26/02/2006
The threatening sky over Warragul on Sunday seemed to keep many riders away from the final race of the Warragul Cycling Club summer criterium series. They stayed away for no reason though as the course was dry at the start of the race and remained that way for the entire race.
A Grade consisted of 12 riders and they were forced to deal with a fired up Shane Stiles right from the start of the race. Shane and James Henry established a 20 second lead on the bunch at the end of the first lap. They held this break until on lap 4 Shane punctured and had a lap out to fix his tire. This meant Luke Hanley, Trent Brown and Tim Lee could have a turn off the front trying to stay away from the organised chase group. Once Stiles had enough air in his tire he was on the attack again. He rode off the front of the bunch for 4 of the last 5 laps all on his own. The man is a maniac. The race came back together for the final lap and the sprinters cruised to the front for the run to the line. Scott Keeble jumped for the line 300 meters from home. James Henry was locked onto his wheel and Geoff Thomson tried to go with them. Scott still led 50 meters before the line but the slight headwind proved too much for him and James was able to come off his wheel and take out a strong win. Thommo flew home to get second and Shane Stiles still had enough energy left to take out third.
In B grade a small field meant that all eyes were on the John Salton vs Brett Miller battle. The bunch stayed together for most of the race with John, Brett and Steve Twining doing most of the pace making. The most significant spilt in the field occurred on lap 3 when Rob Monk was in trouble off the back of the bunch. Luckily for Rob the leaders were stopped by the corner marshal and he rejoined the race. In the sprint John Salton made sure he jumped for the line before Brett Miller this week. He grabbed a 3 bike length lead and held it too the line. Brett matched John’s top end speed but could make no ground on him in the sprint. Rob Monk finished third ahead of Steve Twining.
Trev Rollinson was looking to win a C grade race after two seconds and a third in the series so far. He only had Dave Axford and Paul Yeatman to beat and when Trev and Paul dropped Dave on the King Street hill with 2 laps to go his chances looked good. Trev was the bridesmaid again though as Paul Yeatman finished too strongly for him at the end of the race.
In D grade Helmet Korab Vicki Reid and Elizabeth Watson rode 8 laps in good time. Helmet was a bit strong for the girls in the final laps and won easily with Liz in second and Vicki in third.
Next week is the Warragul Track Carnival which features the Victorian Madison Championship. This is your chance to see top local and international cyclists in your own town. A night of thrills and spills is guaranteed. The junior program starts at 3.00pm with the big boys getting into action from 6.00pm onwards.
