Other Venue Road Race Results

Only eight riders braved the elements for the Sunday race at the undulating Boolarra circuit. There were five A Grade riders, one in B Grade and two in C Grade. A grade completed 3 laps, or 75km, while B Grade was scheduled for 50km and C Grade 25km.

With the torrential rain having passed earlier, and some very strong wind still present, it was decided to ride the first lap under controlled conditions to assess the state of the course. With the C Grade riders, Wayne Tunks and Ian Wood, leading the way the race headed out towards the climb on Limonite Road . As the riders hit the climb the A Grade riders decided that it was more fun to hold the speed at a steady pace that had the C Graders struggling at the back. After about 10km, and being smart enough to want to avoid the torture, Tunksy called for the A Graders to continue on with their own race.

The A Graders, along with Colin Aitken from B Grade, turned into Boolarra South - Mirboo North Road to continue the climb. With all riders swapping turns the race finally turned back towards Boolarra following the Boolarra - Foster Road, which includes a long descent. Aitken was swapping turns with ease, and feeling comfortable with the pace of the A Grade riders. As speeds reached 60kph it was a challenge to avoid the road debris and maintain a safe line, but all the remaining riders stayed together as they returned to the main street of Boolarra.

Heading back out towards Limonite Road it looked like nobody was interested in taking the race on. Justin Gravett moved to the front and tried to lift the pace but he was not allowed any latitude with Danny Gafa perched on his wheel. As the climb approached Gravett again decided to see if he was able to sneak off the front but visiting rider Geoff Thompson was looking very strong and rode straight to the front and slowed the pace again. As the steepest part of the climb passed Aitken lost contact, leaving the five A Graders to battle it out for the win, but nobody was ready to commit to a big move just yet with the strong crosswinds, as the riders safely negotiated their way back to Boolarra where the real action was expected to begin.

On the third ascent of Limonite Road the pace was definitely higher as firstly Gafa, then Glenn Schoer and then Thompson tested the legs of their fellow competitors by constantly increasing the speed. Brett Van Berkel was biding his time and Gravett was feeling the effects of a cold. Van Berkel decided that the best way to control the race was to go to the front and set the pace as the race entered the final 6km of the climb. Schoer decided the time was right to make a move and darted off the front. Van Berkel wanted to counter the move but got stuck in no mans land between Schoer and the chasing group. After about 2km off the front a couple of hard turns firstly by Gravett and then by Thompson brought the race back together but Gravett paid the price by immediately getting spat out the back of the pack.

With only four riders left and only 3km of climbing to go the three sprinters in Gafa, Thompson and Van Berkel were happy to stay together and fight it out in the last few hundred metres. Realizing he had no chance against the fast men Schoer continued to attack the pack but it wasn’t until the descent that he looked to have gained the decisive advantage. With speeds of almost 70kph and only a few kilometers to go the fast men had a 100m to make up. Brett Van Berkel chased hard with Gafa right on his wheel and a small gap to Thompson. Schoer was caught with about 500m to go and Van Berkel and Gafa went straight past. With 200m to go Gafa pulled out from Van Berkel’s wheel and went for home, knowing he had the best sprint. Thompson meanwhile, showing his experience, had camped on Schoer’s wheel while he tried to get back on terms with the leaders. Thompson saw his chance and accelerated hard making up 10metres in no time and going straight past Van Berkel. With his eyes firmly set on the win Thompson moved to left and the inside. Gafa, thinking he had out kicked everyone looked over his right shoulder and sat up, not seeing Thompson at all. This error cost Gafa the win as Thompson came over the top to take the victory by the smallest of margins. Van Berkel was third and Schoer fourth. Gravett crossed the line a short time later.

On the first assent of the climb and after parting company with the combined A & B grade bunch the C grade pair decided that one lap of the grueling climb and windy conditions would be enough. The pair rode together until about 1km from the turn off onto the Foster-Boolarra South Road where Tunks opened a gap on Woods. Not realizing he had opened such large gap, sat up and waited for his fellow rider before embarking on the dangerous descent down the Boolarra South Road. Wood showed he was much more daring than Tunks on the decent and opened a gap on him. As they reached the lower slopes and the road straightened out, Tunks was soon back with Woods and the pair crossed the line separated by a small margin with Tunks just in front of Woods.

Latrobe City CC IRTT 40kms Championship @ Yinnar Sunday May 23

1st Jim Timmer Arends - Time 59.03, Ave Speed 40.64kph

2nd Jarrod Peachey - 59.53, Ave Speed 40.07

3rd Chris Joustra - 1.00.10, Ave Speed 39.88

4th Danny Gafa - 1.01.35, Ave Speed 38.87

5th Mick Krausz - 1. 04.28, Ave Speed 37.22

6th Steve Muggeridge (W'gul CC) 1.05.21, Ave Speed 36.72

7th Roland Elsdon 1.05.49, Ave Speed 36.46

8th Adam Lancaster 1.08.29, Ave Speed 35.04

9th Matt Kennelly (W'gul CC) 1.09.31, Ave Speed 34.52

10th Duncan Orr 1.10.25, Ave Speed 34.08

11th Trevor Hoare 1.12.55, Ave Speed 32.91

12th Ian Wood 1.22.04, Ave Speed 29.24

Latrobe City CC Road Race Championship @ Willow Grove Sunday May 9

Scroll for Glenn Schoer's fantastic Race Report

Club Championship 90kms (13 starters)

1st Danny Gafa (Gold)

2nd Samuel Beveridge (Silver)

3rd Jarrod Peachey (Bronze)

4th Roland Elsdon

B Grade 60kms

1st James Lalor (W'gul CC)

2nd Duncan Orr

3rd Adam Lancaster

4th Paul King

5th John Taylor

C Grade 30kms

1st Dave Redman

2nd Wayne Tunks

3rd Sue Elsdon

The Breakaways lap 2

The A grade chasers lap 2

Sprint to the line And the Winner Is

Dave Redman ("That was harder than I remember")

B winner James Lalor

Duncan Orr (2nd) & Adam Lancaster (3rd)

DANNY GAFA CROWNED LATROBE CITY CC 2010 ROAD CHAMPION

Gafa became the seventh different club rider in eight seasons to net the club championship after out sprinting Samuel Beveridge and Jarrod Peachey. He now joins a select group of champion riders such as Charles Howlett doubling up in 2005 and 2008. Darren Spiteri leads the count with four titles 1996, 1999, 2002 and 2003. Chris Joustra also has two to his name 1992 and 2009, Chris Kypriotis 1995 and 2000. Glen Trevorrow 1998, Geoff Fletcher 1994 to name a few.

The 2010 Latrobe City Cycling Road Club Championship was held on Sunday at the undulating Willow Grove circuit. Thirteen riders contested the championship race and set out in perfect conditions for a total race distance of 90km, which included three laps of the course. All riders remained together after setting out from Willow Grove and heading down the descent on Willow Grove Road. All of the riders rolled turns along Old Sale Road but as soon as the race turned for the first ascent of the Moe-Willow Grove Road some of the race favourites decided to tests the legs of the other riders. Chris Joustra and Sam Beveridge were trying to make a break but they were being closed down each time by Jarrod Peachey. Danny Gafa was content to mark the hill climbers with most of the other riders happy to either cling to a wheel or save their legs. The only riders to lose touch were Darren Spiteri, who suffered a puncture, and Alan Beveridge whose son had shown no sympathy for his plight by continually increasing the pace.

After the peleton completed the first of three laps there were still 11 riders in contention, all seemed happy to stay together for the descent of the Trafalgar/Willow Grove road. Justin Gravett decided he had no patience for such passive racing and went off the front of the bunch as the riders hit the only flat section of the course along Old Sale Road. The other riders were happy to give him some leeway and let him stay 400m in front in the hope he would wear himself out. After 5km out front Michael Krausz decided to jump across to join Gravett. Once he bridged the gap Glenn Schoer and Rob Preston also decided that it was time to make a move and it looked like the peleton was going to give them some leeway, but four riders was too many to let go, so they were soon shut down and the race was back together.

Everybody knew that the second climb back up the hill was where the moves would go and therefore all of the riders were trying to make position so as not to miss the decisive break. Big Jim Timmer-Arends decided that he would hit the hill first and took off. He held a small break for the first part of the ascent but the true climbers were doing it easy and reeled him in. As soon as he was caught an attack predictably came from Joustra. After Joustra’s title winning move last year Peachey was having none of it and he was shut down. Almost immediately Beveridge had a go but again it was Peachey who was glued to his wheel. Unfortunately for the other riders these two protagonists appeared to enjoy taking turns at inflicting pain on them, and it was becoming obvious who the strongest riders were. Approximately halfway up the hill Joustra and Peachey attacked hard and they were followed immediately by Gafa and Beveridge. The remaining riders just weren’t strong enough to follow.

As soon as the leading four saw they had a gap they immediately formed a cohesive group and worked together to ensure they were not caught. With the strongest four riders out in front it was never going to be easy for the seven chasers, especially considering visiting rider Geoff Thomson was not allowed to aid in the chase as he was not able to influence the result of a closed Club Championship race, leaving only six to do the work.

Now that the race had split there would be no rest for anyone and a 500m break was maintained for the rest of the ascent and the ensuing descent. Jim Timmer-Arends and Justin Gravett had worked very hard down the hill and it looked like the break would be closed down once the chasers closed to within approximately 50m, just before the short but sharp hill at the bottom of Willow Grove Road. Roland Elsdon showed his recent sprint form by unleashing a withering burst to jump across the gap and join the leaders, demoralizing his recent but long forgotten colleagues.

With five in front and five chasing the race looked over, however the chasers kept working hard along the flat in the hope all in front might puncture, but they could not make any inroads into the lead. As the race climbed back towards the finish Joustra decided he had a winning formula and continually attacked up the hill in a similar fashion to last year. Peachey, Gafa, Beveridge and Elsdon were too strong to be shaken and worked hard to limit his assaults. Luckily for the chasers, who were approximately 500m behind, there was no longer a solid working unit out front so they increased their efforts in one last attempt to get back into the race.

With only three kilometers to go the implausible happened. The chasers closed to within only 100m of the leaders, who were now too busy watching each other to notice what was going on behind them. A similar thing was happening behind them as Krausz saw his chance to get across and took off. Schoer did the same while Preston, Timmer-Arends and Gravett worked together to slowly peg back the deficit. Nobody would have predicted that such a big bunch of riders would be lining up for a sprint finish on such a tough course.

With 800m to go Preston went straight to the front not liking his chances in a sprint finish. Gafa, the best sprinter in the field, was straight onto his wheel followed by Beveridge and Peachey. With 500m to go and a headwind Gafa decided he didn’t want to be boxed in and moved to the front and wound it up. Beveridge and Peachey thought they would just camp on his wheel and wait for him to tire. It was obvious at this stage that the former chase group had spent all of their tickets and would not feature in the placings. With 100m to go Gafa moved into another gear and unleashed a withering burst to claim the title for the first time. Sam Beveridge finished a bike length behind followed by Jarrod Peachey. Roland Elsdon was fourth in a typically dazzling sprint finish. It was an intriguing finish to a great race where 11 riders finished within a couple of seconds of the race winner.

Club Scratch @ Yinnar Sunday May 2, 2010

A small group of club riders turned out for the second grade scratch races at Yinnar on a clod Sunday morning. Both A & B grade were sent away on there 60km journey together with five in A grade and four in B grade riders. With most riders staying together until the final lap. The club welcomed back Peter (Zorba) Tsebelis to the club after long break from competition.

In a sprint finish at the end of 60kms race the A grade was won by club President Darren Spiteri from Sam Beveridge and in a close go for third Glenn Schoer managed to just finish in front of Jarrod (The Bird) Peachey. Justin Gravett was the only B grade rider to stay with A grade bunch to take out the B grade race from Duncan Orr 2nd a few minutes later, followed by Colin Aitken several minute later.

In the C grade 40km race the small bunch of five got away at quite a fast pace and as the road pointed up toward Hazelwood Estate Road, Greg Horbowicz lost contact with the bunch and shortly after cresting the rise on Hazelwood Estate Road on lap one Brian Forder also lost contact with the leaders Wayne Tunks, Trevor Hoare and Dave Redman. On lap two climbing back towards Hazelwood Estate Road a second time both Tunks and Hoare lost contact with Redman who was pushing hard. Hoare soon had Tunks in trouble as he pushed the pace in an effort to catch Redman. However Redman a former club champion showed his class to go on and win by several minutes from Hoare followed by Tunks 30 second later.

C Grade 2 laps (40Kms)

Dave Redman	1
Trevor Hoare	2
Wayne Tunks	3
*Brian Forder*	4

B Grade 3 laps (60kms)

Justin Gravett	1
Duncan Orr	2
Colin Aitken	3
Peter Tsebelis	4

A Grade 3 laps (60kms)

Darren Spiteri	1
Sam Beveridge	2
Glenn Schoer	3
Jarrod Peachey	4

Club Scratch @ Yinnar April 18, 2010

The first away for the 60km journey was A grade with 11 riders, 6 from Warragul CC, however LCCC member Sam Beveridge took the win from the visitors who filled the next three places with Brett Van Berkel crossing the line in 5th place.

B grade came down to a great sprint finish at the end of the 60km race between LCCC new sprint sensation Roland Elsdon and Warragul CC rider Rob Monk with the later getting the nod on the line, 3rd went Justin Gravett ahead of James Haylock 4th.

The 40km C grade race began at a comfortable pace with D grade rider Michael Dawson able to stay with the bunch until the road started to point upwards. At the conclusion of lap one the average speed for the eight man bunch was 32.6kph. In a sprint finish and after two operations, one to remove cancer in the past 12 months the Tonka was back taking the win from a fast finishing Warragul CC junior Cyrus Monk with John Taylor 3rd followed by Brian Forder 4th and former club road champion Dave Redman 5th and Trevor Hoare 6th. Next home was a Warragul rider followed by Ken Whittaker. The average speed for the C grade race was 32.6kph. Michael Dawson was the winner of D grade.

Full Results

D Grade 1 lap (20Kms)

Michael Dawson

C Grade 2 laps (40Kms)