ELIZA Bennett’s triumph in the Sydney Cup On Wheels women’s wheelrace put the icing on the cake for the Bathurst Cycling Club during their successful campaign on the Dunc Gray Velodrome boards.
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Bennett has already made 2018 her breakout season thanks to her recent Oceania Track Championship gold medal performance but added to that with Saturday’s victory off the 65 metre handicap.
The under 19s rider was part of a chasing group led by Hunter Valley’s Anna Whitten that caught the front markers and maintained a safe distance ahead of talented scratch rider Nicola Macdonald.
Bennett got away from Whitten with just over a lap to go and held off a challenge from Illawarra’s Tahlia Dole to win the blue ribband race.
“I knew my speed matched those girls, but they have some pretty good endurance," Bennett told Cycling NSW.
“They're very, very high quality riders. My aim was just to surf wheels and see if we could stay away from them for as long as we could, and we did it pretty well.
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"I was just head down, going as fast as I could," Bennett said of her winning move.
Bennett’s weekend included a gold in the NSW Tempo Championships and a silver in the elite women’s team sprint alongside Lise Benjamin.
Paige Squire (under 13s) and Kalinda Robinson (under 17s) made it three wins for Bathurst across the wheelraces by claiming victory in their respective age groups.
Squire added to her lightning handicap win at the carnival while Robinson celebrated a golden weekend which also contained team sprint and tempo race crowns at Sunday’s NSW Club Team Track Championships.
Tyler Puzicha teamed up with Robinson for the team sprint gold, repeating that feat in under 15s event.
Glenn Carter (men’s masters) celebrated his return to the boards with a win in the lightning handicap.
Ebony Robinson (under 13s) was dominant in the NSW Tempo Champs on her way to gold. Robinson stepped up to under 15s to win the team sprint with Central Coast rider Liliya Tatarinoff.
Luke Tuckwell’s (under 17s) highlight from the weekend was a third in the scratch race, Cadel Lovett (under 15s) enjoyed a top 10 finish in the elimination race and Daniel Googe (under 19s) celebrated a silver in the keirin and a wheelrace top 10 against a quality field.
Dubbo’s Kurt Eather won the men’s wheelrace.
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Alexander Grant
Part of the Western Advocate's sports desk in Bathurst.
Part of the Western Advocate's sports desk in Bathurst.
