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Results and Reports from Australia
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Latrobe City Cycling Club
Yinnar, Gippsland, Victoria, April 8, 2006
A mass start was the order of the day, with A grade riding 60km and C grade 40km; by the time the bunch travelled half way along the highway all three C grade riders - Ashley Lucas, Shannon McCurley and come-and-try rider Ian Wood - had been dropped from the bunch. Shannon McCurley was only C grade rider to complete the race of 40km.
Meanwhile the A grade bunch were chasing Jim Timmer-Arends who had gained a break on them along Hazelwood Estate Road. Into the wind nearing the finish of lap one, he was joined by Charles Howlett shortly after, leaving the bunch to chase the escapees on the highway and with a tail wind, speeds reached 57km/h that saw young Samuel Beveridge riding junior gears unable to stay with the bunch.
The remaining riders in the main bunch - Darren Spiteri, Allen Timmer-Arends, Jim Peachey and Chris Joustra were unable to make any headway into the leaders' advantage. Nearing Walsh's Road, Howlett jumped away from Timmer-Arends to open up a winning gap. The main bunch still worked hard, chipping away at the leaders' advantage, resigned to the fact they were never going to real them in; they settled down for a sprint finish for third place. Howlett crossed the line first from Jim Timmer-Arends a short distance back with Darren Spiteri out-sprinting the bunch to take third.
