Criteriums
The A Grade race was characterised by a long break away that went from the gun. For most of the race, the break was clear of the field, gaining up to 50 seconds on the chasing pack. As the laps went by, the gap did eventually come down after being stable at 40 seconds for much of the race.
With some strong turns at the front by Michael Hill, the gaps came down further, as the team set up Dan McCulloch for a sprint.
In the finale, the break was caught, and the usual counter attacks began. However, Dan showed great patience to wait for a sprint and work to his strength. Another large break did get away in the finale, however it came back together with 250m to go. This saw a messy sprint, which caused Dan to have to interrupt his sprint. Dan managed to hold on for 7th, but if the "racing incident" hadn't occurred, Dan would certainly have made the podium.
The B grade race was a demonstration of great team work. The team worked hard towards ensuring the race was to be a sprint, so they could set up form rider Jack Richards for the sprint. All the boys covered all dangerous moves and into the finale, made sure Jack was in position for the sprint.
In the final lap, Jack was dropped off by the team onto the leadout train of a rival team, and took full advantage of this lead out.
Jack had the power to open up his sprint and hold it to the line for a great win.
Road Race
The road race the following day was highly anticipated with the team motivated by Jack's success.
The A Grade race was first off, with the boys looking to be aggressive on the selective road course.
On the first lap, a break of two riders went away and eventually established a gap of almost 3 minutes. As such, the team had to contribute to the chase to allow Matt and Ben to attack in the finale. As the gap reduced, Matt and Ben tried several times to bridge across, but the motivated peleton wouldn't let them go.
In the final 10km's, a small break bridged across to the front duo, which the team initially missed. Ben and Matt tried to get across in the dieing kilometres, but it was too late. It was good racing all the same.
The B Grade team was especially ready to go, with Justin Jelenkovic attacking early in the race. JJ gained an early lead, and was soon joined by four other riders, who set about increasing the gap to the peleton.
The break worked hard for the entire race, and was never to come close to being caught by the main group. As such, the break was able to indulge in some cat and mouse in the
finale, with JJ using some great attacking riding to get away from his breakaway companions.
JJ was strong enough to hold his lead and take a great win. JJ will now be promoted to the A grade squad. Well done!
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