station on the north side of town and was a brilliant 49km point to point race finishing in the lush surrounds of Lasseter’s Hotel and Casino. After the first day’s racing out of the way, everyone was in a little bit more subdued mood and looking forward to this classic stage. The riders were promised fresh new trails as part of this stage and were not disappointed being treated to some absolutely superb workmanship with beautiful flow.

Race start got under way at 9am and was quite mellow at first heading along the bitumen road before swinging into a sandy low lying road that started to string the group out. After a few kilometres of open 4WD track we hooked into some really smooth singletrack just before crossing the first bit of sand for the day. A few little nudges that would be best described as digs, rather than full blown attacks went off the front to shake things up, but were not sustainable or the group brought them back.

Ryan on a Dual Suspension 29er with electronic suspension

 Early on the bunch consisted of Mather, Downing, Standish, Basson, Hanson and Barnard. Mather was predominantly doing most of the pacemaking as Standish was under no obligation to do anything except follow wheels being the race leader. In the first 10km, Downing hit a rock a little hard and copped a slow leak to the back tyre. Mather was keeping it ramped up the hills and nice and smooth in the singletrack with Standish and Downing on his wheel. After being dropped a little on one short,sharp pincher, Basson and Hanson both made contact with the 3 in front.

The singletrack out here in the north east is arguably some of the best Alice Springs has on offer. It flows, is through natural terrain and is an absolute pleasure to ride. There is so much variation, that all of your skills are required to ride it. There are switchbacks, rocks, rock-walls, banked turns, loose surfaces and sand to contend with constantly.

After a couple of CO2 gassings, Downing took the medicine and stopped at the 30km feed zone to slam a tube in to sort his flat. Mather, Standish, Basson and Hanson continued on with Mather taking every opportunity when the trails went upwards to test the mettle of his competitors. Mather and Standish finally broke loose on the final climb within the last 5km and went toe to toe to the finish line with Mather taking the sprint and the prized time bonus of 20 seconds. Standish still keeps the leader’s jersey with an opportune 10 seconds time bonus to add to his lead from the previous two stages.

Chris Hanson and Paris Basson both minimized their losses after exceptional rides to finish 3rd and 4th respectively.

Ben Mather on a 29er hardtail

In the women’s race, once again it was Jo Bennett taking the win with a small margin over Imogen Smith with Jess Douglas not too far behind in 3rd place.  Jo and Imogen are now separated by less than 2 minutes which is extremely tight with 4 stages yet to race. Even closer is the men’s race with 18 seconds (discounting time bonuses) separating Ryan Standish and Ben Mather. This one has the potential to go all the way to the wire on Friday.

There will be the potential for a shake up on Wednesday with an Individual Time Trial in the morning followed by a mass start night race under lights. Ben Mather will be eager to make up time on Ryan Standish  and will use his vast experience to eek out the crucial seconds that he requires to potentially take the leader’s jersey. However, Ryan is motivated to keep the overall lead being a local and having fantastic support behind him. There is also the possibility fo shake ups occurring for the 3rd place position – with 3 riders separated by 75 seconds.

Imogen Smith will have Jo Bennett set off after her in the morning and will be working hard to try and claw back some ground being currently 2:33 down. Without a mass start it will be a true test of physiological abilities coupled with technical efficiency over a demanding, yet relatively short 23km course based at the Alice Springs golf club. Expect winning times in the sub 50 minutes for the men and the hour mark for the women for the ITT.

cheers

James