Renee Covington's Cup runneth over

IF winning her maiden world masters championship crown this year was not a big enough nod to her efforts on the track, Bathurst cyclist Renee Covington has been bestowed with another prestigious honour.

On November 21 the Bathurst Cycling Club will host the inaugural Renee Covington Cup, a women’s wheel race which will see a class field competing for $1,000 in prize money on the new velodrome.

A strong response to the race from both entrants and supporters has Covington hopeful that it will mark a change for the better in women’s cycling in the area.

“We weren’t really low on numbers for the race, but we did want to get more involved and try and make the women’s race as big as the men’s one being held on the same night and it was something I spoke to the club about,” she said.

“Pat Corcoran put the call out, he got in touch with Scott Taylor from Al Dente and straight away he responded by putting up $1,000 for the race.

“It got plugged a lot at the Clarence Street Cyclery Cup in Sydney on Saturday night, and the support it has received has been phenomenal. For a sport that struggles to get a lot of support for women’s racing, it has been massive.”

Already there are a number of heavyweights pencilled in to race in the men’s events at the Bathurst 200 Open meet – the likes of Australian madison champions Jackson Law and Nick Yallouris.

The quality of entries for the Covington Cup is equally impressive.

The format of the race is simple, with riders to be given a handicap before completing six laps of the circuit.

“Everybody in this sort of race has a chance and it is simply about turning up on the day and riding as well as you possibly can, there are a lot of dimensions to it and it can be easy to lose track of who is where in the race,” Covington said.

“There are going to be people competing from all over the place, already I know there won’t be any spare room in our house. There are riders coming from the Central Coast, a heap coming from Wollongong.

“Imogen Jelbart is an outstanding rider and she’ll be coming, the prize money on offer pushed her over the edge in making her mind up.

“What it shows is that you have a bit of equality when it comes to making sure the girls’ races get good support, you get a good response.

“We owe a huge debt of thanks to Scotty at Al Dente for getting behind this too.”

On the idea of having a race named after her, Covington was bordering on embarrassment. However, she recognised that her achievements can only benefit the sport in  Bathurst.

“I’ve had people come up to me since winning at [the world championships] Manchester giving me a kiss or whatever and saying ‘Well done,’” she said.

“It kind of makes me uncomfortable in a way when people say things, but at the same time I just love the sport so much and love to see people having a go at it, so anything that aids in that area, I’m happy for it.”

The big November 21 program gets underway at 2pm.