Whitewashed at Cronulla

I must keep a tally of these fortunate riders who win their final pro races to end their careers on a fairytale high. It's very un-Australian to do it, though. Real Aussies make a duck in their last innings, like Bradman. Anyway, Whitey's done it and I missed it 'cause I had a commitment to my almost-9 year old daughter and her latest ballet performance. Such is life (another Aussie tradition, look it up.)

But my non-attendance won't stop me saying 'well done'. I've never knowingly raced or ridden with Matt White (maybe I was at the back of a training bunch once or twice) but he's been part of the local scenery for yonks. Whilst I'm impressed with Matt's career and his final win I do have to say it amuses me to see riders take out these heart-stopping finales. I always think of the tour-Tour crits and the shenanigans that go on to please the crowd (what, you mean they aren't for real?). And interestingly this was not just Matt's last win as a pro, he's also very much a local to the district. So it's a win all round. A good news story when cycling's got some much-needed but rare local commercial TV coverage. But whatever really went on during that final breakaway, the trick here is to look real. And to me, from what I did see, it was convincing.

From Cyclingnews.com: Australian Matt White (Discovery Channel) has ended his professional career on the highest of notes, taking victory at the Cronulla International Grand Prix an event staged in Sydney's Sutherland Shire, home to White and many other professional cyclists. The victory on his home's shores served to bookend White's career. The 33 year-old claimed his first major win at the Under 17 Road Team Time Trial component of the 1990 Australian Titles in Western Australia.

Cronulla capers - racing in the Shire

I've always liked Cronulla - wide streets, endless beaches... and the ferry to Bundeena. The fact that it's almost on a peninsula - surrounded on 3 sides by water - Botany Bay, Port Hacking and the Pacific Ocean - has arguably preserved its charm, high rise blemishes not withstanding. Strangely it has a heavy rail line (which replaced the old steam tram, but I guess that's another story) a bit of a luxury for such a small pocket of Sydney. It's a great place to hold a bike race. And so they did.

Now it was great to get live TV coverage - but as usual we had ill-timed ad breaks when riders went away, and when we came back to the action we got a long interview with a rugby league coach. Oh well.

Great, dominating ride by Kate Nicols to win the women's crit. As for the elite male racing, it was great to see Rabo's Brown win and Disco's White making impressive attacks... but it had a feel to it, somewhat akin to "off season" or "staged". Now it may have been absolutely legit, but firstly we saw McEwen go away in a break and then get caught (so the public got to see the road sprinter in action); followed by a successful break and a home-town win (just!) by the pro sprinter. Hmmm. Local boy Whitey was 3rd. Hmmm. Now I'm convinced the locals were indeed trying - no question about it (great rides by local crit specialists Jose Rodriguez and Peter McDonald, btw) - but the pros were taking it a bit easy, surely? I have seen similar local crit fields blown apart (and lapped) by just one pro on his "off season" break... but who would profit from seeing that under the gaze of the crowds and TV cameras? No-one one, really. The pros want to put on a show - that's their job - and don't want to crush the locals just for the sake of it. And that's exactly what we got. It was great to watch, anyway.