Willow Grove 3 March 2002

Latrobe Valley Cycling Club hosted a Sunday morning race starting and finishing at Willow Grove. The circuit was 30 km in length and took in some nice little hills and one very dead section of road which required constant effort to keep rolling forward.

The A grade field of 7 riders found the pace on within the first few kilometres as Wayne Collins rolled away from the bunch. The pace was picked up and Wayne rejoined the group for the first climb of the day. Glen Gibson showed his climbing abilities to lead the field to the top. Soon after the descent, the race made a left turn and headed towards Westbury. Rob Reid put the hammer down and stretched the field out only to be caught at the base of the next climb. Over the top of the climb and Reid once again made an acceleration which saw him take Geoff Thompson and Glen Gibson away from the main bunch. Danny Dilger waited for the gap to open and then made a strong effort to bridge to the leaders, leaving behind the remaining riders. The group of four worked solidly to open the gap to the chasers. By the end of lap one, the four leading riders had opened a comfortable lead and continued to work well on the second lap. With 7km to race. Rob Reid accelerated at the top of a small climb and opened a gap, sensing a lack of organisation from the remaining riders, Reid put the hammer down and soloed in for a good victory. Geoff Thompson outsprinted Glen Gibson for second while Danny Dilger rolled across the line in fourth place.

B Grade was to complete one lap of the challenging course. Gavin Lane from Warragul was an unknown rider to most and some riders had some cause for concern. The group worked well together until Gavin Lane kept some pressure on over the second climb of the day and made all of the other riders dig in to hang on to his wheel. As the group turned onto the Moe-Erica road, Gavin Lane accelerated off the front of the group taking Peter Tsbelis along with him. Gavin was working hard with Peter using every bit of energy to hang on to his wheel. Before long, Tsbelis found the pace too high and was absorbed by the chasing bunch. Lane dropped his chain at one stage and the bunch had almost caught him but most riders were not willing to sacrifice themselves and Lane was able to continue to finish on his own for a good win. Bill Pace lead the group home ahead of Peter Tsbelis.

C Grade completed one lap and at the half way point of the race there were only four riders left in the race. The recent winner of the C grade criterium series, Bruce Evanson soon had to withdraw due to mechanical troubles and probably made a few more people smile as the chance of a win was within reach. As the group headed up the hill towards Willow Grove, Bulldog Hiriat began to set the pace. Hiriat and the remaining rider then swapped turns until a few kilometres to go when Hiriat once again tried to stretch the legs of his competitors, Unfortunately this failed and as the sprint began, Hiriat was left stranded at the rear of the field. Adam Prust showed some good speed to win ahead of Daryl Griggs and Tony Hiriat.

A Grade
1. Rob Reid
2. Geoff Thompson
3. Glen Gibson

B Grade
1. Gavin Lane
2. Bill Pace
3. Peter Tsebelis

C Grade
1. Adam Prust
2. Daryl Griggs
3. tony Hiriart

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