Footscray Cycling Club’s 11th Winter Road Season was held at the very hilly and difficult SheOaks circuit in the Brisbane Ranges on July 4.
Riders departed a rain-soaked Melbourne and, to their surprise, turned up to find a perfectly dry circuit ready for the brave few who made the trip.
Veteran Miles DaCosta took out a tortuous A-grade race.
The small field fragmented as riders completed four 20-kilometre circuits out of Steiglitz.
DaCosta showed the field a clean pair of heels, after Andrew Bonello punctured. Bonello and Dean MacLennan rounded out the podium.
In B-grade, Michael Dam exacted a bit of revenge on the SheOaks circuit, taking a win on the same patch of road where he crashed out in round five.
Dam picked Mark Micallef’s wheel in the sprint, jumping hard and holding off a fast-finishing Vlad Djuric for second and the fading Micallef for third.
In C-grade, 16-year-old Ben Kirkham signalled his talent by taking the win in dominating fashion.
The Williamstown High student broke away on the second climb out of Steiglitz, and was never spotted again by the bunch.
Kirkham finished a few minutes ahead of William Hamilton and Phil Tehan, in second and third respectively.
In D-grade, Peter Burke took a win over Steve Biggs in what was a depleted field.
