Club Races
Rathgeber Wins at Quarry Road
Quarry Road Handicap
Sunday 25th July 2010

	Tony Rathgeber

Grampians cyclists were greeted by icy temperatures and a thick fog blanketing the course when they arrived to tackle the tough 47km Quarry Rd circuit on Sunday.

Fortunately the fog lifted, and racing was able to start at the scheduled time. Limit markers Tom Eldridge, Stuart King, Tony Rathgeber and Peter Mao, looked to make the most of their 7 ½ minute advantage, setting up a huge lead which proved to be difficult to reduce in the calm conditions.

Further back, second scratch riders Daryl Elliott, Gerard O’Brien and Allan Barnett struggled to keep their momentum up, and were caught by Sean Prins, Dean Hayward and Drew Heard inside the last 7 kilometers.

As the combined group blasted over the hills on the run home, they had their first sighting of the out markers. A high speed chase ensued with speeds touching 60km/hour. However, their effort was in vain, falling short by 30 meters on the line, with Rathgeber taking out the sprint over Eldridge and King.

Hayward took out fastest time of 1.14.09.