Memorial Txuma 1.2 Under 23 Bulbao, Spain 172km

(21 May, 2006) Yesterday five members of the South Australia.com AIS team raced in Bulbao in the lead up to the Vuelta Navarra. They were Matt Goss, Simon Clarke, Jonny Clarke, Wes Sulzberger and Shaun Higgerson.

The hammer went down early on the tough circuit and in the first 70 kilometres the field was split to pieces. With 80 kilometress remaining, Russian Olympic Gold Medalist, Mikael Ignatiev, attacked the front group and was never caught. We had Jonny, Simon and Shaun in the chase group of six behind the lone leader. In the sprint to the line Simon was fourth, Shaun sixth and Johnny seventh. The team won the Best Team Classification. The Vuelta Navarra starts tomorrow in Pamplona.