Torney rides to victory

Cobram Barooga Cycling Club’s inaugural 15 km handicap event was held on Saturday with eight starters.

Young Liam Smith, accompanied by his father Gary, rode from the limit mark of eight minutes.

Bernie Gillespie, Rod Armstrong and Rene Mol were off four minutes.

Heath White and young gun Nick Torney rode from the three-minute mark, with Christian McDonald and Travis Lindhe riding from scratch.

The three-minute markers caught the four-minute group just before the turnaround point and this saw Gillespie not able to match the pace and drop from his group.

Heath White, who was one of the favourites to win, punctured at this point and retired.

Scratch was more than 1 km in arrears and facing a daunting task.

Torney and his grandfather Mol upped the pace on Stillard’s Hill, riding away from the remaining riders and making a twoman race of it.

The burning question was could the scratchmen, who by this stage were about 700 m back, overhaul them?

Liam Smith rode strongly over the hill in another good ride, being passed by scratch shortly after. Mol and Torney continued at a frantic pace, with the result being determined by sprinting ability.

Torney, 16, won convincingly from 65-year-old Mol, who has shown great improvement lately.

Lindhe finished strongly for third and fastest time of 21.26 about 150 m back, with McDonald in fourth. Armstrong, Smith and Gillespie followed.

There is a good rapport between the grandfather and grandson, with Mol being a great inspiration to Torney.

An accomplished athlete, Mol is a former champion kayaker who has won the Murray River marathon six times and set multiple fastest times over the distance.

He has won many other prestigious kayaking events as well, and as a youngster raced alongside the legendary Phil Anderson, the first Australian to wear the yellow jersey in the Tour de France.

Hopefully, under Mol’s guidance, Torney can achieve similar results.

On Saturday the club will conduct a 28 km handicap starting at the MON factory at 1.30 pm. Entry is $5.

A 70 km event will be conducted at Lockhart on Sunday.

Local riders are encouraged to enter.

Time trial enthusiasts take note — a 15 km trial will be held on the first Saturday in August, so brush off those cobwebs and come along.

The six-race Super Time Trial series will begin later in the year.