ALBURY cyclist Jonathon Styles has taken out the prestigious Geoff Dixon Memorial Road race at Chiltern.
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The handicap saw 70 riders vying for the title yesterday, including former Olympian Steven Fairless and in-form riders Brendan Washington — who had recently won a Mount Buller road event — and two-time winner Damien Christian.
Albury-Wodonga Cycling Club’s acting president Tom Barry said a strong sprint finish got Styles over the line.
“It’s a handicap race which has a fascinating dynamic,” he said.
“You’ve got to work together very harmoniously but then it comes to a point when you realise you’re in the winning break and you go from complete co-operation to at each other’s throats to win.
“It was a really good uphill sprint from Styles and a good strong win.”
Styles was in the third group to leave, with the first three forming a leading pack.
The scratched and the next group joined together and with 25 kilometres left had closed the gap to 2½ minutes.
“The scratch markers didn’t get back which was a bit of a surprise given the benign conditions,” Barry said.
The fastest on the 66-kilometre course was 1:24:08 posted by Peter Trelore from Wagga in a tight sprint finish with John Forrest.
“We had to study multiple camera angles to see who won it — it was a cracking sprint and millimetres on the line,” Barry said.
First female was another local, Albury’s Lisa Barry.
The memorial is one of the club’s biggest events drawing riders from Bright, Wagga, Griffith, Shepparton and Wangaratta.
The course took in the Chiltern Forrest through to Rutherglen and back.
“It was a magnificent, beautiful, calm sunny day, perfect racing conditions,” Barry said.
“We’d like to thank the Chiltern and Rutherglen communities for having us out there — it’s a magnificent course and we really appreciate people’s understanding.
“Cyclists are just out there trying to be fit and have fun.”