Kidman starts 2026 with fastest time victory

THE start of Mount Gambier Cycling Club’s 2026 Summer Series got underway on February 1 but unfortunately, summer was nowhere to be seen, with a blustery 30km/hr SSW wind, overcast skies and a slight drizzle of rain to greet the riders just prior to the start.

There was a strong field of 18 riders that signed on to battle for glory in the DRVN Driver Training sponsored event.

It was going to be fast racing on the outward leg to the turn marker with a brisk side tailwind to assist the riders but after rounding the turn marker at 12.5km the wind would be of little assistance for the return journey with riders working hard into a side head wind back to the finish line.

With AusCycling’s Rick Jordan making a guest appearance and officiating as Commissaire, he offered some valuable info to one of our new first time riders and then gave a short race briefing.

He then got the event under way, with the first competitor and the only limit rider, Tina Opperman, who was heading out for a very admiral solo effort to battle the elements by herself.

Five minutes lapsed before the only second limit rider and club stalwart Spek Peake began his solo chase and six minutes later the third limit bunch of Tegan Kuhl, John DePree, Troy Mustey, John Cranwell and first time rider Kane Polniak took to the course in an attempt to catch the other riders ahead of them.

The third scratch bunch was next to the line consisting of Amali Judd and Phil Stasiw, both of whom had moved up in grade to a stronger bunch, and they were joined by experienced rider Rob Mann who was returning after a 12 month break from road racing.

They waited a further 90 seconds before Rick Jordan gave them their starting signal to commence their chase.

Next to come to the start line was the second scratch bunch consisting of Matt Opperman, Ethan McKenny, Chris Neave, Craig Andrae and Dan Whitehead.

They too waited for a 90 second count down before they could go in pursuit of the bunches ahead of them.

A further three minutes had lapsed before the last bunch came to the line, Miles Kroon, Nick Kidman and Dave Bryant, who waited patiently for the Commissaire to release them on to the course.

Tina worked well with the wind as she topped the first hill and headed out to the turnaround point.

She had just passed Ruwoldt Road intersection when Spek left the start line and settled into an even pace in his pursuit of catching her.

Troy Mustey led the next bunch onto the course with Tegan Kuhl returning after a season off the bike, senior riders John Cranwell and John DePree and then new rider Kane Polniak, an unknown quantity.

The bunch pace picked up slightly higher than some would have liked as they sorted themselves out trying to work together as a team to catch the two riders ahead.

The third scratch bunch of experienced rider and coach, Rob Mann, and the two improving riders Amali Judd and Phil Stasiw started with a strong but steady pace as Rob marshalled them into a well-oiled unit that began quickly making inroads into the time gap of the bunches ahead of them.

In stark contrast the second scratch bunch started very chaotically with Dan Whitehead missing the start by 20m to 30m and then in the first kilometre Craig Andrae had a mechanical issue which he managed to rectify but his fate was sealed for the day losing touch early.

The bunch settled but were working against one another and it wouldn’t be long before Chris Neave and Ethan McKenny would feel the pain of the overly high speed and by the 8km mark both fell away leaving Matt Opperman and Dan Whitehead to continue chasing the bunch ahead.

The scratch bunch with senior riders Nick Kidman and Dave Bryant along with junior rider Miles Kroon taking on his first full race were the strongest bunch on the road.

As always, this bunch settled into a consistently high pace, and Miles would need to be fully switched on to manage his effort.

All riders worked hard out to the turnaround marker at 12.5km with Tina still holding a gap of 2:46 over Spek with the third limit bunch of Kane, John Cranwell, Tegan and John DePree arriving two minutes later, with Troy losing touch at about the 7km mark and left to fend for himself.

The third scratch bunch was the next to the turnaround 0:50 seconds behind having made up close to half of the time gap on the bunch ahead, but only30 seconds behind were the two remaining members of the second scratch bunch, Dan and Oppy, who had sizzled out to the turnaround consuming two thirds of the handicap by the halfway mark.

Troy then rounded the turn 15 seconds later followed 45 seconds later by Chris and Ethan. The scratch bunch of Nick, Dave and Miles were the next intact bunch to make it to the turnaround two minutes behind Dan and Oppy. Craig came into the turnaround 1:45 behind scratch and was now using the day as a training ride.

By the time the third limit bunch had arrived at the Mt Sinai Road intersection John Cranwell succumbed to the pressure his bunch had applied and tailed off with Tegan also losing touch about a kilometre further up the road which left just Kane and John DePree to chase down Tina and Spek who had slowed considerably as they worked into the blustery wind.

The bunch of Rob, Amali and Phil were now passing the splintering bunches and were closing in on Kane and John DePree.

Dan and Oppy were coming within striking distance of the bunch ahead, but the relentless high speed was starting to make its presence felt and Oppy was feeling the heat, Dan dug deep to make the jump across to the bunch ahead and finally rode away from Oppy.

Meanwhile Nick, Dave and Miles were still working consistently and were easily passing the splintered bunches although Ethan and Chris jumped onto the wheel as they passed with about 10km to go only to lose touch about a kilometre later, not being able to match the high speed.

At about 5km left to go the race started to come together with Spek catching Tina and then within a few hundred metres Kane and John DePree also caught and passed Tina with Spek increasing speed and holding onto the passing riders draft leaving Tina to the pursuing bunches.

At about the Vorwerk Road intersection Dan finally made the catch onto the bunch of Rob, Phil and Amali, and as the three leading riders neared 2km to home, they were caught by Rob, Phil, Amali and Dan forming a fast-moving bunch of seven riders.

This set the scene for a seven rider shoot out as they crested the top of the hill on the finishing straight with 1km to the finish line.

The short hill at the 1km mark plays a role in taking the sting out of the riders’ legs just at the worst possible time and today would be no exception with the bunch of seven splintering leaving Dan and Rob to fight out top honours with Dan Whitehead turning on a hot display just before the line, giving him the victory just ahead of Rob Mann with Phil Stasiw taking third place about 11 seconds back.

They were followed in by Spek Peake, first time racer Kane Polniak, then John DePree, then first junior rider Amali Judd with the scratch bunch powering home just 30 seconds later with Nick Kidman taking fastest time 0:37:32 (adjusted) two seconds back Dave Bryant with only one second separation to Miles Kroon, then followed in by Tegan Kuhl, John Cranwell, Matt Opperman, Tina Opperman, Ethan McKenny, Chris Neave, Troy Mustey and Craig Andrae.

RACE 1 PLACINGS

1st Dan Whitehead

2nd Rob Mann

3rd Phil Stasiw

4th Spek Peake

5th Kane Polniak

6th John DePree

7th Amali Judd

8th Nick Kidman – Fastest Time

9th Dave Bryant

10th Miles Kroon

11th Tegan Kuhl