After a week of 40-plus-degree temperatures, the Footscray Cycling Club’s Max Campbell Memorial was held in cool and overcast conditions at Altona’s Drake Boulevard, a perfect day to honour a man who raced and volunteered at the club for more than 50 years come rain, hail or shine.
The A-grade race was over almost as soon as it began with a casual Adrian Hanson rolling off the front of the bunch on the first lap, to be joined by Dom Dudkiewicz.
Dudkiewicz, 30, has been in unbeatable form but was still surprised that such an early two-man breakaway survived.
“We started the race and I saw Adrian Hanson and Jason Costin just riding, not attacking off the front, and then we got around the top corner and I saw Adrian just casually increasing the distance from the bunch,” Dudkiewicz said. “I was about to jump when Adrian went, so as I went past him I said ‘Let’s do this!’ so he got on my wheel.
“I think the first few laps averaged 46-odd kilometres an hour and I thought it was too early as we had to do this for over an hour, but we just kept working and kept the lead at about 30 seconds.”
In the last laps, behind the dynamic duo, the situation could only be described as carnage, as attacks broke the bunch up into broken lines of riders, with Graham Carlson trying to bridge the gap.
Dudkiewicz came out of the last corner and passed Hanson, taking the win with Hanson a few bike lengths behind, followed by a lonely Carlson, third.
