FOOTSCRAY Cycling Club claimed the annual Geelong v Footscray Challenge Cup with a narrow 12-9 win on Saturday.
The race, held at Little River with a top of the You Yangs finish attracted 100 riders, and Geelong 19-year-old Blake Hose took the A Grade race with some clever team riding.
“I really didn’t expect the bunch to hit it quite so hard on the second lap and to be honest I just tried to keep up the front and keep out of trouble as I didn’t think the light conditions would let anyone get away and stay away,” Hose said.
With many trying their luck with attacks, the race pace took its toll, with riders being spat out the back with monotonous regularity. But Hose and team-mate Steve Del Gallo kept out of trouble at the head of the pack.
Hose, who has been a strong competitor in the National Road Series, knew the finish well after last week’s Tour of Geelong, and knew what to do as they approached the hill top finish.
“Towards the end I made sure I turned into the You Yangs gate as third wheel, and my mate Steve Del Gallo paced me up the climb until I decided to launch and off I went.”
Hose finished clear of Del Gallo, with Footscray Cycling Club’s Steve Pilson crossing for third.
B Grade’s race was taken out by a guest rider for the second week in a row, with St Kilda CC rider Lynton Zawadski making the most of the hilltop finish.
The 32-year-old Hawthorn resident has raced with the FCC before, enjoying the hard racing that the club has to offer.
“It’s always a tough ride out here, but it’s great racing and will help me cope with A Grade,” he said.
B Grade’s race consisted of nasty attacks that saw riders guttered and on the rivet at 55km/h, followed by lulls where the speed would drop down to below 30km/h, and was quite a negative race with any breakaway being chased down before it had a chance to succeed.
Zawadski was slightly out of position when riders turned into the You Yangs Regional Park for the last two kilometres.
“I was 10th wheel going around the corner so I had to hustle to catch the five who had gotten a little clear, I got across and then just sat in behind Chris Munro who was doing the lion’s share of the work and when I saw the line I just gave it everything I had and just got past,” Zawadski said.
He finished just ahead of seasoned veteran Chris Munro, who was just clear of promising novice Steve Antonello, who rode brilliantly in only his second road race.
The C Grade race was run at a very fast pace; so fast that it was more like a handicap than a scratch race. Pascoe Vale resident Peter Race, 51, took a strong win from Geelong rider Greg Hoskin and again Daniel Lucas impressed all with his strong finish
D Grade saw a departure from its usual sedate start according to race winner Aaron Liley. “It was pretty much on from the start. It started fast and just got faster,” he said.
