CYCLING
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Dubbo riders Adam Mitchell and Nathan Dennis where among the favourites for the 2014 Western NSW Road Cycling A-grade championships held at Bathurst last weekend however, in a major shock, both missed the podium.
Mitchell has been in excellent form recently with a top 10 result at the Junior Road Cycling Nationals while Dennis was runner-up in the 2013 Western NSW Championship.
Luck was against the Dubbo riders, who missed getting into a breakaway group on the legendary Rockley Mount and were put on the backfoot for the rest of the event, just missing out on the major placings.
Exciting Dubbo juniors Luke Ensor and Kurt Eather where the stars for their club, with the youngsters performing very well in the senior championships.
Ensor surprised the open level riders with his speed, finishing with a bronze medal in the B-grade championship behind former elite mens NSW medallist Andrew Carter (Bathurst) and State junior team member Hamish Burke of Mudgee.
Eather just missed the medals in the C-grade event, finishing fourth behind Bathurst rider Daniel Went.
Bathurst riders took control of the A-grade event early, with Jono Cutler and current NSW Masters medallist Ben Taylor breaking clear.
This set up a showdown on Rockley Mount as riders attempted to jump across to the leading pair from the peloton.
Tim Guy (Orange) was the first to go, followed by Mitchell (Dubbo), with Mitchell Reilly (Mudgee) and Ryan O'Donnell (Bathurst) also trying to break clear to cross the gap.
However it was the more experienced Mark Windsor that launched a counter attack further up the mountain which was successful in crossing to the leaders, leaving three Bathurst riders at the head of the race.
Windsor attacked again on the Caloola Range to take the win with Taylor chasing him home in second place and Cutler third.
Bathurst's domination was set up by an excellent team strategy which had the other clubs on the back foot from the start.
Bathurst rider Kirsten Howard finished the championships as the top placed female rider, defeating a number of the male competitors home in the top grade.