The Dubbo Cycle Club has again stamped itself as one of the best in the country following a standout showing at the weekend's Australian Junior Cycling Championships on the Gold Coast.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
A cohort of cyclists from club represented NSW at the titles and the undoubted highlight for the Dubbo riders was Dylan Eather being crowned Australian under 17 Time Trial champion.
Dubbo pair Haylee Fuller and Danny Barber captained the NSW team as they dominated the other states.
Day one of the championships saw Dylan Eather step up to take on the time trial course. Seeded as the fastest rider in the 70 strong field, Eather was looking to emulate his result from the 2017 championships where he was crowned under 15 time trial champion.
He did not disappoint, cruising to victory to be again crowned Australian champion, this time in the under 17 division.
Eather completed the 2019 season undefeated in the road time trial. He now leaves the junior ranks and will go onto joining the Rauland Development Team to pursue road cycling goals.
Haylee Fuller was looking to join Eather on the top step of the podium in the women's time trial and she put in a time worthy of such a result, Fuller was just pipped by two seconds, winning the silver medal, an incredible 50 seconds in front of the bronze.
Fuller backed this result up on day two. The 50 kilometre road race saw Fuller and a Victorian competitor clear away from the field to go toe to toe. With the result too hard to pick until the final few metres Fuller finished in second place to take silver.
This result was enough to see her crowned National Junior Road Series Champion when added to accumulated points throughout the season. Fuller will travel to New Zealand in October to ride the Tour of Southland before joining the senior ranks next year.
Danny Barber had been in good form all year on the road and came into the road race looking for another strong result. In a race that was hampered by several crashes that required it to be neutralised while ambulances attended to injured riders, Barber was able to adapt to the climbing required around Hinze Dam to take the silver medal in the National Road Race.
Barber backed up on day three to replicate this result, taking silver in the Australian Criterium Race.
Barber's riding ambitions will concentrate on the track for the next year with his first outing being the Oceania Track Cycling Championships in New Zealand in October.
Isabell Russel had timed her season run to peak at the National Championships and was in good position to medal in her preferred criterium event. Unfortunately, Russell was one of many casualties on a road course that sent many riders to hospital. Crashing out on a dangerous downhill corner Russell was released from hospital with bruises and plenty of skin off but returned to the championships to cheer on her NSW teammates.
Competing in the Dubbo road series all year prepared Ben Anderson for the gruelling road course. Anderson, a resident of Orange, spends a lot of time racing and training with Dubbo Cycle Club. He was awarded Champion of Champions in the under 15 division, taking gold in the road race and criterium with silver in the time trial.
Coaches Vaughn Eather and Gus Dawson prepared the riders expertly.
Dylan Eather's gold medal took Dawson's tally of national championships coached to 111.