The Acciona Gunning Wind Farm Goulburn Great Divide weekend of cycle racing was held over the weekend on the Old Hume Highway. This is the fourth year of the Great Divide and the Goulburn Cycle Club welcomed Acciona, operator of the Gunning Wind Farm, on board as the major sponsor for the second year.

The format for the event had the individual time trials on Saturday and the graded scratch road races on Sunday.

Saturday’s time trials started from the Gunning end of the course making it a tough course with an uphill finish for all grades. In addition there was a stiff head wind out to the turnarounds.

The time trials included the State Championships for elite men and women as well as the under 23s, under 19s and para-cycle titles. Elite and under 23s men raced to Breadalbane and back while the other grades raced tot eh top of the Cullerin Range.

Veteran Peter Milostic (Penrith CC) took out the elite men’s championships while Simone Grounds (Dubbo CC) was crowned women’s champion.

Tristan Ward (Southerland Shire CC) was the under 23s champion, Campbell Jones (Hunter Districts CC) the under 19 men’s champion and Emily Watts (Bathurst CC) took out the under 19s women’s championship.

Local rider Niels Laugesen finished second in the Master 6+ category and Isaac Hogan 7th in the Mens under 23s.

Sunday’s racing involved 5 men’s divisions and 4 women’s divisions with the feature races being the 141km men’s open and the 94km women’s open. All the races involved multiple laps of the Old Hume Highway between Gunning and Breadalbane over the Cullerin Range.

In the 141km Men’s Division 1 a breakaway of eight riders formed on the first lap but this was whittled down to four by the half way mark. The breakaway gradually increased their lead and held off all the chasers by 7 minutes. The race taken out in a final uphill sprint by Joel Walsh (Illawarra), followed by Liam Maggenis (Port Macquarie) and Jesse Coyle (Sydney Uni Velo).

The 94km Women’s Division 1 was a cat and mouse affair all day and turned into a bunch sprint at the finish. Makenzie Scott (Hunter District) took line honours with Angela Smith (Peloton Sports) second and Jess Burvill (Sydney) third.

Jeremy Gilchrist was the best of the Goulburn riders taking out second in the Men’s Division 4 race followed by Andrew Smith in fourth place and Rob Wilkinson 6th .

Other strong Goulburn performances were by Cameron Roberts 6th in the Division 1, Jeremy Ryan 6th in Division 2 with Callum and Jacob Emmerton 13th and 14th respectively in the same race. John Roberts finished 13th in Division 3, Peter Jackson 8th and Ian Emmerton 9th in Division 5. Considering the quality of the fields these were outstanding results of the locals.

Major events take a considerable effort to host and many thanks go to the small army of local volunteers. Special thanks also go the Goulburn Mulwaree Council for providing traffic control, Breadalbane Public School for catering, Windellema SES for first aid and major sponsor Acciona Gunning Wind Farm.

The Acciona Gunning Wind Farm Goulburn Great Divide brings to a close the winter road racing season. Riders will now take a short break before the summer season starts on Wednesday November 1 at Breadalbane. Racing starts at 6pm and new riders are always welcome.

1. Peter MILOSTIC Penrith CC                                             1:02:50.17

2. Jesse COYLE Sydney Uni Velo Club                                1:03:54.26

3. Jay DUTTON St George CC                                              1:05:24.75

1. Simone GROUNDS Dubbo CC                                             33:21.97

2. Nadia YOUNAN Sydney CC                                                 33:22.66

3. Ella BLOOR Sydney Uni Velo Club                                     33:27.47

1. Tristan WARD Sutherland Shire CC                               1:05:30.83

2. Jay VINE Canberra CC (ACT)                                           1:06:34.60

3. Jordan LOUIS St George CC                                            1:07:19.92

1. Campbell JONES Hunter District CC                                  29:47.08

2. Daniel GANDY St George CC                                              30:08.93

3. Matthew RICE Canberra CC (ACT)                                    30:46.36

1. Emily WATTS Bathurst CC                                                   35:36.58

2. Chloe HEFFERNAN Illawarra CC                                         36:05.43

3. Makenzie SCOTT Hunter District CC                                 37:03.29

1. Daniel VAN DER LAAN C5 Men Sydney Uni Velo Club   35:05.62

2. Lindy HOU B Women Vikings CC (ACT)                            40:51.16

1. Rhys CLARKE MMAS1 Illawarra CC                                    31:38.15

2. Matt DUNSTALL MMAS1 Vikings CC (ACT)                       33:26.96

3. Andrew DUGGAN MMAS3 Sydney Uni Velo Club           33:32.97

1. Andrew EAST MMAS4 Lidcombe Auburn CC                   30:01.99

2. Allan SMITH MMAS4 Randwick Botany CC                      33:48.56

3. David RAYMOND MMAS5 Illawarra CC                            34:20.91

1. Peter ROBERTSON MMAS6 Harlequin                              32:51.20

2. Niels-Henrik LAUGESEN MMAS6 Goulburn CC                35:05.85

3. Kingsley MASSEY MMAS6 Griffith CC                                37:05.25

1. Jess BURVILL WMAS3 Sydney CC                                       36:43.66

3. Marissa MADDEN WMAS1 Sydney Uni Velo Club          37:38.44

5. Deborah DAVIDSON WMAS2 Southern Cross CC           40:53.83

1. Anna MURRAY WMAS5 Randwick Botany CC                 37:28.91

2. Faye YOUNGER WMAS6 Southern Cross CC                   38:45.65

3. Lynda VAN DYK WMAS5 Southern Cross CC                   41:19.69

Acciona Gunning Wind Farm Goulburn Great Divide Road Races

1. Joel WALSH Illawarra CC                                          3:18:08

2. Liam MAGGENIS Port Macquarie CC                              +0

3. Jesse COYLE Sydney Uni Velo Club                                 +0

1. James NICOL Manning Valley CC                            2:16:44

2. John PEPPARD Eastern Suburbs CC                                +0

3. Andrew EAST Lidcombe Auburn CC                               +0

1. Jordan REIZES Bicisport                                           2:25:11

2. Matt DUNSTALL Vikings CC (ACT)                                   +0

3. Mark HARRIS Vikings CC (ACT)                                        +0

1. Robert LANGRIDGE Vikings CC (ACT)                     1:17:23

2. Jeremy GILCHRIST Goulburn CC                                      +0

3. Peter BEAUMONT Northern Sydney CC                        +0

1. Kingsley MASSEY Griffith CC                                   1:17:23

2. Michael ROBINSON Vikings CC (ACT)                             +3

3. Andrew JACKSON Southern Highlands CC                     +9

1. Makenzie SCOTT Hunter District CC                      2:48:53

2. Angela SMITH Peloton Sports                                          +0

3. Lucie FITYUS Hunter District CC                                       +0

1. Simone GROUNDS Dubbo CC                                 1:24:02

2. Gail PEARSON Jindabyne CC                                            +0

3. Faye YOUNGER Southern Cross CC                                 +0

1. Deborah DAVIDSON Southern Cross CC               1:26:00

2. Marissa MADDEN Sydney Uni Velo Club                       +0

3. Jen BULLOCK Manly Warringah CC                                +0

1. Jennifer MASSEY Griffith CC                                   1:25:59

2. Penelope ANDERSON Southern Highlands CC     +12:00

3 Rosemary HASTINGS Bathurst CC                           +14:13