AS he approached the finish line in Saturday’s Melbourne to Warrnambool Cycling Classic, Oliver Kent-Spark thought he was racing for second place.
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With dual track world champion and Commonwealth Games gold and silver medallist Alex Edmondson at his side, Kent-Spark wasn’t sure he could outsprint the South Australian speedster. But the health.com.au-search2retain team member pulled off a stunning final push for the line to claim the 99th edition of the Classic, completing the 273-kilometre trek from Werribee Park in seven hours and 21 seconds.
Edmondson was second and Sam Horgan third. A mass bunch finish had the majority of the field finishing within 20 seconds of Kent-Spark.
“It’s crazy, just incredible. I cannot describe how I’m feeling right now,” an elated Kent-Spark said shortly after crossing the finish line.
“I had ‘always believe in yourself’ in my head which is actually what my mum said to me this morning — the power of the mind is amazing.”
The race came down to the final 500 metres, when Kent-Spark and last year’s winner Sam Horgan attacked and bridged the gap to a four-man break that included Edmondson and last year’s third placegetter Jacob Kauffmann. The 21-year-old from Geelong said the small uphill sprint to the finish was what got him the win.
“I wouldn’t have been a sniff if it had’ve been a flat sprint,” he said.
“I knew Alex was there and I know he’s a very quick man, I honestly thought I was racing for second place.”
Kent-Spark’s victory will go down as one of the best in Classic history, with Saturday’s race tinged with controversy after police threatened to pull out the majority of the field.
An early nine-man breakaway held a 10-minute lead over the main peloton at the 70-kilometre mark. It meant most of the field was outside the envelope of the following ‘rolling closure’ and fears were held for safety.
“It’s crazy, just incredible. I cannot describe how I’m feeling right now.”
- 2014 Melbourne to Warrnambool Cycling Classic champion Oliver Kent-Spark
“We were pretty slow to get going today,” Kent-Spark said.
“It was strange being told that we had to speed up. It’s something I’ve never experienced. But once we hit Camperdown, the race was on.” Kent-Spark said there were small attacks as the race headed towards Cobden and Terang.
He said with about 45 kilometres to go, he managed to stick with an attack and break away with a group of 12 riders, including Edmondson and Horgan.
The break managed to hold between 35 and 50 seconds on the peloton until the the final 500 metres. “I was yo-yoing off the back of the break. We kind of came back together on a little downhill and it was Alex Edmondson who led the sprint out,” he said.
“I made my way across and it all just happened. It’s just unbelievable. It’s going to take a while to sink in.”
Kent-Spark said a Classic win had been his goal since the start of the year. “I sat down with the team owner Peter Shandon and director sportif Mark Issacs and we made this my aim for the year,” he said.
“My last National Road Series tour was Gippsland in September. I sat out National Capital and Tasmania and made the Classic my focus 100 per cent.”
Kent-Spark said celebrations would be low key.
Edmondson said he was disappointed to have come so close to victory.
“It’s pretty hard to race almost 280 kilometres and be rolled on the line, but I gave it all I had and I guess I got beaten by a better bike rider on the day,” Edmondson said.
“I take my hat off to the search2retain guys and Ollie Kent-Spark. He’s such a nice guy and did a lot of the work when we got into that small breakaway at the end.”
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