Toowoomba Two Day Open

This years Toowoomba Two Day Open (formally the Oakey Two Day) was held at the new cycle facility at Glenvale, Toowoomba, and what an awesome venue it is for bike racing.

Criterium

Saturday was a one hour criterium, and was the first official open race of the year in Queensland. Almost 40 riders were in the A Grade event and the team was looking forward to a good result after the last few weeks of good outcomes for the team. The only concern was the weather, which did prove to impact the race.

As was expected, the first 10 minutes of the race was fast, with Aidan immediately getting into a small break. He remained aggressive early, however it was Matt who followed a counter attack, which saw a group of 6 or 7 riders establish a good gap. Matt worked hard in the group, however his lack of early season form meant he couldn't hold the pace and dropped back to the chasing group to help the chase.

It was at this point that the bad weather rolled in and a large storm brought heavy rain and strong wind, which caused many to abandon the race.

Dispite this, Condy and Andy struggled through the conditions to contest a top ten finish.
Peter Thompson won with ease.

Kermis

Sundays 90km Kermis race was what everyone was looking forward to. With a points race format, there was no doubt the pace would be high from the start. Matt and Mick Hill were both looking for the early break, and managed to sneak away on the first lap to form a 4 man break away.

The first points were decided after 8 laps and on the 7th lap, a group of 4 riders were trying to bridge across. Knowing this Matt got to the front of the break and drove the pace hard to ensure Mick was in with a chase for full points. Despite this, Mick was only able to take 2nd, with Matt 3rd in the first sprint. From that point on, the race was to become very different.

The two QAS riders that managed to bridge to the front group then attacked the breakaway and formed a large gap on the rest of the break away. At about half way, the break was caught, while the two leaders forged ahead. They were never seen again and managed to even lap the field which saw all other riders effectively out of the race.

Despite this, Condy was able to claim 6th place, while Jordan Kerby and Dave Edwards shared the prize.