Tyler Lindorff, left, wins the A grade race.
Camera IconTyler Lindorff, left, wins the A grade race. Credit: Supplied/Supplied

Peel Districts Cycling Club winter road race season greeted with sunshine and warm temperatures

Nick CowieMandurah Coastal Times

SUNSHINE and 30C temperatures greeted the riders for the start of the Peel Districts Cycling Club’s winter road race season in Serpentine on Saturday.

Two grades of women’s-only racing and a junior development ride was on offer including five grades of racing.

Budding junior racers riding one lap of the 9km circuit were under supervision.

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Unfortunately, there weren’t enough riders for a competitive women’s advanced race and most competitors chose to race in the mixed grades instead.

Adelia Neethling, who represented South Africa in track cycling at the recent Commonwealth Games, decided to fly the flag for women’s cycling and rode a solo effort against the clock, putting in some impressive lap times.

The women’s development race saw a trio of riders – Lauren Backshall, Heather Connan and Jasmyn Quick – establish a small break over Michelle Baker and Nikki Sime on the first lap, dropping all other riders.

Over the next three laps, the trio maintained their small buffer from the chasing pair, despite the best efforts of Sime to close the gap.

In the end, Quick lived up to her name, sprinting to take the win, with Backshall second and Heather Connan third.

Mixed E grade saw a couple of women have their introduction to racing at a less frantic pace than the women’s development race.

Unfortunately, E grade were first on the scene of a crash in B grade and only two riders finished.

D grade had a couple of injections of pace on the second and third laps, dropping riders, which saw four riders take the bell for their fifth and final lap.

The group stayed together, picking up speed along Karnup Road until the sprint, which was won by Roger De Pontes, with Peter Barclay second and Paul Taylor third.

The pace was on in C grade from the start and riders were being dropped every lap.

The pace picked up on the second half of the sixth and final lap, with only 10 of the almost 30 starters contesting the sprint finish, which was won by Calum Milne, with Michael White second and Mark Duchesne third.

Next Saturday afternoon the racing will take place at Doh Hill circuit in Baldivis.

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