Aussies sweep Hell of Marianas

The Australians reigned supreme in last Saturday’s 5th Hell of Marianas Century Cycle Race.

John Anderson dominated the men’s field of the 100-kilometer race with a record-time of two hours, 57 seconds, and 47.09 seconds, while fellow Aussie Jodie Willet topped the women’s division after clocking in at 3:16:15.72.

Anderson was the first Hell of Marianas participant to finish the century race under the three-hour mark and his time eclipsed the 2008 record of Saipan’s Eli Torgeson (3:02.22.62). The 24-year-old pro pulled away from the pack on the way up to Radar Station in As Matuis and made it to the finish line in San Antonio more than three minutes ahead of runner-up Kinji Hashimoto of Japan (3:00:59.18) and seven minutes earlier than 2010 champion Joon Yong Seo of Korea (3:05:42)

The Top 3 finishers in the men’s field were in the company of Russia’s Konstantin Fast and Danila Komkov, Australia’s Matthew Wood and Willett, and a couple of Korean bikers on the way up to San Vicente, Papago, and Kagman.

Then Anderson managed to take about four minutes of lead on the way to Kingfisher when majority of the main pack made a wrong turn to Sta. Lourdes.

“I also had a wrong turn, but after only a few seconds, I turned back and headed to the main road,” said Anderson, who padded his lead on the way up to the 50-km mark at Radar Station.

Anderson was already heading to Banzai Cliff after completing the Grotto turn when he crossed path with this two closest pursuers—Seo and Jung Hwan Youm, who just came back from Suicide Cliff. From there, going down the course back to the starting line in San Antonio via Beach Road was cruise control for the Australian, who was thankful for the good weather on race day.

“I am from Queensland and use to racing in heat. But I was told it was hotter here so I was kind of worried at the start of the race. I was thankful it was a bid cloudy during the race and a few minutes of rain was a relief,” said Anderson, who pedaled down Marpi to San Roque in rain.
[B] Wrong turn, crashes, flat tires[/B]

With Fast and Komkov joining a small group of riders making a turn at Sta. Lourdes instead at Kingfisher, the two Russians dropped to fifth and sixth overall, with times of 3:08:44.78 and 3:11:31.25.

Wood took the cue from Anderson and turned back quickly to the main road en route to Kingfisher, but two crashes at Suicide Cliff slowed him down. Several other riders also had crashes on the way to Papago and Suicide Cliff.

Before the wrong turn, Komkov also had a flat tire in the first 25-kilometer of the race and had to stop at Mobil station in Kagman to replace his front tire.

Saipan bet Mieko Carey was a victim of tire problems too. In Papago, she had a flat tire and then at Laolao, the front tire exploded. He had to wait for a ride from Laolao to Mobil Kagman and was forced to borrow a bike. Carey still made it to the finish line before the four-hour mark in her loaned bike, but told organizers she was disqualified for riding on a car from Laolao to Mobil Kagman.

With Carey’s finish void, Russia’s Natalia Zakharova (3:43:52.91) and Japan’s Asumi Nozawa (4:38:44.50) joined Willet in the Top 3.

“Although I had a crash-free ride, the course was still tough. Before the race, I told Kieran Daly (former PIC general manager) that I could ride the course twice, make it a 200-kilometer race. Now, I take it back. It was tough, the road uphill was slippery,” Willet said.

Willet’s time surpassed the 2010 record of (3:28:05) Carey and was just about three minutes behind the women’s record of 3:13:20 posted by Australia’s Amber Halliday in 2009.