Hutcheson Claims Club Championship

Twenty-two riders lined up for today's Sunbury Road Championship in Lancfield.
All eyes were on in form rider James "Mitrovski" Butler to make his mark on the race after a string of wins recently along with his Club Time Trial Title claimed earlier this year, but in the end it was seasoned rider Andrew Hutcheson who sprinted his way to his second road title in four years.

Paddy McIntyre was the first rider to make a move in the race, attacking solo in the first 5km. With his gap opening up quickly to over a minute, it was Butler and Dan Abotomey who would set a strong pace in an attempt to bring the McIntyre back to the field. As soon as the gap was reduced to 150m, the pace went out of the main bunch.
Mick Skerritt took advantage of the lull and jumped off the front to join McIntyre up the road. The gap then blew out once again.

Rolling into Newham for the first time, the race was put in the gutter by a number of riders. This caused a handfull of riders to get dropped and reeled back McIntyre and Skerritt.

The pace was then steady on the rolling roads towards Lancfield.
This all changed when the lead group hit the climb through Rochford. Abotomey, Hutcheson and Butler all attacking up the climb with reigning champ Chris Steffanoni hanging onto their wheels.

A number of riders chased to rejoin the leaders on the descent into Lancfeild making contact shortly before Steffanoni rolled off the front of the bunch. This solo move by Steffanoni was to be short lived due to the brutal headwinds. Not long after the catch, Mitch Allen put in an attack and was soon joined by Skerritt. These two worked well together to gain a considerable lead over the main field which looked dangerous of staying away to the finish.

Meanwhile in the peloton it was James Butler who decided he would start attacking the bunch over and over again. This stopped the group from working efficiently, so the breakaway duo continued to increase their lead over the peloton.

On the climb out of Newham, Abotomey and Hutcheson attacked, stringing out the bunch, but not doing enough damage to drop the other riders.

With 15km to go the gap to Allen and Skerritt was reducing. They were caught by the bunch with 5km to go at Rochford.

The race was all back together now for the downhill run to the finishline. The pace was high and the bunch charged into Lancfield, the lead group of eight all fighting for position. With 200m to go Hutcheson opened up the sprint and no-one could match his sheer power. Abotomey finished second three lengths behind, with Steffanoni and junior rider Nick Smith finishing third and fourth respectively.

Congratulations to Andrew Hutcheson. Sunbury Road Champion 2011

Results.

1. Andrew Hutcheson 1:42.16

2. Daniel Abotomey

3. Chris Steffanoni

4. Nick Smith

5. Mitch Allen

6. Heath Jameson

7. James Butler

8. Tim Green

9. Patrick McIntyre

10. Mick Skerritt

11. Colin Bell

12. Eric Thompson

13. Peter Share

14. David Cutajar

15. David Steinhauser

16. Craig Cullivan