The local farmer was with the leading pack after 228 gruelling kilometres and finished just behind Queenslander Tim Dalgleish, local Deon Wilks and Clinton Amble (Qld) in the sprint to the finish in a time of 7 hours, 3 minutes and 20 seconds.

“It was pretty tiring, both physically and mentally as well. It took just over seven hours to finish so it was long,” he said.

Bennett admitted to feeling the pressure on the Gibraltar Range in the first 100 kilometres but was pleased with his finish against excellent opposition.

“There were a few times that I struggled but I work through it,” he said.

“There was a bunched sprint with about 20 riders and it was a quick finish - a sprint into Inverell and there was only about five seconds separated all 20 riders.

“I didn’t have left at the end, I think I was running on empty as we crossed the line.”

The experienced rider said that the Grafton to Inverell race was one of the best results he had achieved.

“In terms of results, this is probably one of the biggest,” he said.

“It’s different to any of the other races I’ve been in.

“You need to have a lot of luck in these sort of events, and have a lot of things go your way.”

Given his great form, the Bathurst cyclist will back up in the Goulburn to Sydney event this weekend.

However he is not making any predictions given he is unsure about the toll the Grafton to Inverell event has taken on his body.

“I don’t expect to do that well -my legs are still pretty tired so I am really just going in it for the experience and I will see what happens,” he said.

Meanwhile Bathurst other starter at Grafton, Mark Gallagher, had to withdraw from the punishing event after falling ill in the lead-up to the race.

It was a disappointing development for the local rider who had been performing well in Bathurst A grade club events recently.