BRENDAN Johnston claimed his first Otway Odyssey MTB Marathon in his debut at the event, held in Forrest on Saturday.<\/p>\n
Johnston was lightning quick, setting a winning pace of 4.22:09 ahead of brothers Russel and Tasman Nankervis.<\/p>\n
\u201cI haven\u2019t done the event before so I didn\u2019t know what to expect,\u201d Johnston said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThese guys, Taz and Reece, they were attacking, it was like they had a leader\u2019s jersey on or something. I just kind of hopped away from the front and ended up winning somehow.\u201d<\/p>\n
Holly Harris from Armidale claimed her first women\u2019s title in the 100km marathon. Samara Sheppard (one of the pre-race favourites from NZ) came second with Renata Bucher third.<\/p>\n
Former Australian Road Race champion Peta Mullens suffered a nasty tyre blowout 20km into the women\u2019s race, forcing her to play catch up and eventually leading her to retire from the track not far from the finish.<\/p>\n
Nearly 1,000 riders from recreational to elite raced the single-track of Forrest. It was a hot and hard track with a new course record set by Adam Blazevic in the 50km race.<\/p>\n
On Sunday, the third edition of the Great Otway Gravel Grind took 300 bike riders on a journey through the Otways to the coast and back.<\/p>\n
The event included a Big Ring 97km course, and a Small Ring 49km course both starting and finishing in Forrest.<\/p>\n
Bendigo rider Tasman Nankervis and Kiwi Samara Sheppard took the honours.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was champagne cycling out there,\u201d Nankervis said. \u201cThere were a lot of little attacks at the start then before the 87km feed zone but I think I attacked at the 80km mark. I just did one big attack and drilled it to the feed zone.\u201d<\/p>\n
For more information and results, head to OtwayOdyssey.com.au and otwaygravelgrind.com.au.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
BRENDAN Johnston claimed his first Otway Odyssey MTB Marathon in his debut at the event, held in Forrest on Saturday. Johnston was lightning quick, setting a winning pace of 4.22:09 ahead of brothers Russel and Tasman Nankervis. \u201cI haven\u2019t done the event before so I didn\u2019t know what to expect,\u201d Johnston said. \u201cThese guys, Taz […]<\/p>\n