A big field was present for the 25th running of the handicap, with the Wagga brothers two of several talented riders in Bathurst for the weekend as part of the Regional Academy of Sport's cycling squads camp.

The under 15s riders were impressive across the entire 47 kilometre course, with the young Wagga Wagga and Illawarra riders combining well to hold off the backmarkers.

The Behnke twins surprised their fellow competitors with both their strength on the Caloola Range Climb and their sprint speed to defeat Illawarra juniors Charles Alcock and Gabriel Jakobsen at the finish.

Hunter Behnke said there was a fear at one point that things might not pan out his way in the handicap event.

"It was pretty good. We just held the pace the whole way. Going up and down those hills just wrecked me most of the way and on the way back the was a big group that burst our bubble a little bit," he said.

"I thought we were going to get caught but luckily we held that off and got the win.

"I've raced against Charles before and I know he's a pretty good rider. We were coming in and I could see that he was struggling a bit so we were hoping to hold the other group off as well, and luckily coming over the last hill we held him off, put in the effort and got him."

The Bathurst trip is part of a packed cycling schedule for the Wagga rider.

"Every Monday, Wednesday and Friday we jump on a road bike and do training with the Wagga Cycling Club. Then on Friday we have academy training," he said.

"We're up here at Bathurst to learn more about cycling as well as carbohydrates and what's not so good for when you're riding."

Former World Masters Champion Rosemary Hastings put in a great ride to lead most of the way to take 5th overall behind the 4 visiting riders to claim the McKay Female Trophy.

"I felt very strong today and got into my groove and rhythm," Hastings said.

"I wasn't putting expectations on myself. I just got into my rhythm, rode on and had a cheeky little time trial, really."

Hastings held off local rival Cathy Adams while Nick Barrett finished fast from the back markers bunch to finish seventh.

He narrowly missed the fastest time prize by a handful of seconds to Orange's Ben Anderson.

Charlie Gascoyne, Oscar Hansen and Jack Cannon rounded out the top 10.

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