Australian Hill Climbing Championships

Over the weekend of 2 and 3 April, the Australian Time Trial and Hill Climbing Championships were held near Bright, Victoria. We took 20 athletes to this race, most of them raced, whilst our elite women took the opportunity to do a 3 day climbing block of training in absolutely perfect weather.  It was 18-20C every day without a cloud in the sky – we couldn’t have asked for more.

The Australian Time Trial Championships was a point to point uphill course starting in Porpunkah (approx 5km from Bright) and travelling along an undulating road to Mt Buffalo.  Depending on the age group, the time trial course finished at various destinations partially up the Mt Buffalo.
For some of our lesser experienced athletes, completing the course to the best of their ability and learning to tolerate the pain of time trialing was their objective, whilst others were aiming for a top 10 result.  A summary of the time trial results are as follows:

U 15 Men Time Trial 
Ben Andrews  5th  
Patrick Cosgrave 14th  
Click here for Ben’s report on his time trial and road race.

U17 Men  Time Trial 
Jayden Cooper 34th 
Mark Kelly 17th
Ashley Gillespi 44th 
Steven Carroll 41th
Drew Morey 14th
Pierce Connor 22th
Liam McCalister 39th 
Click here for Drew’s report.

U19 Men   Time Trial 
Camden Bush 22th
Will Allen 26th
Bryce Morey 11th 
Clement Boydell 9th
Munro Boydell 14th
Michael Hale 20th
Hayden Eynaud 17th 

The Road Race on Sunday was a chilly start.  Although we had the luxury of another hour’s sleep it was only 6C when the athletes were warming up.  Bob went to the U17 and U19 start at Porpunkah whilst Helen rode with the U15 boys to their start at the ticket gate at the base of Mt Buffalo.

Ben Andrews and Patrick Cosgrave (U15 boys) raced straight up the mountain after a short 500m neutral start.  Both riders raced very well with Ben finishing 4th and Pat coming across the line in 13th place.

The U17 boys started their road race in Porpunkah and did a 15km loop before starting the ascent.  One of our lesser experienced riders, Ash Gillespi lost touch with the peleton shortly after the start and had a long day ahead of him, without the ability to sit in and get a draft.  He had never climbed Mt Buffalo before but he settled into a pace he could sustain and made it to the summit.

Mark Kelly had done a lot of climbing and hard training rides but unfortunately caught the flu last week.  He was still quite congested and felt flat all weekend.  As a result, Mark wasn’t able to climb with the front group.  However, his consistent training regime and improved climbing strength will see him do very well this road season.

Pierce Connor, fresh off his win in the Warburton road race a week ago, climbed well and spent most of the race, climbing with Mark, and finished in 18th place. Whilst, Jayden Cooper also climbed well, finishing with the third group at the Mt Buffalo. Drew finished in 9th place, staying with the front group until 5km to go. 

The U19 boys did 3 laps of a 10km loop between Porpunkah and the base of Mt Buffalo before starting their ascent.  Will Allen got into a break on the 2nd lap with another rider and they soon had a lead of 5mins20sec over the peleton.  The pace was really on when the GC riders decided to chase, causing the bunch to splinter in the first 2km of the ascent up Mt Buffalo. 

When the break was caught, Will did his best to help Clement stay in a good position on the climb before his legs explosed on him.  After Will’s domestic duties were completed, he settled into a steady pace to finish in 21st position. Clement and Munro Boydell were with the front group until about 8km to go, before losing contact.  They finished in 11th and 13th, respectively.

Hayden Eyanud and Michael Hale climbed together, finishing 14th and 15th.   They averaged 26.9km/hr for the road race, compared to 29.2km/hr for the winner.

It was Camden Bush’s first Australian Climbing Championship, and he rode very well to complete the climb in 18th position, about 5mins behind Hayden and a few minutes ahead of Will.