By Rob Monk
Warragul cyclists traveled to Kingston, near Ballarat this weekend for race one of the Victorian Road series.
Brett KENNEDY was the protected rider in B Grade Masters. He managed to stay with the field the whole race despite a nasty 1.7 km climb in the second half of the circuit. The 100 km race was decided when three riders Broke away with 4 km to go. KENNEDY put all his eggs in the sprint basket but unfortunately the race did not come back together. He finished a creditable fifth as the breakaway was not caught.
There were 9 Gippsland riders in the field of 50 in C grade masters section They were also doing three laps of the 33 km circuit. Jim Timmer Arrands took off after 20 km of racing and rode solo about a minute in front of the bunch for the next 70 km. This allowed his Drouin cycles teammates to sit in the bunch and not put their noses in the wind. Glen Walker stayed near the front being a pest to any attempts to organize a chase of big Jim. The final time up the climb Warragul heavyweights Rob Monk and Aaron Nash were dropped from the bunch. They chased back within 100 m of the lead bunch but that was as close as they got. Peter MACDONALD attacked with 4 km to go. He was joined by two other riders. With 1 km to go it looked like they would stay away. The strong man in the bunch got working and McDonald’s group was caught within sight of the finish. Then, out of the pack, shot George Tambassis. He launched his sprint early on the right and immediately gapped the field. George went on to take victory by 20 m In a dominant display of sprinting. Jason FRITZLAFF was best of the rest finishing second with other Gippsland riders finishing in the top 10. Glenn MARRIOTT was fourth Peter MACDONALD was 6/6 and Tom read finish Eighth.
Five of the top 10 positions were Warragul riders.
Warragul riders JAKE HALLYBURTON and Conner Bagget raised in the B grade open section in the afternoon. By now the wind was getting up and conditions were very different to the morning. Both Warragul riders finished with the main bunch in a creditable 14th and 16th positions in their first their first VRS the B grade race.
