Mudgee Cycle Club was represented by 11 junior riders at the Goulburn Junior Tour this year.  This is the most number of riders that Mudgee has taken to a junior tour with 5 riders making their tour debut.  On the Saturday was a Prologue (short time trial) followed by a road stage.  On Sunday was a Time Trial followed by a road stage.

Saturday brought some of the worst weather conditions seen for some time with rain, sleet and a very cold 40km/h wind.  Despite the weather every Mudgee rider raced both races on this date showing a great deal of commitment and toughness when other riders were pulling out.

Under 11:

Daniel Fileman (9 years old) making his junior tour debut showed great potential by placing 6th in the opening prologue (3km) and 7th in the Stage 2 road race.  On Sunday he was 9th in the time trial (3km) and 7th in the road race.  These results gave him a 9th placing in the overall General Classification (G.C).  Daniel loves his cycling and had a great time on the weekend despite saturdays weather.  Showed he is pretty handy on the pool table as well.  This kid is only going to get better.

Under 13:

 

Will Toovey fronted up for his second junior tour and placed 5th (prologue), 6th (Stage 2), 4th (Stage 3 TT) and 7th (stage 4) to gain an overall 7th placing on GC.  Will is still learning about positioning in the races and probably doing a bit too much on the front of the bunch.  Once he gets this right he will definitely be getting some high placings.

 

Tim McDonald made his tour debut and placed 12th (prologue), 13th (stage 2), 15th (TT) and 15th (stage 4). Tim enjoyed the racing and will only get better with experience on staying with the bunch. Placed 14th on GC.

 

 

 

 

Under 15 (A Grade):

Josh Toovey is continuing to show his ability and improvement in what is a pretty tough grade with a strong field of riders. Josh placed 4th (prologue-6km), 3rd (stage 2), 2nd (TT-6km), 2nd (stage 4) for an overall 2nd place on GC.  Once again only beaten by the current NSW and Australian champion, Cameron Scott.  In stage 4 these two riders broke away from the rest of the field and finished dead heat in the final sprint to the line.

Hamish Burke placed 7th, 7th, 10th and 7th for an overall placing of 8th on GC.  This was a great result for Hamish in what was the strongest field of this age group that he has raced against this year.

Under 15 (B Grade):

Nick McDonald, also making his junior tour debut, placed 12th, 11th, 11th and 12th for an overall placing of 12th on GC.  As with the other debutants this tour was all about getting race experience for Nick and he performed very well for his first tour.  Potential climber like his father and hillier courses may suit him in the future.

Henry Whiteside placed 13th, 14th, 15th, and 14th for an overall placing of 14th on GC.  With the commitment and passion Henry has for cycling it is only a matter of time before some good results come.  Dropped his chain in stage 2 which didn’t help.

 

 

 

 

 

Under 15 girls:

Anneleise Payne making her race debut, braved the shocking conditions on saturday to place 8th in the prologue(6km) and DNF in stage 2 due to the weather conditions.  Big improvements on Sunday with 6th (TT-6km) and 6th in the final road race for an 8th place overall.  Not many 13 year old girls would have raced in the conditions on Saturday and she enjoyed the racing so much she is doing the Tamworth Junior Tour in 2 weeks.

 

 

Under 17 Mens (B Grade):

Three Mudgee boys in this grade with Jock Whiteside, Callum Payne and Alistair Fittler making his Junior Tour debut.

Jock placed 6th in the prologue (6km), 10th in stage 2, 4th in the Sunday Time Trial (10km) and 4th in the final stage to place 10th overall.  Would have gone a lot better if he also hadn’t dropped his chain in stage 2.  Rumours are that Donna Whiteside is looking for a new mechanic for her boys as the current one (Cameron) isn’t too good with chains.  Despite this problem Jock is showing he is a very good time trialler.

Callum placed 10th, 9th, 12th and 11th for an overall 9th place on GC.  Callum raced both road stages very well and showing he is a smart bunch rider.  Needs to work on his time trialling to gain time over his rivals to gain a better overall position on G.C.

Alistair, making his debut, was probably a bit unsure of himself in the early stages with a 17th in the prologue and 13th in the stage 2 road race.  However, his confidence grew on Sunday and he raced very well to place 13th (TT) and a great 9th place in the final road stage in a bunch sprint.  This weekend was all about gaining experience for Alistair and he showed on Sunday that he has the potential to do very well in future events.

All the Mudgee riders made the club very proud by competing in all the events over the weekend despite the terrible conditions on Saturday.  Not one of the riders considered pulling out of the tour even when other riders were.  Nor were there any complaints (apart from parents).  In fact, they all seemed to enjoy the racing despite the weather.

Next tour at Tamworth on the 9th and 10th June.