Cycling –
Round Two of the National Junior Track Series – virtual edition – went ahead on Saturday 16 January, with seven young competitors from the Central Coast Cycling Club making great strides.
The event that was originally scheduled to take place in Brisbane reverted to a ‘virtual’ round with the cyclists from all across the country competing in time trials in their regional velodromes, with times adjusted to account for the known speed variations between each location.
For the Central Coast Cycling Club competitors, the races went ahead at Dunc Gray Velodrome in Bass Hill, Sydney.
First up in the Series were the timed events: the 2000m Individual Pursuits, the Flying 200m and the 500m Time Trials, followed by the Team Pursuits and Team Sprints.
In the Under 17 Women’s 2000m Individual Pursuit, Liliya Tatarinoff and Nicole Duncan finished fifth and sixth with times of 2:43.33 and 2:43.83.
In the Flying 200m however, the same two took out first and second place with times of 0:12.125 and 0:12.456.
The tables were turned in the Women’s 500m Time Trial where Nicole pipped Liliya by a margin of less than one second to take out the event with a time of 0:37.59.
At the end of this round of the Series, the overall standings have positioned Liliya at first place in the National Junior Track Series Under 17 Women’s division, with her long-time rival (and friend), Keira Will, from Lidcombe-Auburn Cycling Club, right behind her on equal points.
This was Nicole’s first race day in the Series, having missed round one, although her exceptional effort has launched her up to sixth place and gives her hope of rising higher if she maintains her good form.
In the Under 15’s, Caleb Abbott and Ravi Hermkens raced in the Men’s events and Emma Blume and Sonia Vetisch in the Womens.
Caleb, Maya and Emma each achieved personal bests on the day.
The Central Coast Cycling Club juniors now continue their weekly cycling at Adcock Park Velodrome in West Gosford, with trainings on Monday afternoons and races on Wednesday evenings, and they encourage all who are interested in track or road racing to head down to support and have a chat with the club coaches.
Haakon Barry