Camperdown to Warrnambool Bill Long Handicap winner's emotional triumph

The Coburg cyclist unexpectedly lost his brother Colin on Monday and was flying up to his family in Darwin on Saturday night, ahead of Colin’s funeral.

“It was pretty emotional for me,” Cole said of the win. “I lost my brother this week … on Monday evening.

“(But) the idea was to do it; I’d entered for it.”

Cole, who only took up the sport three years ago, set out from the limit and was at the forefront of the race most of the way, but eventual runner-up and women’s winner Jenny Denouden, from Geelong, threatened late in the race.

“It was a good race, I had a good handicap. We had a bunch of four, we worked really well together," Cole said.

“Two of us, probably in the last seven or eight k’s, had to work really hard to keep away from the ensuing masses, which we did somehow. 

“The last kilometre-and-a-half, the girl who we were riding with (Denouden) got a bit of a break on me, but I decided just to put my head down and bum up, and tried as hard as I could and just got across the line first, luckily.”

Colac’s David Conventry finish third, with the limit riders leading the way most of the race, before the main bunch narrowed the gap late.

Scratch rider Darren Roberts finished with the fastest time.

The win, in Cole’s second attempt at the 70km race, was a huge accomplishment for the rider who has just “20-odd” races to his credit.