Manning Valley Hosts Soaking Time Trial Weekend

Photo: Manning Valley Cycling Club

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Under the pouring skies of Manning Valley, cyclists from NSW, ACT and Victoria raced against the clock in the second-ever running of the Manning Valley Time Trial Weekend.

Those who made their way to the north coast of NSW tackled the new courses with aplomb in the challenging conditions.

Saturday – Teams tackle Nabiac course

Saturday saw over 50 riders travel out and back on the Nabiac roads across distances of up to 30 kilometres for the pairs and elite individuals.

Tamworth and Nero Continental rider Sam Hill went quickest of the Elite Men with a time of 40min 59sec. In second place, Port Macquarie’s Kev Hawes finished two minutes off Hill.

Hill, who secured third in the National Road Series Grafton to Inverell Cycle Classic earlier this month, recorded an average pace of 43.92 km/h.

A year after winning the Masters 90+ pairs category, Penrith veterans Peter Wakefield and Peter Milostic took first and second respectively in the Open Men individual time trial while Ben Neppl (Newcastle Hunter Cycling Club) came third. Not content with that, the Penrith duo doubled their day's efforts by riding another 30km to win the Masters Men 75+ pairs time trial.

After finishing fourth in 2021, hometown rider Jacob Steep clocked 22min 25sec on the 15km course to claim the under-17 men’s victory.

Isla Maidment (Tamworth Cycling Club) and Andrew Phillips (Neo Cycling Club) clinched wins in the under-19 women’s and men’s categories respectively while young Canberran Angus Withington took out the under-15 men’s time trial.

Paralympic tricyclist Stuart Jones (Newcastle Hunter CC) achieved a time of 21min 40sec over his 12km race, setting an average pace of 33.23km/h.

In the state team time trial championships, the under-15 women’s crown went to the Neo CC team of Charlotte Hussein, Charlotte O’Shaughnessy, Hannah Hussein and Erin Price.

Their fellow Neo CC teammates Georgia Phillips, Isobel Prince, Alexandra Hyett and Elena Veneran won the Under-17 Women’s NSW TTT Championship.

In the under-17 men’s championship, Manning Valley Cycling Club quartet Jacob Steep, Thomas Worth, Harrison Thomas and Kobi Mathiske, nicknamed the ‘Flying Flamingos’, claimed the title.

The team of Codie Miller (Inverell Cycle Club) and Chloe Hartnett (Tamworth CC) won the 30km Open Mixed Time Trial with a time of 44min and 29sec.

Sunday – Cold Coolongolook Heats Up

Like they did on Saturday, riders battled the soaking rain along the out-and-back Coolongolook course. The new-look course featured Willina Road’s undulating hills with cyclists taking on either the 10km or 20km distance.

In the Elites, Sam Hill again prevailed with a time of 26min 46sec over 20km, while Chloe Hartnett followed the previous day’s pairs success with the Elite Women’s win.

Isla Maidment and Andrew Phillips made it two wins from two days, as did Jacob Steep, who proved quickest of the under-17 men over the 10km distance. Georgia Phillips took out the under-17 women’s time trial.

Sunday also saw five Masters categories run. Bren Turner (Newcastle Hunter CC), Janelle Small (Manning Valley CC), Jarrad Pearse (Parklife Cycling Club), Peter Milostic and Glenn Tournier (Lysterfield District Trail Riders) took out their respective competitions.

The NSW road season continues this weekend with the Percival Property Port Macquarie Junior Tour, which will be the third round of the Northwave Junior Road Series.

This will be followed by the Ken Dinnverville Memorial Handicap and the inaugural Barbara Wyles Handicap on June 5.

Full Results

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