In front … Paul Redenbach leads the pack in the A Grade criterium. 57552 Picture: KRISTIAN SCOTT
SEASONED veteran Paul Redenbach dominated the Footscray Cycling Club’s Legends Race at the VUT circuit in Hoppers Crossing on Saturday.
The event is held in honour of the late Harry Jones and Hugh Cram, as well as the club’s latest induction to the legends honour roll, Frank Zanatta.
Riders contesting the A Grade race had their work cut out for them, with temperatures hovering around 34C. David Tozer and Chris Steffanoni were among riders launching attack after attack, and several were in the red and by the latter stages, with peloton disintegrating into several smaller groups.
Out the front was South Morang resident Paul Redenbach, who was a class above the rest. Redenbach, 32, started racing mountain bikes when he was 16, and contested six world titles in the national team, followed by a three-year stint in Belgium. Using his extensive experience, Redenbach modified his tactics for this race.
“I knew I had good form and could win so I didn’t do my usual attacks, I just waited and conserved my energy,” he said.
With ace sprinter Matt Heath on his wheel, Redenbach knew he had to make a decisive move.
“Just before the last corner I jumped and was clear going into the straight and just held off Brett (Hickford) and Matt (Heath).”
In B Grade, 33-year-old Epping resident Glen Wright took the narrowest win from the in-form youngster Josh Zammit.
In a difficult and hot race, the pack stayed together through some very nasty attacks and looked like staying together until the end. But a period of intense pressure riding saw the pack fall apart with 10 minutes to go, at which stage there were riders spread out all over the place.
A group of four formed at the front, and the dozen riders chasing this group rode too hard and broke up, with Mark Micallef and Josh Zammit being the only riders to bridge the gap by working together for three very hard laps.
Wright and Zammit went head-to-head in the sprint and nearly dead-heated, while Micallef and Colin Morris had a close battle for third.
In a miraculous return, 39-year-old Spotswood resident Lewis Croft took an inspirational win in the C grade race, beating home a quality field just months after breaking his neck and suffering serious injuries.
“I did a couple of crits with the FCC and really enjoyed it and started to get serious until a car hit me and put me in hospital with broken ribs, a punctured lung and two broken vertebrae in my neck,” Croft said.
“I spent four months off work and wasn’t sure I’d race again.”
Croft and Fred Dagg broke away towards the end, holding a slender lead over the chasers.
Croft finished just ahead of 15-year-old Tyler Breen, who rode a brilliant race for second, just ahead of the indomitable Dagg.
D Grade started with 11 riders, with David Young taking an exciting win over Ross Liley and Robert Greenberg; Young performing brilliantly in the bunch sprint in a manner that belies his lack of racing experience.
