Windy conditions played into the hands of the stronger riders who had no trouble catching the groups ahead of them with each lap over the 35 kilometre event.

Hutton took out the race and also claimed fastest overall time honours in 43 minutes and 37 seconds, beating home fellow backmarkers Luke Tuckwell and Jeremy Ryan, with Mark Windsor just missing the podium in fourth.

Hutton, Tuckwell and Ryan worked well together off the 19 and a half minute start to catch the 18 minute bunch of Windsor, Nick North and Steve Dunstall.

The combined group then picked off the riders ahead of them one by one to set up a quality finish on the last lap.

Hutton didn't want a large group present at the old saleyards start-finish line so he upped the tempo, dropping Dunstall and then North in the closing stages.

He had the legs to go on with the job to take the top prize.

"We had a decent chat beforehand and talked up keeping it smooth to try and catch the group ahead, which had a minute and a half on us. It's always tough to get them but after that first lap we'd clawed back 55 seconds," Hutton said.

"We knew then that we were travelling well. Once we caught them we want them to work with us instead of dropping them. The wind definitely was a big factor in the race and played into our hands."

The combination of that wind and the short but challenging climb up to Mount Tamar meant the riders at the front of the race were always going to be in for a tough day.

For the more experienced and faster riders towards the back of the race it was their opportunity to make a move.

Hutton said he felt good with a lap to go and did what he could to try and reduce the size of the competition.

"There were probably eight of us in the group at one stage then towards the end I started the squeeze the pace a little bit more to try and get rid of them. We managed to shell a few but Nick and Mark stayed on," he said.

"Just in the sprint finish Nick dropped off and Mark tried but the scratch riders went 1-2-3.

"I finished probably two bike legs ahead of young Luke. He put up quite a good ride, he did his turns and worked well so he's got a big future."

The Vale Circuit has a lot of history behind it as the site of the Australian Grand Prix for motorbike racing in the 1930s.

"It's a demanding course over the 10km loop. You can make up a lot of time on the climb but on the descent obviously it's harder to make up time of the front guys," Hutton said.

"It's about using the climbs to put the pressure on, then relaxing and taking what recovery you can on the second half of the lap to start it all over again."

Hollee Simons was the fastest woman (52:16) and Toireasa Gallagher (1:04:41) was first home.