36 riders approached the start line in front of the Thornbury Pub. A smaller Div 1 with only 9 riders set off at 10:30am ready for 3 laps of the 25km circuit. After the first lap 6 out of the 9 riders DNF due to the strong winds, leaving Robert Husiman, Brendan Akeroyd and Fraser Hewett left to battle out the remaining 2 laps.
Unfortunately for Fraser he punctured and the other boys took off, Fraser fixed his puncture and completed his second lap but never caught up with his grade. He decided 2 laps was plenty and pulled out after that. Robert Huisman proving too strong for Brendan and left him behind before the Fairfax corner. Husiman taking the win with a finishing time of 1hr 54mins. Akeroyd coming in hot 3mins later. Even tho Tom Sexton didn't race today he still had enough points to retain the Series Jersey.
Div 2 our smallest bunch with only 7 riders set off 2 mins behind Div 1. All riders are strong within this group so there were a lot of attacks and breakaways, which were reined back in. Vaughan Edie feeling the pressure decided to return to the finish line in the opposite direction on his third lap. Alistair Burnett broke away on the downhill as he was heading back to the Thornbury township, the chasing riders were unable to catch him. Burnett crossing the line in his bright orange kit with a time of 2hrs 8mins. Andrew Lienert crossed the line in second place securing himself the Series Jersey.
Div 3 with 8 riders took off with a hiss and a roar and came close to catching Div 2 before the second corner. Div 2 managed to keep their lead throughout the whole race though. Dave Simpson and Craig Sadlier broke away for majority of the first lap to only be caught on the second lap. Dave Simpson DQ himself due to the fact he came in way too hot at the Fairfax corner and almost ended up in the grass on the other side of the road. Crossed the white line he said. The group splintered on the last lap and ended up finishing in 3 small bunches with Marty taking the win 2hrs 11mins and keeping the Series Jersey.
Div 4 was our largest group with 12 riders. The pressure was on for the Jersey as there was only 4 points separating Nicola Stevens and Sam Kopae. Tactics and alliances formed pretty quickly splitting the group into two. With only two laps for this grade the pressure was on from the beginning spitting a few riders out the back. Great display of determination from Bill Sutherland and Barry Ellis who even tho got dropped completed their last lap as a solo effort. Allan Milne, Sam Kopae, Jim Phair and Max Anderson had a decent lead on the remaining riders as they approached the finish line. Sam Kopae crossed the line first and stole the Jersey from Nicola to become the Series Leader. Funniest part is Sam was telling her bunch to settle down as she can't hang on to this pace for another lap. The guys just laughed and they told her the race was over. Only two laps not three for them.
Thank you to all that helped out and those who raced.