Road: The Long's Hill World Championships

Thanks to Chris Liston for the following full set of reports on the senior races.

Young guns lap up Long's Hill climb

Jay Bourke took line honours in the second stage of the Ballarat Sebastopol Cycling Club’s King of the Mountain series. In ideal spring-like conditions at Glen Park, four grades of senior riders tackled the 10 km loop that takes in the Long's Hill climb. Bourke, by definition a climber, crossed the line in the 50-km A-grade event as victor with apparent ease. Over the previous five laps it was not so clear cut. U19 rider James Crafter with Stuart Grigg, Grant Gilbert and Damien Keirl worked steadily on the White Swan descent and the Long's Hill climb. Their tactics dislodged Brad Clark, former winner of the U23 King of the Mountains at the Australian Championships, and last year’s B-grade winner at Long's Hill, Warren Faneco. Strong-man climber and mountain bike rider Shane Cody was sidelined after two laps due to a puncture. This left a core group of riders all capable of placing well. With Bourke putting time into the field on the last climb, the real battle was for the minors. Tony Mirabella, who in the opening laps was tucked off the main bunch, came through and claimed second over James Crafter. Track star Damien Kierl, along with Doug Garley and John Polkinghorne, rode a tough event to finish in the mix.

The B grade race, also over 50 km, saw young guns Aaron Blomeley, Jarrod Boyd, Thayne Turley, Charles Martin and Sam Edwards up against the wisdom of the likes of Charlie Stebbing, Shane Butler, Peter Kiel and Bob Braszell. From the early stages the in-form Martin was applying pressure, and attacked on the downhill on the opening lap. Scott Bilney succumbed to the terrain while the rest of the field stayed in contact. Martin came over the climb on the final lap to take the win in front of a field that was a tighter clump than A grade. Jarrod Boyd took second narrowly over Aaron Blomely. Former footballer Thayne Turley, a relative newcomer to BSCC road racing, brought home the rest of the field.

C grade was graced with the presence of a few juniors who saw the 40 km race as a great challenge. Senior riders Don Stewart, Peter Canny, Dave Peters, Ben Morrison and Will Maddams were not able to shake juniors Jasper Foley, Joshua Liston and Lewis Piccoli over the four laps, not even on the White Swan descent. Despite their restricted gears, Foley and Liston drafted in the pack, at speeds nudging over 70km/hr. The juniors came into their own on the ascent. Maddams cracked, and a small gap opened in front of Stewart – a gap that stayed open thanks to the four climbs. On lap two Canny, Piccoli and Liston had settled in at the front, with Foley looking like he had been ejected. Coming over the climb on the last lap, Foley was back in the mix and led a long way out. Piccoli was chasing Foley, with Liston and Canny in pursuit of Piccoli. Foley and Piccoli took the first two placings. Liston, with revs and youth on his side, just kept Canny from the minor place, with Morrison following Canny home.

In D grade, Victoria Snibson and Kylie Zelley had a duel of their own for 30 km. Snibson opened a winning gap on the determined Zelley, who persisted with consistent pace to finish the punishing climbing event.

Results: A Grade 50 km KOM, Glen Park

1st Jay Bourke
2nd Tony Mirabella
3rd James Crafter

B Grade 50 km
1st Charles Martin
2nd Jarrod Boyd
3rd Aaron Blomeley

C Grade 40 km
1st Jasper Foley
2nd Lewis Piccoli
3rd Joshua Liston

D Grade 30 km
1st Victoria Snibson
2nd Kylie Zelley

************

This Saturday's BSCC road race, July 3, will be held on the Long's Hill Road circuit. This is the race otherwise known as the Long's Hill World Championships. For the full story of last year's epic, click HERE, and you'll see how much things change in twelve months.  This time last year, Mitch Brogden was riding B grade, Charlie Stebbing and Stuart Grigg were riding C grade, Micheal Veal was riding a road bike, and Doug Garley was smashing everyone.  Not everything changes. 

This year Rob Doyle and Ben Clark are having collarbone-enforced rests, so the race is wide open.  Be there! 

Corrections? Questions? Comments? Contact the web lackey

back

show all articles