BLACKBURN Cycling Club rider Jason Spencer took Footscray Cycling Club’s A Grade scratch race on Saturday with a breakaway that could not be matched.
The 23-year-old Ringwood East resident was in the area to check out the You Yangs climb in preparation for the Tour of Geelong next week.
On lap two Nick Youngs (Caulfield-Carnegie) was out on his own for the whole lap and at the start of lap three a break of four formed as Youngs was caught by the peloton.
Spencer bridged across to the break and the five worked hard to build up a 250-metre lead.
“At first we all worked, but then we lost one rider and going into the last lap Steve Pilson punctured, which was unlucky as he was working hard, so it was down to me, Brett Hickford and Ben Johnson,” Spencer said.
“Then with six to 7km to go I started attacking to get rid of the other two because I can’t sprint and it worked.”
Spencer is looking for a spot on a pro cycling team.
It’s back to A Grade for B Grade winner Darren Martin, who has been working to get back to form since taking a break from racing.
After six laps of hard racing, B Grade remained mostly intact as the light conditions allowed any breakaways to be reeled in by the bunch.
As riders approached the tricky, uphill finish, Martin made a break for the line, and while VIS rider Kendelle Hodges hotly pursued him, he still finished about 10 bike lengths clear of her with veteran Bob Shannon in third.
Michael Young showed that fortune favours the brave in the C Grade race, after clinching the race with a daring move.
Again the light breeze allowed any breakaways to be reeled back in by the bunch, including several major breakaways by Paul Sheean, until Young jumped first, got clear of the chasers, and managed to hold off Sheean and Peter Race to take a well-deserved win.
D Grade saw the Liley train in action, with the first three places being filled by the Tarneit family, but this time it was the youngest of the trio, Steven, who took his maiden win.
The 15-year-old Year 10 student at Thomas Carr Secondary College had only started riding at Christmas, and has come a long way in a short time.
“I owe a lot to a good group of older guys who are helping me out and coaching me along the way, blokes like Barry Cram, Ben O’Leary and Mick Wells,” he said.
“Everyone was driving evenly and working well together, and towards the end Aaron led me out and moved over with 100m to go and I got it.”
Steven crossed the line several bike lengths clear of older brother Aaron, who was several bike lengths ahead of their father, Ross.
Club veteran Barry Cram said Steven had huge potential.
