Glasford holds off the pack in tight finish (update 1)

TUESDAY, MAY 24: In cycling circles, they joke that almost anyone can win the Sinclair Packwood Memorial Race — a nod to its traditionally tight finish. This year’s classic proved true to form.

There were 30 riders within sight of eventual winner Darren ‘Shakee’ Glasford as he crossed the line, with a half-dozen within two bike lengths and another dozen within less than a tenth of a kilometre.

It’s the second big win of the year for Glasford, who also took home the IBC Front Street races title.

Glasford, who rides for Team Winner’s Edge, said his club has quite a few good sprinters.

“Kent Richardson was really driving it a lot, trying to keep the pace high. Team Madison did a lot of work trying to break it up.

“Bicycle Works was really driving the pace down Front Street — guys were really jockeying for position.

“As we turned onto Queen Street, I almost ended up on the front. My teammate — the hardest working in the bike race — Mark Hatherly did a little jump and I tried to get on his wheel. Mark always sacrifices himself for the team.

“My plan was to get on Cedar Avenue as fast as I could and open up a gap.”

Glasford said his plan worked to perfection as “he pedalled as hard as I could to the finish. I didn’t look back because I made that mistake before.”

He said the tight finish shows “it’s always a sprinter’s race because it’s so short. The guys who can’t sprint, if they don’t get away early, the race is over for them.

“There are a lot of sprinters in this race who just sat in and didn’t do too much work, which is pretty smart.”

Podium

Wayne Scott, last year’s winner, finished fourth.

“It’s the first time I’ve finished off the podium in eight tries, but Team Winner’s Edge got the win and that’s more important,” he said.

“I had a good ride, but Shakee had the better position at the end. First and foremost we want the team win, and it was an awesome ride for Darren.”

Scott said the race was much tighter this year.

“There were easily 25 riders together on Front Street. I’ve done this race eight times since moving back from the States and it’s gotten harder and harder.

“This race has never had this many people who have had a legitimate chance of winning. It is so tough. Even though it slowed down at times, it’s a really hard race. It picks up hard and fast.”

Team Winner’s Edge founder Greg Hopkins said it was great for the team to defend its title.

“We worked really hard. We’re a very together unit and we’re prepared to sacrifice ourselves for each other.

“We wanted Shakee to get the win this year. He was very close last year. He’s going away to the Island Games and we’ve been training for longer distances. He didn’t really tape for this, but he’s in great shape and has a great shape of mind.

“We’ve been working on getting his speed up and that really paid off today.”

Hopkins agreed with Scott about the quality of the field.

“I’ve been doing this race since the beginning and I’ve never seen the strength, size or depth of the field that it is now. Every victory now has to be very well-earned. He deserves it — everybody loves him.

Disappointed

Hopkins said all the favourites finished near the front, including Mayho.

Mayho said he felt “disappointed” finishing second.

The 17-year-old added: “But it will have to be good enough as its my best place ever. I slipped a gear right by City Hall. I went to attack and I just slipped it.

“That’s when he [Glasford] attacked and he went right past me.

“I tried to get him back but I couldn’t as it was downhill and I have junior gears.”

Next year Mayho will move up to the senior gearing and he said his second place performance gives him confidence that he could win the race sometime in the future.

The junior rider said his strategy was to “to stay near the front and avoid any accidents”.