MURRAY Crawford powered to victory in the Footscray Cycling Club’s A Grade race on Saturday.
With a small respite between Melbourne’s sweltering weather giving racers cool conditions and little wind, riders took advantage of the Footscray Cycling Club’s criteriums held at the VU/FCC Sports Criterium Track in Hoppers Crossing.
The A Grade race was down on numbers due to the Australian National Road Championships in Ballarat but four B Graders volunteered to bolster the numbers.
Proving that last week’s win in B Grade was a sign of things to come, 49-year-old Murray Crawford surprised the bunch with a canny solo breakaway in the last three laps to take the win.
The Altona North resident was impressed with the general attitude of the bunch.
“They were all having a bit of a go, lots of attacks, and myself and Ben O’Leary had just had a few goes when I thought I might just slip away to the side,” he said.
“I hoped a few might go with me but obviously they hesitated and let me get a bit of a gap.
“Then I just set up a bit of a rhythm and was able to hold the bunch off so it was pretty good.
“It’s good to go back to A the right way.’
Behind Crawford in the bunch sprint Wednesday’s winner Ben Ryan took second place, with Brett Hickford taking a strong third place.
In other results for the day, Les Kennett took out the B Grade race from Richard Conejo and Antonio Marino.
In C Grade, Gerard Zammit was victorious over Paul Rettke while Dennis Titto claimed victory in D Grade.
Racing will continue for the Footscray Cycling Club this weekend.
