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Illawarra CC Handicap

April 19, 2003

Burns on fire

Young Mitchel Burns opened his account at the Caesar's Illawarra Cycle Club handicap last Saturday. Together with Joe Pereira he finished just half a minute ahead of surviving scratch riders Craig Williams and Adam Rourke.

Moderate southeast winds tested the riders' depth of fitness on both outward legs of the 41 kilometer event which saw riders climb the steep side of Marshall Mount on lap one. The tough conditions saw a third of the field retire and 3 flat tyres.

The eight and nine minute bunches were the first to combine at Marshall Mount on the first lap. Pereira and Burns rode away from the combined group climbing the steep side and set out after the twelve minute bunch and the two limit riders.

Meanwhile scratch was down to just Rourke and Williams with Steve Franklin having cooked himself in the headwind.

At the end of lap one Pereira and Burns were leading the race and maintaining enough gap to look hopeful. The remainder of the middle bunches were now mostly together with a chance of riding down the leaders. Remaining scratchies Williams and Rourke had caught block and second block and were working well together reducing the gap to just over a minute on the final climb up hooker hill.

Burns used his youth to finish ahead of a tiring Pereira at the finish. The chase group was lead across the line by Williams and Rourke just 36 seconds later.

Next week's race is a 44 kilometer scratch race with group 7 providing marshals.

Results, 41.0km

1 Mitchell Burns (Illawarra)
2 Jose Pereira (Illawarra)
3 Craig Williams (Illawarra)
4 Adam Rourke (Illawarra)
5 Dylan Forbes (Illawarra)
6 Neil Midgley (Illawarra)
7 Graham Rutter (Hinchinbrook)
8 Adrian Cooper (Illawarra)
9 Jonathan Stagg (Illawarra)
10 Alan McClelland (Illawarra)
11 Peter MacDonald (Illawarra)
12 David Russel (Illawarra)
13 Gavin Drury (Illawarra)
14 Tim Devlin (Illawarra)
15 Dean Kelly (Nowra)
16 Brian Joyce (Illawarra)
17 Philip Jones (Illawarra)
18 Warren Poole (Illawarra)
19 Mark O'Keefe (Illawarra)
20 Joe Chiaverini (Illawarra)
21 Frank Tortorici (Illawarra)