Game Ready Therapy Points Race Brings Out The Best
Another round in the books! Saturday’s Game Ready Therapy Points Race did not disappoint with plenty of watts dropped throughout the day’s racing. After the Juniors absolutely fanged it around the Pakapakanthi short course in the morning with some excellent racing, we unfortunately had a big crash early on in the Cat 3 Men’s race before we could even get the Points Race Sprints underway. After restarting, the racers were keen to string things out, the pace absolutely cracking along and with sprints every 4 laps there was no shortage of attacks!
Every grade’s Points Race was one for the ages, with everything from two flawless victories in Cat 3 Women and Cat 2 Women to Carly Bryant (Individual) and Summer Nordmeyer (NCC) respectively, a nail biter coming down to the final sprint for Todd Rolton (ADX – FOB) in Cat 2 Masters, Ryan Boyd (JKT)’s win secured with a sprint to go in Cat 3 Men, a long breakaway and some smart riding for Sam Golding (Butterfields) to take a convincing win in Cat 2 Men, and even a lap-the-field effort from individual rider Andrew Friebe in Cat 1 Masters to take a massive win without even having to score in the final two sprints of the day.
The two Elite races (just regular Criterium races, the Elites have their Points Races in Round 9!) also made for great watching, but it would be Cam Scott (Individual) who came over the line first from a storming Tom Clarke (Focus Pedla) and Sam Welsford (ROKiT) in third in the Men’s race. A break of 5 went away in the women’s race to end the day, and got close enough to the back of the bunch that the minor placings were called a lap early – Maeve Plouffe (ARA) took the bunch kick for 6th. The remaining 5 riders jostled for position but it would be Ash Ankudinoff (KOM-Tactic) who finished the day’s racing off in style with the win over Ruby Roseman-Gannon (ARA) and SASI’s Amber Pate, while break companions Nicola Macdonald (Individual) and Sophie Edwards (ARA) had to settle for 4th and 5th.
Full results including all Points Race breakdowns and current Series Standings for all grades including Juniors are available at the link below.