The two cyclists met six years ago in Tasmania, Australia's island state, and have trained together since.
Tucson resident Jame Carney, 41, sees great potential in Clay Murfet, the 21-year-old rider from Tasmania who has gleaned advice from the former Olympian.
So, it seemed appropriate that Murfet won the 73-mile bicycle race at the Holualoa Companies Tour of the Tucson Mountains on Sunday morning in Marana while Carney finished second, four seconds behind.
Murfet, who was 14 when he met Carney at a race in his homeland, called the outcome "perfect."
"We went into the race trying to get 1-2," said Murfet, who plans to compete at the Tour of the Gila beginning Wednesday in Silver City, N.M., among the likes of Lance Armstrong and Levi Leipheimer.
"This is good preparation for that," said Murfet, who won Sunday's race in 2 hours 45 minutes 28 seconds under clear skies with a slight wind.
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For the second-highest participation total since 1987, the event's first year, 1,160 cyclists competed in the 73-mile, 27-mile and 4-mile races and bike patrol. And $16,700 was raised for charities.
Murfet said he began to attack with about 10 miles remaining in the race that started and ended at Marana Town Hall. He created separation from Carney and two other cyclists, third-place finisher Rene Corella of Tucson and fourth-place finisher Denny Vaughan of Vail.
With about five miles remaining, Murfet took off, and no one closed the gap, Carney said.
"He was super strong and he raced smart," said Carney, who won the event last year when Murfet was second. "He made it count, and it worked out great. It's a good confidence-builder for him going into Gila."
Carney and Murfet met six years ago when Murfet was riding junior races in Tasmania. Carney trains in Tasmania in December and January every year, and Murfet trains in Tucson from March until September. Carney said he hopes Murfet can join a domestic professional team this season.
"He's getting better every year, so I'm really proud of him," Carney said.
Corella, 18, finished third in 2:45.38. Corella attends Desert View High School and has been living in Tucson for four months after moving from Hermosillo, Sonora, to train.
He hopes to participate in the world championships in October in Australia and study at Pima College in the future.
"There are a lot of cyclists," Corella said about training in Tucson. "They do more races and they support cyclists."
Nicette Quintero, 42 of Bend, Ore., was the top female finisher. A former Tucsonan, Quintero finished in 2:46.16, a course record among women. Laura McCaughey of Tasmania held the record of 2:46.48, set last year.
Quintero said she avoided a crash that wrecked more than 10 cyclists about a quarter of a mile from the finish line. Eight cyclists finished after the wreck and were treated for minor injuries.
"It seemed OK until the end, and I think people started to get a little nervous and twitchy, and some guy got a little bit out of control and took out half our pack," Quintero said. "One guy ended up in the canal. (Another guy) ended up with his bike broken in half. I managed to make it around that, so that helped."
Quintero rode in the race last year with a friend and has raced in El Tour de Tucson, but mostly she has mountain biked. She rode for the team Ride Clean.
"It's just a fun community event," she said. "You meet nice people and everybody's happy, and hopefully you don't crash."
TOUR OF THE TUCSON MOUNTAINS results
Top 10 men
1. Clay Murfet, 2:45:28 25.5, Youngtown, Tasmania
2. Jame Carney, 2:45:32, Tucson
3. Rene Corella, 2:45:38, Tucson
4. Denny Vaughan, 2:45:39, Vail
5. Jay Koesters, 2:46:08, Tucson
6. Dave Goedecke, 2:46:09, Pinetop
7. Star Stevenson, 2:46:09, Santa Rosa, Calif.
8. Raymond Rodriguez, 2:46:09, Santa Rosa, Calif.
9. Timothy Scott, 2:46:09, Sahuarita
10. David Kujawa, 2:46:09, Tucson
Top 10 women
45. Nicette Quintero, 2:46.16, Bend, Ore.
78. Judith Jenkins, 2:55:54, Tucson
81. Pat Marzi, 2:55:55, Kurtztown, Pa.
142. Kathleen Connolly, 3:12:05, Gilbert
147. Shawna Glazier, 3:12:05, Gilbert
172. Corinna Pietruszynski, 3:13:00, Tucson
173. Emily Sagar, 3:13:00, Tucson
177. Kathryn Bertine, 3:13:01, Tucson
191. Kathy Wilson, 3:19:42, Tucson
193. Veronica Gonzalez, 3:20:17, Tucson
Unofficial results from perimeterbicycling.com
