Crib Point Road Races September 18

Written by Mal Sawford

The second race at Crib Point for the winter season was the final mass start road event for the 2010 winter season, with only the hill climb time trial at the '1 in 20' next Sunday before the Road World Champs in Geelong and the start of the crit season at Glenvale Crescent on Sunday October 10.

A damp morning in Melbourne didn't look all that promising, but The sun broke through in Crib Point with enough time to spare to dry the roads before racing started. Unfortunately the good weather didn't hang around all afternoon, with a few showers unloading while riders were out on the course.

In A Grade, not a single lap passed without two or three riders off the front of the 20 strong bunch. Recently back from a season in Belgium, Will Tehan (Total Rush) was one of the early aggressors, with Brad Daly, Vaughan Bowman, Paul Mason and Clement Boydell (CCCC Elite), Nick Palecek (O'Mara Cycles) and Mark Thompson among the others to go clear at different stages.

The constant attacks kept the pace high, and by lap seven of ten, the bunch began to shed riders. Calvin Watson (Jayco VIS) and Brent Nelson (Croydon Cycleworks) took control in the final laps, with a near constant series of attacjs that eventually saw Nelson go clear for good with just under half a lap remaining to repeat his win on this circuit in July. Watson, who finished a fabulous 6th at the Junior Worlds in Italy last month, soloed home for second, with the bunch sprint for third won by Aaron Salisbury (BikeNOW) from Steve Martin (The Freedom Machine) and Thompson.

Wayne Flint (6am-ers) spent most of the race off the front of B Grade, initially in the company of team mate Jeff Shaw and Tim Nuttall, before continuing on alone, until he was reached by two more of the strongest Masters riders in Ian McGeogh and Bryan Walsh (Pro-Motion Bicycles).

The trio worked well and kept the bunch well at bay. Young Cameron Parlevliet (Bikes de Ver) tried hard to cross the gap, but fell just short, but proved he was definitley best of the reat when he escaped the bunch again to wrap up 4th place at the finish. Out front, the three leaders fought out a great finish, with McGeogh taking the win by a tyres width from Flint and Walsh.

An early break also paid off in C Grade, when David Tennant (6am-ers) and Adam Versteege powered away from the seemingly unconcerned bunch. Once they realised the danger, it was too late, and the pair out front kept up a solid tempo and gradually extended their advantage each lap.

The pair had obviously come to an arangement at the finish, when they crossed the line without any bother of a sprint to ruin their day out!. Anthony Gavan lead the field home in third ahead of Graham Prosser, while one of the women preparing for the road worlds, Singapore's Serene Lee, led a closely matched women's contingent home ahead of Emma 'white kit not so good on wet days' Lyall and workhorse Suzie Molloy.

The D Grade race exploded with three laps to race, after a powerful surge saw four riders open a huge advantage, with the rest of the field strung out in one's and two's behind them. The chasers eventually regrouped and began to peg back the deficit, but the damage was too great.

The four leaders were junior Harrison Dziubinski, Steve Towers (Kaos Custom Bikes) and newcomers James Kuyper and Hamish Shilton. On the final drag to the finish, Kuyper proved too strong and pulled away for the win, with Dziubinski the last to be shelled for afine second place. Shilton had enough in the tank to hold off Towers for third about 100 metres behind the winner. Back in the main bunch, Nina Greig-Towers (Kaos) just held off Catherine McInernay for the women's win.

Chris from Stillwaters Photography was on course again today. Visit his site to see the full collection and purchase copies: www.stillwatersphotography.com.au

Today's race was very much a team effort between the Chelsea & Peninsula Club and CCCC. Ann Johnstone was race director, assisted by Monica Imberger, Chief Commissaire Stewart Campbell, traffic controllers Ken Lacey and Mal Sawford, corner marshals Ric Jones, Eric Rudd, Kerrie McCredin, Chris Beckett and Ciarin Jones, and lead car drivers Ian Gosling, David Watson and Bruce Preston.

Results