Mansfield Subaru Tour wrap-up
As that old saying goes, if you want to break a drought, hold a bike race!
With 280 entrants, the largest field in years, the Mansfield Subaru Tour kicked off under grey skies and the chance of showers on Saturday morning with the Individual Time Trial. But the unfamiliar wet stuff falling out of the sky wasn’t enough to dampen spirits or affect racing.
Saturday afternoon saw the racing start in the centre of town for the first time, adding a great atmosphere to an already spectacular event. The Martins Garage Subarus at the front of the A-Grade bunches really added to the event.
As expected, the Old Tolmie Road (the Col du Tolmielet) proved the hardest stage of the race.
A huge turnout at the Delatite Hotel on Saturday night saw the winners of Saturday’s races rewarded and thousands of prizes given away - most of them generously donated by Shannon and the team at All Terrain Cycles.
The weather did as was told and provided perfect conditions for Sunday’s race to Mt Buller which saw some fierce racing.
In Masters B, Dan Purcell sprinted for the All Terrain Cycles crown in Merrijig, to take the classification for the second year in a row!
Mens A-Grade saw a record broken - Simon Gerrans’ long held best time was beaten by Jesse Featonby who clocked 39:28, beating Simon by just over 30 seconds.
Josh Hopwood in Masters B broke away from the bunch at Changue Road and almost made it - riding alone up the mountain only to be pipped on the line and finishing second on the day. Confusingly, those of us at the finish line thought he’d won.
Many thanks to all the courteous Mansfield motorists - we apologise if you were inconvenienced on your travels over the weekend but we greatly appreciate your patience.
Thanks also to our local SES, Traffic.com, the Delatite Hotel, Martins Garage / Mansfield Subaru, All Terrain Cycles and all the members of the Mansfield Mt Buller Cycling Club who donated so much of their time to make the weekend a huge success. In particular, many thanks to the Tour Committee: Jarrod Appleton, David Jagger, Dave Moore, Nathan Pelling and Craig Wilson.
Winners:
Mens A-Grade. GC: Sam Hill; ATC Sprint: Pat Eddy
Womens A-Grade. GC: Kate Perry; ATC Sprint: Alana Forster
Masters A-Grade. GC Tom Leaper; ATC Sprint: Dom Dudkiewicz
Notable local results:
Masters B ATC Sprint: Dan Purcell - 1st.
Masters B GC: Josh Hopwood - 6th, Dan Purcell - 23rd.
Mens C-Grade: Lewis Dowie - 16th.
A message from Perry Cummings…
For those that aren’t aware, there was a crash at Merrjig during Stage 2. For a little while, it seemed much worse than the eventual outcome. This is a message sent to Damian from the injured rider, Perry Cummings.
Hi Damian,
Just wanted to say thank you to your club members and volunteers who assisted me after my crash yesterday. They did an absolutely amazing job, I couldn't have been in better hands.
I got off fairly lightly in the end with a hole in my elbow requiring quite a few stitches and a grade 1 strain to my AC joint in my right shoulder. I should be back on the road within about 2 to 4 weeks.
Thank you again to all that assisted, you should be very proud of them all and the event that you run. Hope to see you again next year.
Regards,
Perry Cummings
Dirt Crits Gravity Enduro
Surprise, surprise… Matt and Elise won. But so did James Griffin!
Here are the results. Thanks to Kate Stonnill for the pics.
The O’Hanlon Road Hill Handicap.
By Steve Duke
We had a perfect Autumn evening for last Thursday night’s road race. There were 20 riders, in six groups lined up for the start at Lords Ground.
Heading out along the undulating Howes Creek Road, Block Group which included John Lazarov, Jarrod Appleton, Rob Skinner, Cam Lachal and Steve Duke worked strongly together as a team. By the Campagnolos Road turn three groups had been caught leaving only the front runners Courtney Lynch and Dave Bock out in front.
Block successfully held off the Scratch group, Dave Moore, Bruce Halket and Damien Grundy who had a tough handicap, starting three and a half minutes behind Block.
By the bottom of the O’Hanlon Road hill the front runners were caught. It was then that Talia Appleton made what appeared to be the race winning move and swiftly passed through the riders to take the lead at the base of the climb.
Steve and John took off in hot pursuit with Steve passing Talia on the steeper pinches of the climb to take the win from Talia with John 3rd and Ruby Dobson 4th.
Damien was the first of the Scratch group home, well down the field in 13th, but with Fastest Time as some consolation.
Next week sees the MMBCC tackle the Barwite Loop, finishing on Mt Battery Road opposite the Showgrounds.
Here are the results. Thanks for the pics Tony!
