Tristan Saunders (Team Brennan p/b TP32) won the Squadron Grafton to Inverell Classic, claiming the fifth round of racing in the ProVelo Super League ahead of Zachary Marriage (Butterfields Ziptrak).
Brendon Davids (Team Brennan p/b TP32) joined his teammate Saunders on the podium, taking third in the 228km race with 3,382m of climbing and a history of more than 60 years.
The race was pulled apart multiple times, with the pressure on as the event hit the key climb in the Gibraltar Range at 70km and not letting up for long after.
"In the middle section after the top of the climb we were just all over it," said Saunders in an interview put out on Provelo Super League Instagram. "We wanted the race to keep going as long as we can to stop CCACHE and Cam Scott from getting back and we did that perfectly and as soon as he rejoined we just lit it up again and it all split up."
It came down to a dash to the line between Saunders and Marriage, with Davids and William Cooper (St George) then coming over the line three seconds further back to take the third and fourth spots.
With just one round of the new top tier domestic race series, Jack Ward Team Brennan p/b TP32 remains at the top of the overall and U/23 ProVelo Super League leaderboard on 381 points despite missing the Grafton to Inverell so he could take part in the Australian mountain bike championships. Marriage is sitting in second with 338 points.
The debut season, where a stagiaire contract with Jayco-AlUla is up for grabs for the under 23 victor, concludes at Queensland's four-stage Q Tour from March 21-23.
| Position | Rider | Time |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tristan Saunders (Team Brennan p/b TP32) | 5:38:51 |
| 2 | Zachary Marriage (Butterfields Ziptrak) | Row 1 - Cell 2 |
| 3 | Brendon Davids (Team Brennan p/b TP32) | +3 |
| 4 | William Cooper (St George) | Row 3 - Cell 2 |
| 5 | Sam Jenner (Cobra9 Leigh Surveyors) | +30 |
| 6 | Hugh Sessini (St George) | Row 5 - Cell 2 |
| 7 | Joshua Cranage (Butterfields Ziptrak) | Row 6 - Cell 2 |
| 8 | Nick Thompson (Velofit) | Row 7 - Cell 2 |
| 9 | Will Heath (CCACHE-Bodywrap) | Row 8 - Cell 2 |
| 10 | Julian Baudry (Team Brennan p/b TP32) | +1;31 |
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