Wet conditions can’t dampen another fine day of road racing

​The second day of road races at the 2018 Simon Anderson Consultants Masters Road Nats provided another great spectacle as MM1-4 and WM1-3 did their best in cold, trying conditions.

Ride of the day went to WM2 Champion Justine Barrow (Coburg CC), comfortably crossing in first position, a massive 8minutes 27seconds ahead of her nearest rivals India Mclean (Manly Warringah CC) and Kate Vandenberg (Vikings CC ACT) who sprinted to claim silver and third honours. Special mention to Renata Farrah (St Kilda CC) who managed to chase down fourth place after a crash in the wet. 

Breaking away from the pack early into the three loop road course, Justine made it look easy extending her lead all the way through the race until the checkered flag.

MM2 finish was the scene of another sprint finish as Michael Curran (Central Coast CC) triumphed across the line ahead of Trent Stevenson (Echuca/Moama CC) and Damian Bovalino (Brunswick CC) by less than a second.

Simone Grounds (Dubbo CC) backed up her ITT success in style in a dash to the line finish, edging out Jenny Pettenon (Hawthorn CC) and Amanda Nabi (South Perth CC) who both put up brave efforts only to be beaten by the smallest of margins.

Earlier in the day's racing, and in dry conditions, in the MM3, Carnegie Caufield Cycling Club’s Darren Lever made a bold move breaking from the pack with just over one kilometre from the end.

To his credit, Lever crossed ahead of a fast finishing Ben Lawes (Townsville CC) and Tom Leaper (Blackburn CC) by four seconds, crediting his success to a well-executed plan in the final climb.

“Across the top I kicked off of Tom’s wheel and kept my head down, pedalled as hard as I could then just didn’t look back. I chanced a glance back with about 500m to go and thought they were coming but I might just have this and got all excited”  said Darren Lever.

It came as one his proudest victories, crediting his healthy competition with Leaper as motivation.

“I really enjoyed it. I’ve raced with Tom [Leaper] a lot; he’s a classy guy, a hard rider and always puts everything out there. It was probably the most emotional win I’ve ever had.”

Sunday’s crits will close the curtain on what has been a fantastic Masters with the Champion of Champions to be named tomorrow following the conclusion of all races.

Complete times and results can be found here. 
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Final Results
Masters Men 1
Matt King (Darwin Cycling Club)                                                 3h08:09
Masters Men 2
Michael Curran (Central Coast Cycling Club)                         2h19:10
Masters Men 3
Darren Lever (Carnegie Caufield Cycling Club)                     2h02:20
Masters Men 4
Alexander Davey (Carnegie Caufield Cycling Club)            2h02:32
 
Masters Women 1         
Emily Hanekroot (Sutherland Shire Cycling Club)                                2h26:38
Masters Women 2
Justine Barrow (Coburg Cycling Club)                                      2h18:11
Masters Women 3
Simone Grounds (Dubbo Cycling Club)                                   2h26:38

RESULTS