The first criterium of the season saw Peel District Cycling Club return to the Pinjarra industrial estate for the first time in a number of years. Mother nature made sure the day was memorable with a strong north easterly, which made the back half of the course demanding. Which made being in a break or chasing a challenge.
The juniors were lucky, only racing one lap, in the end it was Cheyann Miller taking the win, from Kassandra Glorie with Gabe Glorie third.
The E grade race broke up on the first lap, with five riders escaping. A few laps later it was three riders, who then stayed away to the finish with Alex Maude outsprinting Todd Brown to take the win with Anita Watters in her first race third.
Richard Ramos on first race back after open heart surgery, attacked on the first lap of D grade and established a break. After two laps Ramos was joined by Oliver Bleddyn and Paul Miller. The trio forged a solid lead. The fast pace saw Miller dropped in the final stages. Bleddyn attacked on the final lap and stayed away to take the win. With Ramos second, Miller holding on for third from a hard chasing Zoe Stalton.
C grade saw two riders away after ten minutes, next lap it was four riders on the front being chased by seven. A few laps later it was three riders chased by eight. On the final lap all eleven riders were together. In the bunch sprint it was Leanda Saleh first, Aron Barclay second and Wayne Rowe third.
There was a couple of breakaway attempts in B grade before Steve Leahy, Andrew Brown and Jordan Dawson established a solid lead. Even when Dawson faltered, the leading duo kept going and increasing their lead, with Leahy taking the win and a promotion to A grade, Brown a close second and John Duncan attacking from the bunch for third.
The largest field of the day was A grade with 27 riders. Early, six of the strongest riders formed a breakaway and established a solid lead. It looked at is this race was over, but twice, a pair of riders attacked from the chasing bunch, battled the wind and made it across the twenty second gap to the lead group. In the end, this larger group stayed away until the end. With Theo Yates winning the sprint from Wade Longworth, with David Nickels third.
For the full results or information about newt weeks races at Smeaton Way, Rockingham visit pdcc.asn.au