A WELL-TIMED sprint gave Mark Wight the win in the seventh race of the Mount Gambier Cycling Club’s Summer Series on Sunday.
Wight sprinted to the line in a head wind past Harry Opperman to take the victory.
With no junior race on the day, 25 senior greeted the starter.
Slightly overcast and a light zephyr blowing from the south meant that the run home had some headwind to contend with.
The first riders to leave were Damian Buckley, Louise Abraham and Jason Buckland, given a generous nine-minute head start on the next group consisting of Jen Buckland, Jami Buckley, Dave Delaland and Michael Dethmore.
Three minutes later Harry Opperman, Wight, Spek Peake, John Cranwell and Mike Bakker departed, with Bruce McLaughlin, Riley Hill and Tess Wight two minuted further back.
One minute later Phil Stasiw, Colin Weatherill and Paul Brooker headed off, while the penultimate group of Malcolm Tirabassi, Matthew Opperman, Niel van Niekirk, Ash Herrewyn and Rowan Kruysse left 19 minutes after the lead riders.
Joining regular back marker Nick Kidman was Sam Golding, given a tough welcome to racing in the Limestone Coast and starting 21 minutes – approximately 10km – behind the first group of riders.
By the halfway mark some gaps were beginning to appear in groups, while other groups were powering on together.
The initial trio of Damian Buckley, Louise Abraham and Jason Buckland were working strongly to try and stay away, turning around in front of the rest of the racers.
The third group had made up the three-minute gap to the group in front and continued to power to the front of the race, with Jami Buckland and Deleland trying to hang on.
Jen Buckland and Dethmore continued to work together but several of the remaining groups began to splinter.
The front group was eventually caught by Harry Opperman, Wight, Peake, Cranwell and Bakker with 5km remaining and continued to work well together to the finish line.
Harry Opperman took his opportunity and began the sprint for the finish line, with Wight holding on to his wheel.
Wight timed his sprint to perfection, riding past Opperman to take the win in a time of 1:06:92, with Cranwell leading Peake and Bakker across the line to take the last position on the podium.
Kidman finished in 19th position but with fastest-time honours with 1:10:07 – 49:07 riding time.
The next race in the Summer Series will be another 30km race, this time on the Caves Road course, on March 7.
There will then be a brief hiatus from club racing until March 28, to allow club racers to participate in the South West Series race hosted by the Warrnambool Cycling Club on March 13.
