Australian Schools Cycling Cup – Shepparton

Race Report by Liam White

Apart from the 4.00am start on the morning of the Road Race my body felt fine and I was ready to go.  As I had raced the course a couple of weeks previous in the Oceania’s, I felt reasonably confident about knowing where I had to be when the pace came on. When I was at the start line I was very relaxed but not long into the race when the side wind struck me, I instantly knew that to place in the race, I would have to race smartly. The bunch was together for about the first 10km until a 2-man break went up the road but we always kept them in sight. The bunch ended up bringing them back at the 35km mark of the race and that’s when the race really began. The bunch after chasing the break for several kilometers were starting to fatigue and gaps started to appear. Then once again due to the cross-wind, a break of 9 guys including myself got away. Later in the second lap, 2 of the guys dropped off during the other crosswind affected section of the course which left 7 of us to keep the pace on.

After the first few kilometers together, the break started to work well and the bunch started to loose contact with us. By the start of the final lap we had a 2 minutes 30second lead according to the SRAM support vehicle. We kept on working together for most of the final lap until we got over the last climb on the back straight which then meant it became a game of who could catch everyone off guard and break away to win the race.

Several attacks were launched within the final 6km – none getting away. So it came down to a bunch kick. Going into the final corner I realized that I needed to be first around it but ended up fourth. Ben Fox, (the winner) was first around the corner and led the sprint to the finish.  However I ended up grabbing two places back and only a bike length behind the winner, to finish in 2nd place. That was a positive for me. We ended up gaining a 9 minute lead on the main bunch.    

Thanks for reading.
Liam White