It was a hot day, and 12 riders entered.
They were allocated into four bunches.
The limit bunch, which was given a 12-minute start from scratch, consisted of Berrigan’s Wayde Foster and Cobram’s Mark Ross.
The six-minute bunch had three riders, Barooga’s Gary Smith, Waaia’s Paul Hogan and Yarrawonga’s Nick Davis, who was still recovering from a collision with a car a short time ago.
The two-minute bunch had four riders, all keen to have their name lettered in gold on the club honour board.
Tallygaroopna’s Stanley Thomas was accompanied by Tocumwal’s Daniel Burrows, Wahgunyah’s David Daly and Strathmerton’s Craig Sloper.
A strong scratch bunch also gathered and included Wagga’s Hunter Behnke, Melbourne’s Nate Trowell and promising 17-year-old Max Holgate from Yarrawonga.
Holgate, now a veritable giant at around 1.95m tall, was favoured to take the highly prized ‘fastest time’ award.
Two of the entrants, Wayde Foster and the former Ironman champion Gary Smith, now into his 60s and enjoying retirement, have won the prestigious race in the past, Wayde in 2015 and Gary in 2021.
Could they do it again? Foster and Holgate took off at a great rate of knots down Back Barooga Rd on the journey, which included the steep Mt Gwynne climb.
Could Foster stay with the fit 63-year-old? It didn’t take long to establish that Holgate was a little too strong for his counterpart, and he went on his merry way, riding solo.
At the 16km, halfway point, Holgate looked a likely winner, but to ride solo is a difficult task.
The scratch riders and the two-minute bunch were nevertheless keen to overtake the leader.
Thomas, unfortunately, punctured in the early stages and was out of contention.
Last year’s winner, Hogan, was struggling at this stage, and along with Davis rode together for the remainder of the race.
Both, by that point, had relinquished any chance of victory.
Ross, a relative novice, was showing great strength and soldiered on to his first race victory.
He was ecstatic when he saw his name etched in gold leaf on the honour board.
Over a minute behind were the other placegetters, Sloper, followed by Burrows and Daly, in fourth.
As expected, Holgate took the fastest time, averaging 42.5km/h over the 32.2km journey.
On Sunday, December 22, the first stage of the popular McDonald’s Super Time Trial series will again be run, beginning on Back Barooga Rd, on an out-and-back course of approximately 13km.
It is $10 entry and begins at 10am.
25°C