After two stinking hot days is Melbourne, and rider who wasn’t already cooked should now be absolutely well done after a very tough morning at Glenvale Crescent. A strong and gusting wind from the north made conditions tough all the way round the circuit, and the hard men (and women) caused carnage whenever they put the hammer down at the front of the bunch.
The A and D Grade bunches seemed to have the toughest time of it, with the pressure in A Grade seeing a strong break go clear and eventually lap the main field, leaving only 18 riders to fight for the win. In D Grade, each surge saw another handful of riders get spat off the back, until less than 20 survived to sprint for the win, with Samantha Ritter’s strong turns doing the lion’s share of the devastation.
Alex Smyth (Plan B Racing) made it four A Grade wins on the trot at Glenvale, but faced stiff opposition in the final sprint from noted fast men Luke Parker (Jayco VIS) and Steele Von Hoff (Garmin Development Team), who was enjoying his last race in Melbourne before jetting off to make his debut with his new team in Singapore. Smyth proved too strong however, and took the win by half a wheel from Parker. Liam Dove held off Von Hoff for third, while Dale ‘I’m not getting a hair cut until I win one’ Woonton and Johnnie Walker rounded out the podium.
The early attack in B Grade came from Ed Powell and Sean Roberts, with Powell continuing on with the effort once Clive Silcock, Rob Regester (Degani) and Wade Edwards (Peninsula Star) came across. The four began to pull away from the bunch, joined a few laps later after a desperate chase by Adam Versteege (Zoom Video Racing), Will Thomas (Burnley Finance) and Fergus Sully (Bike Gallery).
The group of seven built an unassailable lead over the next 30 minutes, but the bunch were back in with a chance once Thomas, Silcock and Edwards lost contact with a little over 10 minutes remaining. Versteege was next to succumb to the intensity of the effort, but at three to go the three survivors still held an 18 second advantage. Regester popped on the penultimate lap, leaving Sully and Powell to sprint for the win.
Sully was too good and took an impressive win over Powell, while the rest of the places went to riders who attacked the bunch over the final two laps. James Gray claimed third ahead of Hayden Eynaud (Kelly Coaching), Matt Ross and Drew Morey, while Heidi Buntrock was the only female finisher in the tough conditions.
C Grade saw the biggest contingent of the day left in contention for the final sprint, and Adam Pendlebury showed the other sprinters a clean set of heels as he crossed the line two lengths clear of Scott Blade, Brenton McRae and James Wang.
Up and coming juniors cleaned up from the survivors in the D Grade bunch sprint, with Riley Hart (Richmond Cyclery) taking a narrow win ahead of Harry Irvine, Tom Snibson, Dylan Thompson and Lex Munoz. Sam Ritter was rewarded for her tireless efforts with the women’s win, while Amber Saunders took second.
CCCC Crits continue on Tuesday evening at Sandown Racecourse. All grades race at 6.30pm, with access available to the circuit from 5.30pm via the Princes Highway overpass.
Race Results
Glenvale Crescent Crits (2012) - 26 February 2012
A Grade 60 mins + 3 laps 44 starters
1 Alex Smyth CCCC
2 Luke Parker Preston
3 Liam Dove Blackburn
4 Steele Von Hoff Chelsea & Peninsula
5 Dale Woonton CCCC
6 Johnnie Walker CCCC
B Grade 1 hour + 3 laps 60 starters
1 Fergus Sully Blackburn
2 Ed Powell Melbourne Uni
3 James Gray Hawthorn
4 Hayden Eynaud Blackburn
5 Matt Ross CCCC
Women Heidi Buntrock St Kilda
C Grade 50 mins + 3 laps 41 starters
1 Adam Pendlebury Blackburn
2 Scott Blade MTBA
3 Brenton McRae CCCC
4 James Wang CCCC
D Grade 45 mins + 3 laps 41 starters
1 Riley Hart Brunswick
2 Harry Irvine CCCC
3 Tom Snibson CCCC
4 Dylan Thompson CCCC
Women Samantha Ritter CCCC
2 Amber Saunders CCCC
E Grade 30 mins 20 starters
1 Skyler Kah CCCC
2 Harrison McClimont Blackburn
3 Jack Everingham Hawthorn
4 Lachlan Van der Velden CCCC
5 Alana Field CCCC
6 Georgia Cummings CCCC
7 Thomas Jones CCCC
8 Bill Simpson CCCC
9 Harry Sturt CCCC
10 Michael McRitchie Hawthorn
11 Josh Kah CCCC
12 Lele Kaltmann CCCC
13 Ben Jones CCCC
14 Angus Mennen CCCC
15 Allison Sturt CCCC
16 Freya Wickenden CCCC
17 Raphasel Brazier CCCC
18 Madeleine Currie CCCC
