An overcast and cool day didn’t dampen the spirits in the OTB Racing Team camp as they fronted in numbers for the final race in the PNP Summer series. The course promised much with multiple climbs up the gut busting 8% average Blue mountains Road - two for the Medio Fondo and four for the Grand Fondo.
The Medio Fondo hit out hard and fast as soon as the flag dropped with a sequence of attacks and counter attacks were sparked by the young contingent with Stanley Riddle laying down some watts.
The surging pace hurt a number of riders with a sizable percentage losing contact before the main bunch hit the base of Blue Mountains for the 1st ascent. The lead bunch of 30 riders arrived with serious pressure being applied all the way up.
At the top of the climb Steve Chapman, Josh Turnbull and Liam Carson crested alone with a Tarbabies chase group of Gavin Cho, Geo Snelling and Ric van Weede 30 seconds back. After a short chase down the valley the six merged and began working together to consolidate their lead. This team work continued until the foot of Blue Mountains for the final climb when Liam Carson put in a solid attack and quickly pulled away.
Carson cleared the top of Blue Mountains 1min in front of Chapman with another minute back to Turnbull and the Tarbabies crew. From here it was on the rivet for all to either evade or chase. Carson was able to extend his lead taking the win comfortably with Steve Chapman holding on for second and Snelling taking the chase bunch sprint for third.
The Gran Fondo pace was understandably steady in the early stages with riders facing four daunting climbs up the Blue Mountains Road. The peloton remained relatively intact for the first lap despite numerous attacks. Towards the end of the first lap 3 riders got away and the second time up the climb Brendan McGrath bridged over. Once over the climb the bunch rallied chased hard with the front quartet pulled in at the top of the valley.
The final lap saw McGrath pull away from a lead break to take a well-earned win.
The Onslow Tarbabies, were well deserved winners of the teams’ competition with 1076 points, followed in 2nd by Meo GP (752 points), Bayleys Racing Team (644) and Rivet Racing (406).
The overall series winner in the Medio Fondo for Women was Renita Vanderhelm followed by Elizabeth Tomlinson (2nd) and Juliette Lister (3rd). For the Men, Joshua Turnbull took out the series with Nicholas Dunn (2nd) and Glenn Owen (3rd).
In the Grand Fondo Series Dave Rowlands took the overall win with three race wins. He was followed in second by Brendan McGrath with Steve Bale in third. For the women Natalie Howell took out the series with two race wins with Viv Collier in second and Holly Barclay in third.
An absolutely fantastic performance by the OTB Racing Team fielding a huge number of racers across the 5 events and seeing a large number of riders winning or placing highly in their respective Age group competitions. Bring on 2019 !!!
Full Results
Andrew Fuller's Photo's