LUKE Gilmer showed his experience on Sunday to take out round two of the King Cain Bathurst Wallabies Triathlon Club’s long course series by over four minutes ahead of his nearest rival.

He finished the course in 49 minutes and 21 seconds, with Bathurst’s Josh Stapley picking up another runner-up finish in the series 4:16 adrift. 

Thomas Hanrahan was third, another 1:18 back.

While Gilmer didn’t contest the opening round, on Sunday he showed the experience gained from many years of racing, having taken up the sport as a 14-year-old. 

He used his power on the bike to pull away from his rivals and increased that gap over the run.

The former professional triathlete said he enjoyed getting back into racing at a local level.

“This is just training for me. I’m going to go and do the New South Wales state titles and the ACT and then the Australian champs which are in February. These ones are a good hit out, nice and safe and good fun. A good chance to meet up with some people,” he said.

Gilmer spent the opening swim leg keeping pace with Stapley.

Into the bike leg the pair continued to race neck and neck before Gilmer made his move heading onto Eleven Mile Drive.

“I just sat in on Josh during the swim to conserve some energy and he’s a nice swimmer to pace off. The bike was really windy, but I just wanted to drill myself through the windy section because I knew I could get a bit of a gap on the other guys because I felt pretty strong,” he said.

“Then I had a big lead on the run, but I wanted to push myself and hurt my legs a bit. Overall it was a really good day. 

“Every leg was nice and consistent and there was no real weak areas which was nice.

“It was very windy. I think the guys and the road bikes would have suffered a lot more than us on the more aerodynamic bikes. I feel like we had a bit of an advantage there.”

His winning time was 27 seconds quicker than that recorded by round one winner Nick North over the same distance.

Gilmer is keen to head off to Orange this Sunday for the opening round of the inter-club series.

“Hopefully we can get some points at the inter-club and then at the end of the year. I really want Bathurst to do really well at the club championships.”