15/01/2005
The morning rain threatened to dampen proceedings at the Burke St Criterium races on Saturday. But as the moisture on the circuit evaporated so did the chance of an easy ride in A-Grade when John McKenzie zipped on the lycra.
Fresh from his excellent second place in the Victorian U17 crit title race young James Henry attacked the big guns early. Restricted to junior gearing it proved his undoing for when the bunch countered, James lost touch along with Steve Twining.
With some half-hearted attacks from John, the pace was hot but it took a jump from Scott Keeble along the home straight to really get the rest into the red zone. Many tried but none could escape and so it came down to a final sprint. Matt Malacarne hit hard with Phil on his wheel while Steve Sandner again looked to have what it takes. But it was Scott Keeble who turned the tide on last weeks result and drove it home to finish in true style.
B-Grade kicked things off with a few sharp 4:30 laps. Chris Beales did the early attacking launching off the front in an attempt to draw a companion out with him to assist. Leongatha cyclist Nick Aitken was happy to oblige and made his move on the home straight in an effort to bridge
The bunch saw the two man break as a potentially winning combination and weren’t prepared to let them get away. With words of encouragement from Pete Bailey, a couple of tail sitters did some work and the two escapees were eventually caught.
The race went as flat as Brett Miller’s front tyre while some steady laps were taken to fill in the time. With no one showing enough to get away it was clear things would turn into a sprint.
More flats to Brett Rollinson and Trent Brown disturbed their races just prior to the bell. Trent took one lap out ending his chances for a sprint while Brett changed the wheel at his conveniently located home, chased hard and made his way back just in time for the sprint.
With a smashing win last week Brett Miller was a highly coveted wind break. While the others faded, big Brett hit hard and led Justen O’Connor to the line for a victory. Brett finished second and the gutsy Pete finished third.
In C-Grade a small but committed group put in some hard yards. Clocking consistently around the five minute mark they worked together until Daniel de Blauw had to withdraw with bike trouble. Paul Yeatman was again able to serve it up for the sprint and delivered another victory with Michael and Roger rounding it out.
With the return of Helmut Korab, the bigger D-Grade bunch turned up the heat from lap one. Clocking C-Grade times, Helmut, Brenton Jones and father Chris tore up the circuit to leave the chasing bunch behind. Geoff, Noel and Brendan couldn’t find the legs to bridge while Dani was a little tired from the win the week before.
Thinking they would be able to hitch a ride on the passing B-Grade bunch the chasers were disappointed when this group slowed prior to a launch up the hill.
In the end two stayed away and it was Brenton who would hold off Helmut in the final sprint while Noel, Geoff, Brendan and Dani finished off a tough ride.
The club would like to congratulate both Monique Hanley and James Henry who shared recent success at state title races within the past week. Monique finished an awesome third in the track pursuit while James just got pipped on the line in the U17 crit champs. It is hoped everyone will get out and support them as they tear up the track at the WCC carnival in two weeks time.
