Dubbo Cycle Club made a strong start to the new year on the weekend as riders produced impressive performances in the velodrome and on the road.
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To kick-off the action on Friday, Isabell Russell contested the National Junior Track Series at the Disc Velodrome in Melbourne. Racing with the best in the nation at a series shared between Brisbane, Melbourne and those competing virtually, Russell finished fourth in the scratch race, first in her tempo race and a gutsy ride in the pointscore resulted in her taking second spot.
Sitting in second overall on the national score after the first day, Russell then finished fourth in the elimination and sixth in the scratch race.
The sprint that followed didn't suit an endurance athlete like Isabelle, so points were hard to come by late on.
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That didn't end things for Russell though and she soon swapped her track bike for her road bike and joined her teammate Kurt Eather in Geelong to compete in the combined Victorian State Criterium championships and the Lexus Bay Crit Series.
On Saturday, Eather was alongside Australian team members pro-signed athletes for the fastest Criterium event that is held in Australia. At speeds well over 60km/hr and tight cornering, Eather snatched a third in the first sprint and an amazing second place to back that up in the second sprint, setting up to lead out another teammate over 600m out from the finish. Eather set sail but unfortunately the lead-out was fierce and he lost contact with the teammate he was leading out so he had to continue on after spending all that energy. Digging deep, he still managed a fantastic fourth among the nation's best.
On Sunday, under 17s rider Russell returned to contest the Victorian Criterium Championship and after a very fast race covering multiple attacks the race ended in a grueling uphill slugfest well suited to her. Russell finished on the heels of national track series leader Nicole Duncan to take a brilliant silver medal. This fantastic performance delivered the Dubbo Cycle Clubs Its first medal of 2022.
In the afternoon, Eather again vied for the finish honors but a dive for the final corner he came away with seventh place and fifth overall. He was also seventh in the Sprint Ace competition.
Focus now turns to Ballarat, where Haylee Fuller, Ben Anderson, Dylan and Kurt Eather, and Emily Williams will ride at the 2022 National Road Titles from Wednesday to Sunday.
In local action, crit racing has returned to Dubbo and while Dylan Eather proved too strong for the field there was also handy showings from Harry Weeks and Bella Weeks.
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