20/10/2012
By Rob Monk
Hills were the order of the day as Warragul Cycling Club tackled a new circuit at Lardner. The circuit started at Lardner Park headed south to Main South Rd then continued towards Poowong. It then turned left and went up Torwood Tapriam Road. This is a 5km climb. It then followed Lardner’s Track back to Lardner.
A grade was strengthened by the appearance of Club Champion and National Road Series rider Brenton Jones. Brenton showed the boys the difference between a club level cyclist and an NRS rider as he rode away on the hill on lap one. Pete Finlayson was the only rider to try to go with him but could not hold his wheel. After lap one Jones had a one minute 30 advantage. He went on to win the race by over 3 minutes riding most of it on his own. Second home was Glen Marriott who timed his sprint well to get over Pete Finlayson. Then followed Graeme Parker and a few minutes later Scott Keeble and Dave Salton. Keeble’s effort to regain the group after being dropped on lap one was a highlight of the race. It was said by some that he rode parts of the circuit like he had a motor.
B grade also completed two laps of the 25.5km circuit. Lightweight climbing specialist Jayden Manintveld had been pleading for a hilly circuit for months and he certainly cashed in on it. Jayden set a tempo up the climb the first time that only Pete Whelan and Roland Elstrom could follow. The rest of the field was dropped although Neil Walker claims he would have been with them but was being a good Samaritan and helping Stuart Battley fix a mechanical issue. After lap one Manintveld, Whelan and Elstrom were over a minute in front of George Tambassis, Paul Yeatman and Charlie Davine. Walker was making a comeback attempt and Jason Dastey had tailed off even further. That order remained on lap 2. Whelan stuck with the leaders but was clearly on the limit. He led the trio up the final hill and nearing the finish Roland sprinted by him. Manintveld was doing it easy though and quickly blew past Roland to take his first B grade victory. George Tambassis was fourth finishing about a minute later, closely followed Yeatman who was with him until the final climb to the finish. Next across the line was Walker, Davine, who bloew up 11mins into lap two and Dastey.
C grade had the biggest field of the day. The first time up the hill the bunch spread out but on the decent a lead group of Harley Bondini, Luke Gallagher, Matt Kennelly, Chester Sanderson and Shane Pettingill and Grant Neilson formed. They had a good lead on the rest of the field.
The group lost Kennelly on the climb on the second lap as Gallagher and Sanderson put on the pace. On Lardner’s Track Bondini put in some big attacks but Neilson was the strong man to bring them back. In the sprint Chester Sanderson timed his run to the line well to take victory and promotion to B grade. Two wins from two C grade races is a good start to his cycling racing career. Luke Gallagher was second and Grant Neilson third. Then followed Shane Pettingill, Harley Bondini, Zvonko Maric, Matt Kennelly, Terry Kelly, Andrew Gordon, Glen Ogilvy, and Mick Blackwood.
D grade completed one lap. James Golding has been improving each week and this week he got the finish just right. The field stayed together for most of the first lap with the exception of Sue Elstrom who missed the turnoff and headed to Poowong. Peter ODonnell climbs well for a big man and he had Frank Bensted in trouble near the top. ODonnell stayed with the leaders till the final hill where Colin Manintveld and James Golding got away. James was too strong for Col in the uphill sprint finish and went away to take his first race win. Col was second with Peter third and Frank fourth. Sue was found in the Poowong hills later in the day.
Next week is the Tim Mcardle Handicap at Shady Creek. There will be a BBQ after the race. All club members are encouraged to race for the big Trophy. Please register on Facebook so you can be handicapped appropriately.
Course Flyby
We are adding flybys of all our races to the website. You can find them on each course’s details page.
