On the weekend a number of Mudgee Cycle Club riders travelled to the Hunter Valley for the Xstrata Cycle Classic which was two day event consisting of a Criterion on the first day and a road race on the 2nd day. Once again Mudgee had some great results with outsiders taking note of out strong presence.
Saturday 19th May – Criterion
Under 13′s
Will Toovey, with only his second race of the season, had a great result coming 2nd in his age group. He finished the 5 lap course strongly and will be one to watch in the next few years, Well done Will!!
Under 15′s
Hamish Burke and Josh Toovey raced with their Team, the Racing Kangaroos. The crit was 7 laps and the boys and their teammate went into the race with a plan. Josh boke with a Hunter Vally rider chasing. Hamish grabbed his wheel and followed. With about three laps to go and the chasing group tiring, Hamish broke away and held a good gap on the field. This put further pressure on the chasers and then the third Racing Kangaroo Nick Edwards from Penrith, bridged across to Hamish for the Kangaroos to take the first 3 places at the finish. Josh an easy win, Nick Edwards 2nd and Hamish 3rd. Josh is showing that apart from Cameron Scott, he is the next best rider in NSW in this age group. Hamish is surprising everyone with the way he is going in his first year in this age group. Most importantly, they are both learning the tactics of racing.
Under 17′s
Mudgee was represented in this race by Callum Payne. A strong field of 20 riders started the race and with no B grade it was going to be tough for Callum in the 8 lap race. The pace was on from the start and Callum did a great job in staying with the front bunch as riders were regularly dropping off the back. About halfway into the race the fast pace saw Callum finally go off the back after a great effort. He stayed in the race until the finish finishing a couple of hundred metres behind the winner. For someone who has not done a lot of criterium racing, Callum showed that he is continuing to improve every race.
Under 19′s
Ayden Toovey and Jordan Payne represented Mudgee in this race, however, these boys are racing for different teams, Ayden with the Real Aussie Kids and Jordan with the Racing Kangaroos. This race was a lot tougher being 30 minutes plus 3 laps with a very strong field as this race was the State U19 Criterium Championships. About 30 riders started the race and the pace was on from the start. Riders were dropping off from the start as a number of riders continued to try to break away only to be brought back to the field. The front group whittled down to about 15 riders with both Ayden and Jordan still in the race. Ayden broke away on a couple of occasions and it was strange to see Jordan having to chase him down for his team. It was a great race to watch with both boys doing a lot of work for their team mates. With a lap to go Jordan went back on the front to set up the lead out for one of his team mates. The lead out went well with the Racing Kangaroos Jack McCulloch coming through for the win. Ayden came through for about 6th place with one of his team mates coming third. A really good race for both boys who are really showing that even though they are first year 19′s they are both well and truly up there with the best in this age group.
Mens Div 3:
Burkey and myself raced in this one with Burkey showing good early season form having won a couple of races in Bathurst already. This style of racing suits Burkey’s strong riding style and also his sprinting ability. For me it was about hanging on. A good hard race over 15 laps started with 32 riders which gradually came down to about 15 finishes. Burkey did a lot of chasing during the race and was in the sprint to gain 6th place. His workload during the race probably impacted on his final sprint. Yours truly finished in the front bunch to get 13th place. For me that’s as good as winning.
SUNDAY ROAD RACE:
Callum, Josh, Hamish, Burkey and myself started the 60km race which was 3 laps of a 20km circuit. All had hopes of staying with the front bunch. The race started hard to get rid of some hanger ons and then settled down to see all the Mudgee riders in the front bunch. Unfortunately Hamish dropped his chain after about 10km and wrapped it around his crank arm pulling it out of the rear derailleur. I was behind him so pulled over to help fix his bike which took some time. Race over for two of us but we were now able to watch the other Mudgee guys. At the end of the first lap there was a crash. Burkey not knowing what had happed to Hamish earlier, pulled over to see if he had been in the crash. Burkey now out of the race and joing the spectators. Callum and Josh then both rode a great race to finish in the front bunch. With about a kilometre to go a couple of riders broke away to fight for the win.
Ayden and Jordan were both in the 100km event (5 laps) which had a couple of very strong teams participating (WAKI, Racing Kangaroos, Real Aussie Kids and a number of others). The field broke up early with the strong riders and their teams going to the front. After about 2 laps a group of 6 riders managed to get away with most of the teams having a rider in the break. The break got about a 2 minute lead on the chasing peloton with about 1 lap to go. Racing Kangaroos then decided to chase but left their run too late with the break away winning the day. Ayden and Jordan both finishing in the peloton with an average speed of 41km/h for 100km. Great effort boys.
Great weekend of racing with the weather (22 degrees) being a bonus.
Next race is Goulburn Junior Tour this weekend.