All Hail The New Club Champion Nankervis
Mother nature put on a cracking day for the 2022 Eureka Cycling Road Race Championships day. Glorious sunshine bathed the small (but classy) fields which assembled at the start line. With the temperature hovering in the mid teens and a fair NNE breeze out on course, everything was set for a tactical day of racing on the classic Windmill circuit...
Division 4 had the smallest field with Renee Clapham and Helen McIntosh going head to head. The pair agreed to share the workload until the final lap when the gloves were off and the mind games began. Renee launched her attack with 7 kilometres remaining and quickly opened a winning gap as she solo raced to the chequered flag.
Division 3 saw a healthy field of seven leave the start under neutralised racing until after the first corner.
Geoff Edwards had promoted himself into Div 3 and was cautiously trying to get a sense of the calibre of his opposition. Dennis Shaw has been impressive lately and was also tackling Div 3 to show these young guys a bit about racing. Also in the field were the lightly raced Daryl Brown and the unknown quantity of Jeremy Humber, both of whom can surprise on their day.
Peter Livitsanis launched the first attack of the day, just three kilometres after the race started. The field was soon back together and things settled for twenty kilometres until Peter Lamb made an attack on the hill past the small hamlet of Blowhard. The pack regrouped and started watching each other cautiously.
Lamb attacked again a few kilometres later and was joined by Mark Hogan, however they were all back together by the end of the second lap and it was obvious that the riders were evenly matched - the race appeared destined to be decided by a bunch sprint...
Home straight and Daryl Brown leads them out from the very top of Donovan's Road at a pace that discourages any early attacks. Of course this only sets the race up for the more powerful riders behind him patiently waiting to jump. They watch the metres countdown and hold steady until the finish line comes into view...
Lamb hits out at 300 metres to go, with Hogan, Humber and Shaw in tow. Edwards and Livitsanis are caught out on the inside and miss their chance at boarding the Lamb express.
Hogan and Humber make their final efforts and get the better of Lamb with Shaw now surging as well. On the line and it’s a close call with Hogan just edging out Humber and Shaw screaming home in third place.
Division 2 rolled off from the start line with seven riders vying for the title. Consistent racers Jason Birch, Tony Mirabella and Darryn Reed headlined the race, with Lindsay Burgoyne, Peter Canny, Greg Ley and Andrew Wilson all keen to make their presence felt.
In a race of tactics, no one was really prepared to make any early efforts. The first two laps passed by with each rider content to let someone else make the first move.
By the final lap everyone was calculating their best chance and Ley decided his was to launch a long range attack with fifteen kilometres remaining. He quickly opened a one hundred metre gap, by which time his counterparts had started rolling turns to not let the race get away from them.
Canny drove the bunch, whilst others were happy to sit back and not contribute - in readiness for their own attacks...
Ley’s adventure was brought to an end with nine kilometres remaining in the race. The full compliment of riders were together again and biding their time until the next attack.
Into the home straight and Ley dares to dream again as he launches another attack on the small rises. Each rider measures their effort and the pack does just enough to keep the race leader in check as the kilometres tick down.
Over the final rise and Ley looks back to see he still holds a fifty metre gap. He digs deep and risks another look behind with just one kilometre to race. Burgoyne and Canny are leading the chase and setting it all up for the younger men. Ley is holding the gap and starts to have delusions of grandeur as the finish line comes into view, but it’s over quickly as the rest of the pack start the sprint proper.
Wilson opens up first and Mirabella jumps on his wheel. Reed misses that train and launches his own effort in the middle. Birch is boxed in behind Burgoyne and Canny, their job done they drift back through the field.
Reed has burst clear with 100 metres to go and has a margin on the pack. Mirabella edges ahead of Wilson and Birch has finally found clear tarmac and is flying home into second place behind the dominant Reed.
Club Championship Race
Shane Nankervis was the early favourite for the feature event of the day. Scratchings and no shows on the morning saw his stocks rise higher, but not due to the quality of the other competitors, rather it was the lack of numbers who could assist in combatting the inevitable onslaught.
Also on the starting line was Club President Stu Brien, along with former Club Champion Tim Canny, powerhouse Jason Hendry, the current Club Time Trial Champion Dayne Pearce and Paul Tabbit - Nankervis’ training mate.
Six strong riders with watts to spare, all ready to race four laps of Windmill for a total of 70 kilometres...
Determined not to let this race get away from him, Nankervis rode like the favourite he was.
No attacks from anyone on Lap 1 as they ambled around at a most gentlemanly pace and averaged just over 37 Kph.
The speed crept up for Lap 2, with the average speed increasing to over 39 Kph, however the race remained free of excitement.
The next time past the quarry Nankervis was waiting to pounce and once they reached the rise he pressed the go button. The pack responded instantly with wattage spiking and heart rates going through the roof, but such was the ferocity of Nankervis’ attack, that he opened a gap anyway.
Thirty kilometres remained in the race, offering enough time and distance for the pack to chase him down, once they recover from the initial onslaught...
For Nankervis this is the plan - one moment, one attack. Too many times he has taken another rider to the finish line, only to miss out in the final sprint. That isn’t an option on this day!
The chasers recover, however they are only four in number. Brien, Canny, Hendry and Pearce swap turns, they don’t expect any help from Tabbitt - who is more than happy to see his Lake Health team mate ride away...
Nankervis stretches his lead out beyond 250 metres as they come through for the bell lap. The next section of the circuit is where he excels and by the time he crests that rise past the quarry, he has extended his lead to 400 metres. With just twelve kilometres to race he is determined to hang on... meanwhile behind him the chasers keep chasing and the watcher keeps watching them chase. What fun to have the perfect view of your mate riding to glory!
Nankervis still holds a 350 metre lead as he turns onto Donovan’s Road for the final time.
The chasers have taken precious few metres out of the gap, however the tailwind down the homestretch may put pay to their chances of catching him. Still, they try.
Over the rises and the road straightens out. Less then three kilometres remain for Nankervis. The treeless paddocks allow the wind to speed along and collect the race leader. It’s free watts and he uses them even as his own strength wains.
The chasers have a clear line of site again... maybe that gap is less than 300 metres?
Just one rise to pass over and our leader will be heading both down wind and down hill. Surely they can’t catch him now...
The chasers are closing in ever so slowly and as they crest that final rise Pearce launches in pursuit of Nankervis. He instantly has clear air from his fellow chasers. This is his chance for glory...
Nankervis has less than 1000 metres to ride. He looks behind, he sees the pack, but he can’t really tell what’s going on. The gap looks big enough... surely I’ve done enough...
Pearce is moving faster than the race leader. He’s closing the gap... but now he can see the finish line...
Nankervis is flying towards the crowd that awaits him... and him alone... the chequered flag is waving... this is the moment he becomes the Club Champion!
Pearce is clear of the pack but some ten seconds behind the winner. He takes a brave second.
The rest of the pack finishes with a sprint.
Eureka Cycling Road Championships Day results
Division 4 Championship (52.5 Km):
1st - Renee Clapham
2nd - Helen McIntosh
Division 3 Championship (52.5 Km):
1st - Mark Hogan
2nd - Jeremy Humber
3rd - Dennis Shaw
Division 2 Championship (52.5 Km):
1st - Darryn Reed
2nd - Jason Birch
3rd - Tony Mirabella
Club Championship Race (70 Km):
1st - Shane Nankervis
2nd - Dayne Pearce
3rd - Tim Canny
The Eureka Cycling Club kindly thanks the volunteers who made Championships Day possible:
Dean Wells, Steven Crowe, Julie Connellan, Mal Rock, Lois Goldfinch, Lyn Rock, Bill Goldfinch and Graeme Parker.