Youth triumphs over age in Sinclair Packwood Race

Both riders had been second before, but Team Madison’s Mayho was able to get to the line first in what turned out to be a two-man sprint to the line.

Mayho, 18, had a beaming smile after the title.

“This feels great — it’s my first time.”

Last year he just missed out on his first title and was determined not to let that happen to him two years in a row.

“I switched up my strategy from last year. Last year, I just waited for the sprint at the end because I really wasn’t strong enough to go sooner.

“But this year I’ve been training really hard so I went [sprinted] from Burnt House Hill.”

Mayho thanked his teammates for pushing the pace early on to tire out most of the rest of the pack. At one point he had to wave them forward, to avoid having to do most of the work.

“They dropped me off at the top of the hill and I went [sprinted].”

The young rider said he knew this was his race to lose when he surged on East Broadway and it took a while for Hatherley to catch up.

“I knew he was tired and knew his legs were hurting.”

Hatherley said it was “good fun” to battle it out with the teenaged Mayho.

“He made an old man work. I’ve twice been second in this race and maybe one year I’ll have my turn.”

Hatherley said when Mayho attacked on Burnt House Hill, he went with the Team Madison rider and the pair of them were able to open a gap on the rest of the peloton.

“From there we were worked together, coming into town. He jumped once on East Broadway and I managed to bridge back up, but he jumped again at City Hall and the youth got the better of it.”