Nick Johns and Colin Hunt were the grade winners at the Nowra Velo Club’s criterium events on the Albatross Aviation Tech Park on Sunday.
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As an Australian Defence Cycling member, Hunt was having his first start with the Nowra Velo and his first attempt at the short circuit type of racing.
He scored a start in the division two event where he held good bunch position during the 30 minutes of lapping around the 800-metre circuit.
Then with just over two laps to go, Hunt attacked the lead bunch and raced out to a 50-metre lead. The field thought he would fade before the finish but he went further ahead to take the win with a clear 100 metres to spare.
Noted sprinters Michael Berriman and Adrian McMillan were in a battle up the straight for the minor positions when Tony Kuipers flashed past them both to cross the line for second ahead of Berriman, McMillan, Jose Pereira and Ian Kielly.
Brooklyn Henry chased the sprinters all the way up the finish straight to finish seventh ahead of Graham Johns and then came Alice Lauder, Jo Chalain and Ashley Johns.
The division one race was off to a blistering start when Levi Johns attacked from the whistle. The field was chasing and gasping as they strung out and attempted to get on terms.
Mark Astley, Aaron Lauder, Richard Vitiello and Nick Johns made contact but the speed did not ease off for over 10 minutes. Gavin Nethery, Aaron Coghlan and Jade Colligan just made contact when the speed upped again.
Out-of-form riders Coghlan and Nethery let it go and Astley went to the sidelines with a broken spoke in his front wheel.
The remaining riders cruised into the final two laps but the charge resumed over the final 200 metres as Levi led up the straight to the finish to have his brother Nick slip past on the line.
Lauder finished third ahead of Vitiello and Colligan.
The start numbers were down for this event with many Nowra Velo members in other venues. A large number of regulars are on tour with the Hannibal ride from Spain to Italy.
Next weekend the Nowra Velo has a 20-strong team entered for the final round of the Southern Regions Interclub series. This will be run with two divisions over a 50-kilometre course at Canyonleigh on Saturday afternoon.
Nowra Velo goes into this event as the leading club over the five-race series. Other clubs include Illawarra, Goulburn, Eurobadalla, Jindabyne, Macarthur and Southern Highlands.
The Nowra Velo entrants include Levi Johns, Aaron Coghlan, Mark Astley, Steve Crossman, Nick Johns, Godfrey Green, Jade Colligan, Troy Whittington, Aaron Lauder, Richard Vitiello, Geoff Lockhart, Tony Kuipers, Michael Berriman, Brad Oaten, Ian Kielly, Scott Martin, Graham Johns, Kate Darke, Brooklyn Henry and Alice Lauder.