Carmellotti wins A grade

Forty riders fronted the starter for the graded scratch format.

With gusts up to 50 knots there was going to be nowhere to hide.

Several riders from Dulwich Hill turned up for a race and were a welcome addition to the C and D grade ranks.

A grade was off first into the mini cyclone, with only six riders it promised to be a difficult day.

First to test the legs was Adam Rourke, as the bunch headed out into the teeth of the wind.

He was quickly reeled in by Andrew Jarman.

The group settled into a smooth rhythm with Matt Carmellotti and Damian Mason pulling strong consistent turns.

The group had dropped Rob Hernandez, of Illawarra, in the first lap as Mason and Carmellotti showed no sign of letting up.

By the start of lap three Roger Bird, of Northern Sydney and Jarman were also dropped.

With Rourke providing good support Mason and Carmellotti continued to test each other keeping the pace high.

At times the pace slowed to 20km/h as the head wind was unforgiving.

All three riders continued to work hard right up to the final turn, with Rourke leading out Carmellotti jumped first putting a five metre gap on Mason.

Mason chased hard narrowing the gap to half a bike length, but it wasn’t enough as Carmellotti took the win with Rourke third.

B grade rolled off with nine riders, this bunch was pretty even so it was going to be difficult for any riders to break clear.

This didn’t stop several riders from trying to get away, but each time the bunch reeled them back in.

For the most part the bunch stayed together each rider doing their best to find some protection out of the wind.

Joe Pereira, newly promoted from C grade, was riding strongly as was Nathan Miller, both riders trying their hands at solo breakaways.

In the end it came down to the bunch sprint and it was Henry Wakeford who got the jump on the bunch by going before the final turn.

The bunch gave chase but Wakeford was able to hold them off for an excellent win.

He was followed over the line by a strong finishing Mark Williams and Dave Morris.

C grade started with eight riders taking on the elements.

Again this bunch was even and there were few attempts to break clear.

The bunch rolled along solidly with no one prepared to chance their hand.

Gary Bryce was seen on the front doing his best to break the stalemate, all to no avail.

The bunch hit the finishing straight together and it was young Scott Thompson who again showed the older more experienced riders his speed.

Winning by several bike lengths he even had time to sit up and coast over the line with Lawrence Byrne coming in a fast finishing second place and the hard working Gary Bryce third.

The D grade ranks were swelled with several riders from Dulwich Hill.

Down in the area for the weekend a large group of riders turned up to take on Nowra Velo’s finest.

The strength of the wind was guaranteed to make life extremely difficult for the lower grades.

This bunch worked hard with all riders rolling through keeping the pace high.

The likes of Michael Thompson and young Jacob Stuart were flying the flag for Nowra as the Dulwich riders were holding their own.

In a time only two minutes slower than C grade they crossed the line in yet another bunch sprint, Mark Lacey, of Dulwich Hill proving too strong followed closely by Geoff Martin.

Michael Thompson came home in a well-deserved third.

With the extra riders from Dulwich Hill it allowed the rare running of an E grade race.

This also gave some Nowra riders who would normally battle in D grade a chance to go the whole race distance in a bunch of equal ability.

It was this bunch which felt the brutal conditions the most.

To their credit this bunch stuck together and raced as hard and enthusiastically as any on the day.

Alyssa Glide and Tony Kerr fought hard for Nowra coming in an excellent second and third respectively behind Amy Vesty, of Dulwich Hill.

The Nowra club would like to thank the Dulwich Hill club for coming down and providing some excellent racing.

Riders would also like to thank the marshals for the day led by Phil Jones and race organiser Doug Holland.

Racing this week is on Saturday at the MR 92 course.

The race will be a short course handicap.

The race starts at 2.30pm with entries closing by 2.15pm.

Next weekend will see the running of the 25th edition of the Canberra tour.

This multistage event has been a favourite of Nowra riders for years with this year seeing its largest entry ever heading over the range.

Nowra will be represented in the following grades - A grade Robbie Williams; B grade Mark Fenner, Jason Caldwell, Matt Carmellotti and Damian Mason; D Grade Greg Molony, Phil Jones, Andrew Jarman, Rob Rix and Richard O’Connell.

Women’s C Grade, Jody De Souza, Nicole Otte and Alyssa Glyde.

The club wishes these riders all the best.