Gorge Rd - Matuara Graded Road Race Results
It was a nice looking day for the 48 riders who registered for the 58km road race from Gorge Road to Mataura. News of not having a hill finish pleased some riders.
Three grades (A-grade 14, B-grade 19, C-grade 15) set off at 2 min intervals on what was to be a challenging course, if you didn't like hills it was going to be a tough day. All groups appeared to work together in the early stages with one or two riders attempting to escape without success. Once on the hills it all changed, survival mode for some! Mechanical problems took a toll as well. No one is safe when it comes to hills!
Most of the groups were narrowed down quite considerably at the finish. A small sprint bunch (7riders) in A-grade fought it out with one of the oldest riders in the group taking honours. B-grade had a much bigger bunch (10 riders) that resulted in one of the youngest riders taking honours. C-grade was obliterated, only 3 survivors with 3 dropped B-grade riders sprinted in for the finish.
A-Grade
1st - Mike White 1:27:40
2 Josh Haggerty
3 Blake Tait-Jones
4 Simon Croom
B-grade
1st - Michael Culling 1:32:00
2 Luke McPherson
3 Geoff Van Dam
4 Andrew Lienert
C-grade
1st - Allan Milne 1:37:15
2 Tim Maynard
3 Tony Raggett
4 Shirlene Rollo