Girraween Open Criterium

The Sunshine Coast Cycling Club hosted the inaugural Girraween Open Criterium over the newly constructed cycling facility near Noosa. The circuit was a great race track, with some elevation changes and good facilities, so the racing was going to be hard.

Women's Race
The girls were first to race, and the rain stopped just in time to allow a dry race. The girl to beat was always going to be Shara Gillow (Orica - Greenedge), who was clearly in good form. From the gun, Shara hit the bunch with a huge attack and was straight away off the front solo. As such, the girls had to chase. All the team worked well to maintain the gap to something manageable, but due to the tough climb and wind, the going was hard.

The hard conditions allowed Shara to build her lead. Meanwhile, Lou Betts was able to break away in pursuit with another girl, but Gillow was too strong and was never to be caught. Lou held on to get third place.

A Grade Race
The men's race started off with a bang, as new recruit Graeme Rose attacked from the gun. This aggressive start cause major stress in the bunch, with riders struggling. As Graeme was caught Jimmy Miller then had a go off the front and spent some time solo. As the other teams chased him back, Matt then also counter attacked, but wasn't let go for long.

The race settled into a rhythm for a while, until the attacks began again, which saw a group of three sneak away. Matt and Graeme chased, but weren't able to get across and had to settle for a place in the bunch.