Northern Cycling Club - Race Report 14th April 2024

Sunday 14th April - Kew Tear Drop

On a weekend with plenty of racing options, including the Euroa Crits and the Northern Combine Classic on Saturday , numbers were down on previous weeks. Still it was great to see quite a few riders backing up for a second day of racing on the challenging Tear Drop course.

The commissaire sent each bunch off with a neutral lap first to get a feel for the course and conditions. C, D and E grades headed off at 9am, while the weather barely hovered over 10 degrees. Meanwhile A and B grades kicked off at 9:45am, just as the sun was breaking through the cloud to aptly warm things up.

C Grade finish

A Grade correspondent, Keith Trovatello reported that within the first 10 minutes of the race, Emilio Romano and Vaughan Bowman proved way too strong for the small field and rode clear out of sight. The chase group accepted their fate early, with their eyes now firmly planted on the last spot on the podium. Coming into the bell lap, the chase group was lapped and became part of an A grade bunch once more. The winner Vaughan Bowman clearly the best on the day ended the race with a huge sprint, Emilio 2nd with Keith taking out the bunch kick for 3rd.

In B grade and strong field of 14 rolled out and it was not long before the attacks started to fly with Tom Crebbin, Andrew Gannon and Kevin Russell keen to stretch the bunch out. It wasn’t until around half way point after a couple of spicy laps that Russell, Giramondo, Gannon and Kanizay managed to break away from the bunch. By this stage a second A grade group of four had formed and we found ourselves in a seesawing affair of passing the A grade chase group on the back straight and being passed by them on the climb. Eventually the shenanigans subsided and we eased off and let them go.

Meanwhile Tom Crebbin punctured and borrowed a bike from a C grader who stayed around to watch. Forced to rejoin from the back of the bunch, Tom worked his way through the field, bridging across to the leaders, bringing John Hiatt and Ross Clark with him to make a break of 7.

Meanwhile despite all of the signage indicating a bike race was in progress, some Melburninans on foot and bike, were oblivious to proceedings and were ripping it up like they owned the road. Fortunately verbal warnings were enough to clear the path, but next time a bell might become the mandatory safety device on the bikes, rather than a tail light.

Approaching the 40min mark, the two lap warning was given. The tempo eased up as the leaders jockeyed for position. Coming into the second last hairpin Tim Crebbin dropped his one and only Watt bomb and made a clean break on the group which left everyone hoping he would run out of gas. Coming into the last corner Giramondo, Gannon and Kanizay lined up to take the corner. Out of the periphery Ross Clark took the inside line and powered ahead to claim second place, followed by Ag Giramondo.  A sensational effort by Tom on a borrowed Giant Propel, to get back on and then win the race with a never say die attitude.

C Grade correspondent Tom McDonough offered a short summary of the race. Those who raced at Latrobe yesterday (Steve Saunders, Rae Lesniowska, Kathryn Kennedy, Michael Love and our beloved correspondent) were doing all the damage in C grade but the winner Melvin Elias didn't race yesterday and possibly had fresher legs . It was Kathryn Kennedy in second with the biggest cheer squad on the sidelines and backing up from a podium in Women's B at Latrobe yesterday, followed by Michael Love for third. Tommy assures everyone that he held his spot at the back of the bunch chasing every lap. Who knows, one day he may have his Steven Bradbury moment.

The Tear drop is not everyone's course and breakaways are more likely to stick than out at Campbellfield.  The conduct of the riders was exemplary in ensuring that everyone got around safely on the day. Thanks as always to the commissaires, marshalls and our President Vince for putting on another safe race.

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