AFTER a mostly tight contest, the Victorian 100-kilometre championship in Hamilton ended on something of an anti-climax.
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The Hamilton event was given a weather reprieve yesterday, with Pedrina Park possibly the only place in the south-west with a blue sky.
Up to 44 riders took to the road circuit, with only a small local contingent of 10 riders from five clubs: Port Fairy, Warrnambool, Portland, Camperdown and Hamilton.
But first place was claimed by a determined Nathan Elliott, representing Brunswick, followed closely by Joel Strachan, of Hawthorn.
Mortlake export and now Melbourne-based Darcy Woolley placed third for the Port Fairy club.
Elliott returned to Hamilton this year after coming runner-up last year.
Excitement was building throughout the race as a pack of eight riders held their lead.
“From lap six we had a group of riders that broke away and they stayed away,” Hamilton Cycling Club publicity officer Steve Lanigan said.
Elliott and Strachan broke from the main group approaching the finish and crossed the line almost simultaneously with their arms raised in victory.
The riders are best mates, making their sprint for the finish a little lacklustre, Lanigan said.
But he said it was a good outcome for Elliott after placing second in 2013.
“I think he must have been determined,” Lanigan said.
Meanwhile, Ballarat-Sebastopol’s Liam White claimed the 65th Cecil Shore memorial, also held in Hamilton over the weekend.
The 19-year-old joined nearly 100 other riders in 120-kilometre handicap race, which traversed two loops of the road circuit from Hamilton to Byaduk.