Footscray Cycling Club Midlands Tour winner Rhys Pollock. 70383
PROFESSIONAL cyclist Rhys Pollock claimed victory in the Footscray Cycling Club Midlands Tour on Saturday.
The small Victorian town of Meredith, located between Ballarat and Geelong, showcased the cream of Australian cycling with the 70th staging of the tour.
This tough, hilly course saw only 29 of the 67 starters finish the 133-kilometre race, which was run at a cracking pace.
Shortly after the red flag was dropped to signal the beginning of the race the pace was on, and after the first fast descent, as riders were bunching up for the next climb, several riders crashed and 10 riders either went down or had to stop; no-one was seriously injured, but a few riders were unable to get back to the bunch.
A significant amount of damage was also being done to the peloton on the first climb, with riders strung out and on the rivet being spat out the back with monotonous regularity.
Drapac Professional Cycling rider Rhys Pollock, Jayco Rider Sean Finning and search2retain rider Charles Howlett instigated a break-away in the long climb towards Steiglitz, with eventual winner Pollock covering the break for his team
On lap three another five riders bridged from the peloton to the leaders and at this stage the chasing peloton, who were 90 seconds back, were driven hard by the John West riders, and managed to cut the gap to 50 seconds before losing momentum and allowing the gap to blow out to an uncatchable lead.
Then the eight riders in the lead break were put under pressure by Pollock.
The last lap saw the seven remaining riders split into a lead bunch of Pollock, Jayco rider Jason Spencer and serch2retain rider Jay Bourke, followed by three chasers, and then the broken up remnants of the peloton.
The lead riders continued to work together to ensure they would stay clear of the chasers until the final few kilometres, when Bourke threw in an attack to try to gain an advantage, but Bourke’s attack left him on the rivet and unable to hold Pollock and Spencer’s wheels, leaving the two to contest the sprint.
Pollock crossed a few centimetres ahead of the unlucky Spencer, who was nine seconds clear of Jay Bourke.
In his third year with Drapac Professional Cycling, the Albury Draughtsman is enjoying a purple patch that has seen him win arguably the toughest single day race on the calendar, last year’s Melbourne to Warrnambool, as well as a stage of the Sun Tour.
