|
|
|
Latest Central Division News
|
A Grade Race Report from Wootton
|
Overall numbers were disappointing for the Manning Valley event due the cold and wet conditions. Around 50 riders braved the elements and took on the tough Wootton Way course.
In A Grade there were two NewRad teams, the Central Coast Crushers and Manning Valley. Johnathon Millington and Joshua Taylor from Active Cycles made the journey but without a third team rider chose to ride B Grade instead. It might have been better for them to form a HDCC team by joining forces with one or two B grade riders because they absolutely blitzed the B Grade race.
The first 10km saw the bunch settle into a rhythm and come to grips with the wet roads. After a couple of little surges Elliot Stephens from the Central Coast Crushers turned up the heat from the 15km mark. Elliot's brutal dig showed many the back door and over the next few kilometers the peleton was whittled down rider by rider.
On the climb Pete Wickham came to the front and helped Elliot inflict even more pain. This move was enough to break the bunch in a big way, leaving only 4 of the original 25 riders out in front. So at the 20km mark it was Elliot Stephens, Peter Wickham and Mick Curran from the Central Coast Crushers alongside Dean Megahey from NewRad Team 2.
Over the next 30km the 4 man break worked hard to establish a 4 minute gap over the rest of the field. In the meantime Johnathon Millington and Joshua Taylor who started 2 minutes behind in B grade had caught the A Grade bunch!
With 4km to go Elliot hit out again only to have Dean Megahey close the gap. A short time later Peter Wickham attacked, agin shut down by Dean Megahey. With only 2km to go Elliot put in another surge but Dean closed it down once again. It was clear that Dean was on a watching brief, simply covering any moves and making sure he stayed in touch. But so was Mick Curran who, like Dean, hadn't overextended himself.
In the final 500m Dean opened it up and broke Elliot and Peter. Mick Curran had his wheel but was out-ridden in the final uphill finish. Mick offered no excuses, saying Dean was just too strong on the day. Elliot rolled in 3rd and Pete Wickham 4th after a very hard race.
So NewRad Team 2 picked up another 15 points to put them 9 points clear of the Crushers on the table. With 2nd, 3rd and 4th places the Crushers snared a massive 18 points and leapfrogged Manning Valley and NewRad Team 1 to sit comfortably in second position heading into the final round at Calga. |
|
|
<< Back to News Index
The Australian start site for Cyclists
|
|
