WHILE Jarrod Bell has earned a reputation as a tough mountain bike rider, on the weekend he used that skill to better a field more used to road racing than himself in the Bathurst Cycling Club’s traditional Blayney to Bathurst lead up event.
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The Blayney to Bathurst, or B2B, is one of the major participation events on the cycling NSW calendar. In the past it has attracted a number of National Road Series outfits and those who have raced professionally.
However, there has also been a strong Bathurst presence each year. When the 2014 edition gets underway this Sunday, Bell will be one of the locals to watch.
The Bathurst Cycling Club’s event used the demanding Rockley Mount Course, a section of road which is the crucial point of the annual B2B Challenge.
Bell and his fellow A grade riders had to tackle the climb four times and that was where his mountain biking skills gave him an edge.
But it was Richard Hobson that launched the first attack soon after the start, followed by Ryan O’Donnell.
Jono Cutler and Englishman Karl Addison chased hard to bring the field back together, but that was not the end of the attacks.
Contract rider Blair Windsor, fresh from a break from the sport, was next to go, but it wasn’t until he was joined off the front by Cutler that things got more uncomfortable for the peloton.
O’Donnell, Luke and Bell realised the danger that the duo posed, so quickly joined the pair to make a dangerous breakaway group at the midway point of the race.
It was youngster Paddy Corcoran who organised the chase, with Steve Scott and Addison working hard to keep the break in sight. However, even more stress was to be placed on the chasing peloton when Mark Windsor jumped across to the leaders on the climb.
With a very impressive and committed chase Steve Bennett, Brad Roughly and Hobson rejoined the leaders resulting in a very strong group hitting Rockley Mount for the tough climb to the finish.
Working for his father Mark Windsor, it was Blair Windsor that started the attacks on the final climb with the inform Bell covering the moves and breaking clear himself.
Put in the ideal position by his son, it was Mark Windsor that then jumped across to Bell in the final section of the climb to hit the front inside the final 200 metres. However, Bell showed great endurance to fight back and take an impressive win, while former B2B short course champion Steve Bennett also put in a powerful burst to snatch second on the line from the disappointed Mark Windsor.
O’Donnell and Roughley rounded out the top five in front of Blair Windsor and Hobson.
The B grade hopefuls had to climb Rockley Mount twice, which suited the super fit Nick North. He was too strong for promising young cyclist Will Hodges and Shaun Meredith.
Kirsten Howard was the best placed female rider on the day, beating Tony Barlow and another promising junior Max Stewart for fourth.
C grade was taken out by the rapidly improving Daniel Green from well performed female rider Trina Compton and the consistent Mick Foran, while the judges could not split Jill Harris and Rosemary Hasting at the finish of the D grade event, calling a dead-heat between the pair with Ken Birch taking third.