WARRNAMBOOL cyclist David Sagnol is confident his Melbourne to Warrnambool Cycling Classic preparations are on track.
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Sagnol is this week celebrating the biggest win of his road racing career, having clinched the 56th Fred Icke Memorial at Creswick on Saturday.
The 38-year-old Port Fairy Cycling Club member beat Ballarat-Sebastopol’s Tim Canny in a sprint finish after finding a timely burst of energy to end the 133-kilometre epic.
The pair broke away with 20km to race and finished 40 seconds clear of their rivals. The winning time was three hours, 23 minutes and three seconds.
Sagnol said the triumph was “definitely the best road cycling achievement”. He took up the sport seven years ago after his football career ended.
His cycling resume also includes victory in the 50km category as part of the Otway Odyssey, a popular mountain bike event at Forrest.
“That was a different kettle of fish. I’ve been doing mountain biking a lot longer than road racing,” he said.
“It was good to win that this year, but as far as the road goes, this is the biggest accomplishment.”
Sagnol was part of an 18-minute bunch which stuck together for the first two laps of the Fred Icke. But a testing climb soon took its toll on riders.
“We went to climb the hill for the last time, two guys from Ballarat-Sebastopol Cycling Club, they gapped the main bunch,” he said. “I got on their wheel and went with them. We got to the top and said ‘we’ve made a fair gap between us and our group, we may as well keep going’.”
They caught the limit riders and held their advantage ahead of the chasing pack. Sagnol and Canny then made their move with 20 kilometres to go.
“I knew I was going to be strong and had a good mark,” Sagnol said.
Sagnol entered the Fred Icke as part of preparations for the 100th Melbourne to Warrnambool Cycling Classic on October 17.
He will contest the race for a second time, having clocked seven hours, 35 minutes and 34 seconds on debut in 2013. Training for the historic edition includes five or six morning sessions a week, varying from 40km up to 100km.
“The first time (after completing the Melbourne to Warrnambool) I never wanted to go near a bike again. It’s a long day, there are that many factors,” he said.
“There can be a westerly with a bit of rain and all of a sudden it goes from an eight-hour ride into an 11-hour ride.
“But the longer you’re away from it and when they start talking about it being 100 years, the motivation comes back.”