Club Races
Kelly Cleans Up in Sprint Finish
Stawell Racecourse - Sunday 11th November 2007

A warm sunny morning and south easterly breeze greeted the small field of 10 riders, who fronted for the 64km Stawell Racecourse circuit. The handicapper’s job was made easy as the riders fitted easily into two groups.

Limit riders Danny Monaghan, Tony Lloyd, Tania Walter, Tom Eldridge and Michael Kelly were given a 4 minute head start on the scratch riders. Kelly and Lloyd made easy work of the hills across to Pomonal helping this group hold on to a substantial lead. The whole group worked well together and averaged a respectable 36.3kph for the course.

Scratch riders Tim Schneider, Frank Kean, Alan Barnett, Drew Heard and Stuart King stayed together for the entire race and averaged 37.3kms for the course. Tim Schneider showed he is on the come back trail, taking long turns out in front, but the scratch bunch failed to catch more than a distant glimpse of the limit riders, as they disappeared over the foot of the Black Range, with only a short distance left to the line.

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Tony Lloyd, Mike Kelly and Danny Monaghan

Having held scratch at bay, the limit riders turned from friend to foe as they rearranged themselves for the final sprint. Lloyd and Walter led out the sprint with Kelly strong enough to whip around Lloyd’s right shoulder to take out first place. Lloyd maintained his momentum to come in second with Monaghan overcoming Walter for third place.

A short time later the scratch riders appeared, with Stuart King taking out fastest time of 1:39:33. King didn't miss a beat all ride and had enough energy left to out sprint his fellow riders.