19/05/2013

By Rob Monk

Warragul Cyclists made the long trip to Harcourt to contest the Victorian Country Road Championships on Sunday.

The main prize on offer was the Elite Men’s Title and it was Warragul’s Brenton Jones who took the prize. A dangerous two man break got away from the field of fourty riders near the end of the race and Brenton rode solo across to them then showed them how to sprint taking a well earned Gold Medal.

In the under 19 boys race Warragul riders Cy Monk and Jayden Manintveld did well to stay with the field that included state and national champions. Cy finished 4th and Jayden finished 5th.

In the Masters divisions Michelle Scurr rode well to take gold in the Women’s Masters 2 Category. Rob Monk won Bronze in the Masters 4 Men’s division.

Next week is the Warragul Club Championship Race on Saturday at Lardner Park and the Gippsland Road Championships at Willow Grove on Sunday.  A number of our masters riders will be participating in round 2 of the State Time Trial series in Geelong on Saturday.  Good luck to all.

Back to race list.

Tags: championships, scratch

A short highlight segment for this year’s Mt. Baw Baw Alpine Resort Classic is now avaialble on the SBS website.  View it at the following link.

04/05/2013

By Rob Monk

Warragul and Latrobe City Cycling Club combined for a race at Willow Grove on Saturday. Forty nine riders turned out in great conditions.

A grade had the largest field of the day with 14 starters. The race was delayed as a replacement bike arrived for Brenton Jones as he stripped one on his cranks on his ride to the race. The rest of the field should have started without him. Jones was too good in the sprint and took the money in a tight contest. 1st Brenton Jones (WCC), 2nd Will Livesay, 3rd Darren Spiteri (LCCC)

B Grade had 10 starters and Paul Yeatman was on a mission from the start taking off down the hill. Yeatman is obsessed with training data and his TSB number was perfect. If he raced so his heart rate and power output were within his acceptable tolerances he would win. Even after setting the pace for nearly the entire length of Old Sale Road on lap 2, after being dropped on the hills after Tanjil South on lap 2 and chasing down a late break by Rolan Elison, he did.  Rob Monk lead the charge up the last hill and over the top, Peter Whelan intiated an early sprint and seeing a gap on the inside with 400m to go, Yeatman took off to win by 5 lengths. 1st Paul Yeatman, 2nd Pete Finlayson, 3rd George Tambassis.

The 10 starters in C grade stayed together well for their one lap. Col Brown is in a rare vein of form and took the win again. It was a combine so Col has still not won a WCC C grade race. 1st Colin Brown, 2nd Graeme Patrick, 3rd Bruce Staben.

D grade had five starters and the girls sat on Col Manintveld for most of the race then sprinted by in in the finish. 1st Lou Clark, 2nd Michele Scurr, 3rd Colin Manintveld.

Racing returns to Shady Creek next Saturday at 2.00pm.

Back to race list.

Tags: combine, latrobe city cc, scratch, willow grove

27/04/2013

By Rob Monk

Warragul Cycling Club riders dominated the ANZAC day Autumn Classic, the Stratford to Bairnsdale race. A big field of 58 riders from all over Gippsland contested the race. Warragul Riders took the win in 3 out of the 4 grades.

In A grade Warragul Riders filled the entire Podium. A break formed early in the race featuring Warragul Trio, Brenton Jones, Cy Monk and Jayden Manintveld. With them were Tom Deller from Bairnsdale, Craig Kean and Chris Webb from Wellington and Brett Van Berkel from Latrobe Valley. This group took time out the large chasing field. Cy launched a few attacks near the finish but Jones was able to shut them down each time. In the sprint BJ was too strong. Cy was second with Jayden in third.

In B grade Warragul riders Rob Monk, Pete Whelan and Matt Parkinson were in the winning break of 8 riders who got away on the hills mid race. Monk and Whelan lost contact in the run to the finish and Parkinson was just passed near the line when he led out the final sprint. He finished third.

Col Brown took out C grade by nearly 5 minutes in a very strong ride. Roger Bell won the bunch sprint for second from Shane Wakker.

Ben Stein was too strong for the D graders in the bunch sprint and also took the win. Viki Bell was the first female finisher in D grade.

Thirty five riders turned out for the club race on Saturday. A grade was strengthened by the arrival of 5 riders from the Zoom Video team. Team leader Nick Young showed the locals how to ride a breakaway. He took off on Sturs Rd on lap 3 and soloed for a lap and a half to take the win. Jayden Manintveld is getting stronger each race and finished second from an exhausted Graeme Parker.

A field of 13 contested B Grade. Jason Dastey and Pete Whelan escaped for nearly all of lap one before being reeled in. Jayman Prestidge was allowed to dangle off the front and tire himself out on lap two. The crucial break of the race happed in lap 3 when Pete Finlayson and Jason Dastey got away on the hill. Ross Henry and Stuart Battly did the initial chasing but could reel them back in. Rob Monk tried to get some organisation in the bunch in the finishing straight and managed to get Roland Elstrom, Pete Whelan and George Tambassis to do a few turns. With 3k to go Dastey and Finlayson were within sight. After some subtle encouragement Jayman Prestidge tried to jump over the gap towing most of the field with him. Whelan crossed the gap then Rob Monk bridged using George Tambassis up in the process. Monk went past the leaders with 400meters to go and looked good until he blew up completely. Dastey still had enough left to sprint over the top to take a well-deserved win. Monk was second with Finlayson third. Then followed Pete Whelan and Ross Henry.

The C grade bunch stayed together for most of the race. Only Mick Blackwood and Andrew Gordon were dropped. Roger Bell decided to see who could sprint from 500 meters out. He strung out the field and the experienced Ray Rhodes was the only rider to time his run to the line perfectly. He wove his way through the tiring riders passing all just in time to take the victory. The consistent Bruce Staben was second, James Blyth third, Roger Bell forth and Col Brown Fifth.

D Grade did 2 laps and Rob Waddel won again earning promotion to C grade. Lou Clark was second, Pete O’Donnel third and Sue Elsdon fourth. In E grade Fran Bensted took the win from Adele Whelan.

Back to race list.

Tags: scratch, shady creek

20/04/2013

By Rob Monk

A disappointing showing of only 25 riders turned out for scratch races at Cloverlea on Saturday.

Due to the low number A and B grade were combined. They didn’t stay together long as after an initial attack by Paul Yeatman at the start, Chris Beales and Jayden Manitveld took off immediately after the first corner on lap one and were not seen again. The chase was disorganised as usual in a mixed race as the B graders wanted the A graders to do all the chasing. Graeme Parker, Col Brown and Glen Marriot did most of the work to chase the break down but had little help from the rest. Pete Finlayson tried hard to get others organised but Geoff Thompson, Rob Monk and especially George Tambassis were reluctant to go near the front. Tambassis didn’t do a single turn for the whole race.

Beales out muscled young Jayden in the run to the line to take the win. In the sprint for third Monk led out but was passed by the fresh legs of Tambassis and Thompson. Pete Bailey finished well in his comeback race. Zvonko Maric was not out of his depth in his first B grade start.

The C grade field dawdled around their four laps and were caught by D grade. New rider Georgina Beech showed the men how to do some work on the front. At the finish a close sprint was contested between Bruce Staben and James Blyth. Bruce just prevailed to bring up his first race victory. Well done Bruce. James was second with Georgina in third, Mark Oakley Browne was fouth and Roger Bell fifth.

Mick Blackwood, for the last time, told the sob story that he had not ridden for 4 weeks and wanted to be in D grade. He then proceeded to push the pace and he, Rob Waddel and Col Manintveld were on the back of C grade after one lap. Eventually C grade got a move on and left this trio of bandits behind. Col won the sprint at the end of the race to take victory from Rob with “C Grade for Ever” Blackwood in third. Michelle Scurr was fouth and Pete O’Donnell a close fifth.  Note that if you race and can sit on the grade above you, the handicapper will promote you to that grade.

Warragul’s climbing specialists headed for the Gippsland Hill Climb Championships on Sunday. The race started at Loy Yang and headed up Mt Tassie. Rob Monk, Cy Monk and Jayden Manintveld did the club proud. A race of attrition up the 9 km finishing climb saw an elite group of 5 riders left to contest the finish. Cy Monk dominated the sprint to take victory and the crown of Gippsland Hill Climb Champion. Jayden was a creditable 5th after having some mechanical difficulties in the sprint.

Next week’s race is a scratch race Shady Creek.

A number of riders will be contesting the Stratford to Bairnesdale race on ANZAC day, and a couple of our members will be racing the Tour of the South West in Warnambool next weekend.

Congratulations to Sharon Gordon, who last week ventured over to the Masters  Track Nationals in Perth and came home with a bronze in the 500m WMAS1 ITT.

Back to race list.

Tags: championships, cloverlea, scratch, velodrome

The Warragul Cycling Club is putting on a night of music and dancing at the Drouin Golf Club Function Centre on Saturday 22nd June.

As we are friendly folk, anyone can come along and enjoy the festivities.

Payment is directly to the Warragul CC and needs to be by 12th June.

What to know more?  Get in touch with Adele, Rachael Dawson or Trudy T.

See the attached flyer for full details.

Tags: committee notification