MONDAY'S edition of the Bathurst Cycling Club ANZAC Day handicap was one for the scratch riders, with Will Hodges claiming the crown ahead of Nick Barrett.
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Hodges and Barrett worked together to carve their way through the field and join a chase bunch before Hodges sprinted clear of that group to catch the leaders and race on to victory in a time of 41:38.
Mark Windsor followed the pair in to take his fourth podium finish in the race.
He and co-marker Dave Reece strategically attacked the big chase bunch, with Reece coming up just short of fourth place behind Dave Hyland.
Lara Allen was again the top placed female rider in the race, finishing sixth overall
Hodges has been a feature across many of the club's major events but this marked his first success in the ANZAC Day race.
"It's special to be able to come and do something like this where ... it's about mateship and working with your group," he said.
"You try and get each other to the finish as fast as you can, trying to channel the spirit of those ANZACs.
"Nick was super strong and I tried to help as much as I could and he did the same so it was nice to come to the finish with him. We spent the whole race working together.
"This is race that I haven't done before because I traditionally go back home to my family where we commemorate ANZAC Day in the local village, Greenthorpe. We do a similar thing to this where we honour a soldier at the hall.
"It's great to put my name up there alongside these riders [on the trophy]."
Each year's edition of the race is named in honour of a former club member involved in wartime efforts, with Monday's event being the Lance Corporal Arthur Bosworth Memorial Anzac Event.
Bosworth served at Gallipoli in the third battalion of the Australian Imperial Force.
He was hit five times in battle before being sent to hospital. He then recovered and was sent to the Western Front in France where he was killed in action.
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