Stephanie Ives first big Open win
Dandenong Criterium Race report - by Stephanie Ives
Last Sunday saw some fantastic racing up at Dandenong which were held in conjunction with the Southern Vets Cycling Club as part of the Melbourne food and wine festival. The day was brilliant with sunny skies, and only a little bit of wind to annoy riders. The fast 1.5km course consisted of a square block with a nice gentle uphill section (this quickly transformed into a tough drag into the wind once the racing got underway, as small rises often do). There was also a fun fast downhill corner which was almost perfect except for an annoying cat eye taking up prime position in the middle of the road. The morning program consisted of the masters graded style racing which saw some great results from the Cycling Inform team, in particular Danny Kah and Brendan Rowbotham who got 1st and 3rd respectively in A grade! My race was next on the list, with the open women’s A grade set to race for 45 min plus 2 laps.
As soon as John Fox said “go”, we were off. Two girls sprinted off the start line into the distance before we even knew what was going on. The two women break consisted of Amy Bradley and Rebecca Locke who worked well together out the front until the bunch reeled them back in. Nicole Whitburn then immediately launched a counter attack with Bec Domange and myself following closely on the wheel. At first I didn’t realise we’d created a break until I looked back and saw no one behind! We quickly began to take advantage and increase our lead working strongly together. Luckily for me I was in a break with a couple of experienced pros and we soon got into a nice rhythm which worked well. It was great hearing the people on the side of the road yelling out the seconds which seemed to keep increasing. First 10 seconds up, then 15 (I think we got to 26 seconds at one point!).All three of us were in the zone and powered onwards, not believing our luck when we heard the gap increasing with each lap!
The leading 3 riders - Bec Domange, Stephanie Ives and Nicole Whitburn
However like with all breakaways a chase group was sure to follow and four riders broke away from the peloton to hopefully reel us back in. These included Amy Bradley, Clare Dallat, Rebecca Locke and Karen Hill. At this point it was nearing the end of the race and we were closing in on the back end of the field. Then passing the finish line they yelled out for 2 laps to go and excitement rushed through me, it was game on. On the bell lap Nicole, Bec and I were all watching each other, no one wanted to be the one to lead up the hill, as we all began taking stock of how the legs were feeling. Nicole was on the front and led down the hill into the home straight with myself on her wheel and Bec on mine. Not having a lot of experience in sprinting I waited, then as we got closer and closer I jumped. It was neck and neck to the line between Nicole and I, and amazingly I was able to get over the line with about a ¼ of a wheel in front! (It was so close that at first we didn’t know who had won). It was a great feeling to finally win my first open race! We had also managed to hold off the chase group which was working extremely hard to catch us. Well done to all the girls who raced what proved to be quite a tough course and big thanks to Southern vets for hosting the race with special thanks to Cycle Inform and David Sturt for his great coaching.
