UNIVERSITY student Chris Zucchet lapped up the calmer spring conditions en route to victory in the Agrade section of the Footscray Cycling Club’s Salter Memorial graded scratch race at the You Yangs on Saturday.
Riders were greeted with the best weather of the season, with a balmy, sunny afternoon with light breezes making for perfect racing conditions.
In the top grade, riders tested each other out early in the race with probing attacks, but it was Zucchet, the eventual winner, along with Miles DaCosta and Anthony Garnier, who made the day’s decisive break.
The trio swapped turns at holding off the chasing bunch for several laps.
‘‘From the time we got together we just worked really well,’’ Zucchet said.
‘‘We all took really hard turns and there was a strong feeling between the three of us that we might just end up fighting it out for the win.’’
As it was, on the last lap, the bunch made a do-or-die effort to bring the three back.
As the two groups converged, Zucchet got a second wind and attacked again, and remarkably, in the last 5km dash to the finish line, managed to hold off the charging bunch.
An exhausted Zucchet crossed the line barely half a wheel ahead of Dom Dudkiewicz with Matt Heath third in a thrilling finish.
In Bgrade, riders attacked as soon as the peloton turned the first corner, and the race was always going to prove a difficult affair.
Many riders tried their hand at a breakaway, with Damian Harris, the strongest on the day, Mark Micallef, Bernie O’Sullivan, Jason Southby and Peter Race, all spending time making a break.
Travis Small made a dash for the line with about 3km to go, which saw the strung-out bunch chasing at full tilt for the next 2km and coming together with under 1km to go.
In the final run to the line, many riders tried to time their sprints to get to the line first, but it was Paul Sheean who got his timing right, crossing the line in front of Micallef and Harris.
Salter Memorial
A grade: Chris Zucchet, Dom Dudkiewicz, Matt Heath
B grade: Paul Sheean, Mark Micallef, Damian Harris
C grade: Tony Murrell, Paul Downes, Tom Gray
D grade: Stephen Liley, Leigh Pridmore, Robert Stonehouse
