Tough competition … Footscray Cycling Club’s B Grade winner Steven Antonello. 59590
RAIN and a slippery track made the Footscray Cycling Club’s criterium racing at Hoppers Crossing’s Victoria University Circuit a tricky affair, but Sunshine’s Brett Hickford negotiated the conditions best in A Grade with a tight victory.
With riders slipping and sliding in the last 20 minutes, Hickford held his nerve and seemed to have a bit more grip and confidence when taking the corners. He had enough momentum through the last corner to hold off gun sprinter Dom Dudkiewicz.
In B Grade, Point Cook podiatrist Steven Antonello put his foot down halfway through the race to establish a break on the field to take his second successive win, earning him a berth in A Grade next week.
Antonello found himself in a break as the rain started to fall. At first, the peloton didn’t chase – as they thought the race was neutralised – and they couldn’t chase later due to the worsening conditions.
“I put my head down and followed some other guys into a break, and in all the confusion, I wasn’t sure what happened, but I had half a lap and just kept going,” Antonello said.
With the rain making the track marginal at best, the bunch could not really make any headway on Antonello’s lead, leaving him to take the win half a lap clear of the chasing peloton, with Lewis Croft just rolling Mark Micallef and Ben Andrews in the bunch sprint.
The 28-year-old is a relative newcomer to racing, having won twice in D Grade and twice in C Grade in quick succession in his first year, and he now has two B Grade wins to complete the set.
Antonello grew up playing footy, but had a big scare as an 18-year-old when he took a heavy hit which nearly broke his neck and left him needing a major operation.
Once he recovered, Antonello decided cycling would satisfy his competitive urge, and he is enjoying the challenges competitive cycling has to offer.
