The 57th Bob Robson Memorial Anzac Day Criteriums were held around Williamstown High School on a day that was more suited to sailing than cycling, as heavy overnight rain and autumn leaves made for a challenging track surface.
With light rain falling at the start of the open mens race, riders were faced with greasy roads for the first few laps, but that didn’t stop 33 year-old club champion Dom Dudkiewicz from testing the bunch to see if he might be able to break away.
“The rain was threatening for the first 10 minutes and we were a bit worried,” Dudkiewicz said.
“At the start there was a little bit of aggression from the bunch and I had a few attempts to go off the front, but it was pretty obvious that it wasn’t going to happen today.
“Too many guys were willing to chase and the corners were bringing the race back together, it was impossible to break the elastic.”
At about the half-way point, Simon Whelan and Gerard Zammit hit the bitumen, causing a break-up of the bunch and a scattering of riders that probably precipitated a few getting dropped.
It was Dudkiewicz who rounded the last corner in front, taking the sprint from Shane Ward and Daniel Hopper.
In the open women’s category, Emma Pane used her massive engine to cause a break in the bunch.
Pane and the ever-improving Leanna James driving the four-rider break for the duration.
“Being a little bit damp at the start, I wanted to split the race up a bit so Leanna and I took off at the start,” Pane said.
“Then we rolled turns for the rest of the race.”
Pane held off James to take the inaugural women’s sash, with James home in second place and Emma Jackson in third place.
The B-Grade support race arguably had the worst of the conditions and as a result the start was delayed and the race shortened. That did not stop Josh Ryan from attacking from the start line and disappearing into the distance with Thomas Rebesco and Michael Dam.
“I wanted to try to get off the front straight away, get rid of a few early on, ride hard and have a big gap in the first few laps by going quickly through the corners,” Ryan said.
“Luckily Thomas got to me and we swapped turns and got a good lead.”
Ryan took the win from Rebesco, with Leigh Kelly taking out third place.
