19/02/1994
By Murray Fenwick
The weekend’s Gippsland Games cycling events saw a repeat performance of the last Gippsland event to be held in Warragul partly owing to the inclusion of three inform Austrian riders who increased the field sizes and the pace of the races.
The first of the two games events was a 45 minute Criterium held in the centre of Warragul. This race belonged to the Gippsland riders with pro Dave McFarlane, Aaron Nobelius and one of the Austrian trio breaking away early in the race to lap the field. Nobelius was lucky to make the move after having to chase hard to catch the two more experienced riders. However once he had rested up he stormed over the circuit leaving his fellow breakaway riders hanging on. Experience took its toll in the final lap as McFarlane took over the race over Nobelius with the Austrian third. The Sale riders claimed the first three placings in the ensuing bunch sprint with little separating the rest.
The B grade event was dominated by a determined field of Warragul riders with Paul Yeatman stealing first from Grub Melnyk. Locals Ross Henry and Kim Spunner were also right up there until near the end of the event but still rode strongly over the tough circuit.
Sunday saw the racing step up a notch with a 55km road race over the tough Burke St circuit. This race was really a race of attrition with only the first placed Austrian rider looking in any sort of good shape by the time the finish came. The big names in Dave McFarlane and Wayne Kestle pulled out as did Stuart Corkran, Trevor Fox and Have Redman.
The race became one where to finish was to achieve something as time and time again riders attacked and the bunch chased while the riders on the back suffered. Finally one of the Austrians managed to get away when no one could chase any longer. It took the remaining riders a long time to respond to the move with Chris Joustra hammering up the Burke St hill but it was to be too late. Joustra was also to suffer and was nearly caught but another of the Austrians leapt out to him before the bunch made contact and the two were able to hold the bunch off. Leongatha rider Troy Warren also tried to jump across but couldn’t and had to be content with fourth place.
Yet another Austrian finished just behind him with Sale’s Lance Hunt, Geoff Thomson, Murray Fenwick and Aaron Nobelius the last to struggle home.
Dale Grant of Warragul was the first across the line in the B grade event with Grub Melnyk again taking second with Vic Spunner third and Anthony Vogrig fourth.
The junior event was to be taken out by the winner of the Criterium a day earlier in Daniel Dilger with Scott Keeble second and Ben Flemming third. Stephen Fenwick was to roll through just after these riders. The two wins would have to place Dilger as one of Gippsland’s top junior riders and a real potential in future years to come.
