IN treacherous conditions it takes not only a good rider but a great one to adapt to the challenge.
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Bathurst Cycling Club riders Luke Tuckwell and Cadel Lovett can count themselves among that category following their podium performances at the weekend's Hunter Junior Tour.
Tuckwell claimed silver in the under 17s boys general classification and Lovett was the bronze medallist in the under 15s boys division.
The pair were part of a strong Western Region Academy of Sport team chasing state qualification points against some of New South Wales' top talent.
Rain plagued the weekend's racing - forcing road race events up to the under 13s level to be cancelled - but the two older age groups were tasked with carefully navigating the streets across time trial, criterium and road race events.
Tuckwell got his competition off to an excellent start with a second placing in the time trial - a feat also achieved by WRAS under 15s girls rider Isabelle Russell.
Lovett was third in his age group while teammate Ben Anderson just missed the top five in the 17s boys race.
Tuckwell kept himself sitting second in the overall standings by finishing fourth in the criterium and Anderson picked up silver in the event.
Lovett was once again the bronze winner in his age group, Russell emulated her earlier silver effort and Ebony Robinson finished fifth.
The wet and wild road race battles saw Lovett finish fourth, but he'd done enough to hold onto third in the overall standings. Russell completed a treble of runner-up finishes to come second overall.
Anderson led home the bunch sprint for second place in the 17s race, with Tuckwell sixth, while Zara Fuller's top five finish gave her a fifth place overall result.
Tuckwell said the time trial result was a highlight across his weekend.
"My effort in the TT I was happy with, personally. It showed that considering I hadn't done much TT work I was still able to make a strong impression. I showed myself that I have the capability to do well in my time trials this year," he said.
"The time trial has definitely been my strong point over the last couple of years."
While disappointed to just miss out on the valuable top five finish in the road race, which would have given him state ranking points, Tuckwell has happy to come back safely in the challenging conditions.
"I was a bit unsure how I'd go because we haven't raced at all," he said.
"I was happy with my sprint to get fourth in the criterium. It was disappointing to miss state selection points in the road race but it is what it is.
"Those conditions were pretty atrocious in the road race so I was happy just to get the result that I did."
WRAS cyclists will be back in action in just over a week at the NSW Country Road Championship and the NSW State Criterium Championships.
Meanwhile, in Bathurst Cycling Club's action on Saturday Will Lesh won the 40 kilometre handicap race riding off nine and half minutes.
He beat home Ray Thorn in the sprint while Stephen Jackson, Steven Scott and Darren Fenton rounded out the top five.