Yep, Gawler Eastlink Kermesse Still Really Hard
Well, the votes are in and we can say with certainty that yes, the Gawler Eastlink Kermesse course is still very hard. A perfect, sunny spring day saw 300 of you race on the hills of Gawler East, with the 2021 MetroMap Super Series’s only hilltop finish deciding this Round’s Winners (and mixing up the GC in most grades!).
Wil Holmes proved fastest finisher in a select group to take the Junior A win and retain GC lead along with Ava Wilson, and Hunter Wood was just too good in Junior B to take a commanding win as well as Paige Squire. Wilson, Wood and Squire also retain their 99 Bikes Junior Super Series Leads.
Jemma Zielonka (NCC) tore up the road in Cat 3 Women with a 5 minute advantage at the line, while Ryan Boyd (JKT Centurion) took out the Cat 3 Men’s race. Both riders moved into the lead in the SCODY GC thanks to their results, with Zielonka tied on 100 points with Carly Bryant (Ind). It was Todd Storm’s (USG Racing Team) day taking line honours in Cat 2 Masters, with Summer Nordmeyer (NCC) again proving too strong for the rest of the bunch at the finish of Cat 2 Women with a blistering attack up the final drag. Dan Potter (NCC Red) held off a charging Sam Golding (Butterfields) who had to settle for second place two years in a row in Cat 2 Men, with Josiah Whittaker (NCC Red) hanging on for 5th place on the hilly course and slipping past Declan Key (Ind) to move into the SCODY GC Leader’s Jersey.
Cat 1 masters saw a solo move from Donny Pascale (Bicycle Express) pay off with a 24s advantage over teammate JP Jacobs and Matt Hawthorn (ROKiT Racing). Individual Josh Eden retains the Series Lead by just 3 points over Jacobs, but Bicycle Express are pulling away in the Teams Classification with 5 riders in the points on the weekend.
With Ruby Roseman-Gannon (ARA Pro Racing) an unfortunate scratching from the day it was nearly a sure thing that Ash Ankudinoff (KOM-TACTIC) would move into the GC lead after Gawler, but how much by was the question to be answered. A select bunch of 5 made their mark on the race including Ankudinoff, Sophie Edwards (ARA), Amber Pate (SASI), Carlee Taylor (Ind) and Hannah Seeliger (Butterfields) would finish in that order by the end, but put two minutes into the next group on the road after 82 minutes of racing. Ankudinoff swept maximum points to move 18 points ahead of RRG in the GC lead, with Pate also leapfrogging the absent rider into second spot.
There were two stories going around of riders getting big opportunities in the Elite Men’s race this week – Pat Eddy (ACT Academy) signing to DSM’s development squad for 2022 and Cooper Sayers (Villawood) making it to the top 5 spots of the Zwift Academy and planning to jet off to contest for a WorldTour spot. It would be those two on the top two steps of the podium after a race that saw a third of the starters not finish, and only 5 riders within a minute of an emphatic Eddy who made the final hill his own. Sam Welsford just scraped into the points in 9th to stay 10 points ahead of Eddy who moves into second on GC, with Cam Scott (Ind) slipping to third ahead of Butterfields’ Zac Marriage.
We can’t wait for you to join us at this Sunday’s East End Street Race – a massive celebration of crit racing right in the CBD with plenty of food and drink around the place, so there’s no excuse! Spend your Sunday in the city watching a bike race and soak up all the East End has to offer!
East End Street Race details here
Full Results and Standings after R6 available here