A victory two decades in the making

In a sprint finish, Tim Decker was the popular winner of the 87th running of the 100 Mile Classic.

In his 20th appearance at the race that he is so passionate about, the coach of Australia’s elite endurance track riders finally managed to stand atop the podium as the victor.

Since his first 100 Mile race in 1992, Decker had finished as the fastest rider, second in a photo finish, third and fourth, but never won, until now.

In his acceptance speech at the presentations, Decker spoke of the passion he has for this race, and emotionally thanked all the riders in his group that rode so well, as well as his family and sponsors.

The pace was high from the beginning of the handicap race, with five groups of the 96 starting riders being sent away with up to 54 minute advantage over the last group of riders.

The first bunch of finishers came from the group that started in the middle, 19 minutes before the fast-men and 35 minutes after the first riders had left, with local young rider Jamison Buckley holding on to the train as it came past to finish in the bunch as the first local rider.

The fastest riders ended up just on 80 seconds behind, with Ryan Schilt winning the sprint to the line to take out fastest time honours.

The top three riders were Tim Decker, Jameson Key and Nick Underwood.

LOCAL RIDERS:

Jami Buckley 5th, Scott Waters 23rd, Tim Koopman 28th, Stephen Jones 37th, Craig Andrae 66th.

WOMEN’S 118KM HANDICAP

For the sixth time, Mt Gambier Cycling Club added a women’s race to the 100 Mile weekend, with generous sponsorship from Pristine Skin & Laser Clinic, GT Bobcat and Fennell Forestry ensuring equal prize money for the victor of both the men’s and women’s races.

Fourteen women signed up for the race with a group of five starting 22 minutes ahead nine chasing riders.

Following essentially the same route as the men until the men’s added loop down towards Allendale East, both groups worked really well together.

The front group was able to stay away all the way to the finish, and Under 19 rider Leani Van der Berg won the sprint finish over fellow young rider Madeleine Wasserbaech and Ava Wilson.

Ash Ankudinoff won the sprint of the fastest riders, six minutes and 19 seconds after the race had been won, earning fastest time honours. Former local rider now living in Adelaide, Sarah Dally, finished fourth.

JUNIOR RACES

The junior riders began the day’s racing with varying numbers of loops around an 8.8km lumpy loop around Moorak, Orchard Rd and Grant Avenue.

Each age group started together, rather than in previous years when the race was also a handicap.

In Under 17 Male, after five laps of the course (44km), it was William Brown awarded the victory, followed by Liam Underwood and Alec Guglielmucci in a sprint finish.

In Under 17 Female, Sophia Bakker won over Hayley Gill.

In Under 15 Male, raced over four laps (35.2km) all 5 racers finished very closely together, with Jett Petz the clear victor just three seconds ahead of Ryan Underwood and Xavier Farmilo who had to be separated in a photo finish. In Under 15 Female Freya Miller won over Molly Opperman.

In Under 13, raced over one lap, Jack Pentland won the race ahead of Joel Gooley and Austen Decker.

In Under 11, Elliott Winter may have been the only racer, but he rode hard to be the deserving victor.

PHOTO COURTESY OF CHRIS OPPERMAN