SEAN Lake said winning the Grafton to Inverell Cycle Classic was the best feeling of his life last Saturday despite the searing conditions cramping the African Wildlife Safaris’ (AWS) rider’s legs and hips, but that is what kept him going.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The Melbourne rider said the fear of what would happen to his legs if he stopped riding had him pumping harder.
“With two kilometres to go, every muscle was cramping up,” Lake said.
“I thought maybe if I ride hard I will cramp less.
“And it worked.”
It worked a treat, until the 22-year-old had to stop after the finish, but by then the adrenalin was pumping and the champagne was popping.
It was the former Australian U23 rider’s first victory, in just his second National Road Series (NRS) race, just three weeks after signing on with AWS following a Facebook message.
“It’s my biggest achievement for sure,” Lake said.
“I am absolutely stoked.”
The 228km event is renowned as Australia’s toughest race.
The 235 riders start at sea level and quickly climb the Gibraltar Range to 1060m, and then a hot, long and slow descent across the range is often thought to be the hardest part, before some shorter climbs and winding roads from Glen Innes to the finish in the Sapphire City.
A Grade had 90 riders line up, and it didn’t take long for a small pack to break out at the base of the climb.
The peloton would never see them again, with some strong performances maintaining a five- minute lead.
Ed White won the Top Build Frame and Truss Sprint King jersey with two wins and a second, but the win came at a price.
The GPM Stulz rider fell off the pace in the final 50km to come in two minutes behind Lake in fifth.
Budget Forklifts rider and third placegetter Kristian Juel took the King of the Mountain jersey and played an instrumental part in catching individual rider Jordan Davies after he made a break on the final climb.
The riders got him back, Juel doing a lot of the work, while the move almost broke eventual winner Lake.
“My legs were ordinary after the climb,” Lake said.
“I shook it off a bit and stayed on the back wheel and got my legs back on the downhill.”
As they came into Inverell, Lake buried his head and made his move, leaving the group that had spent 200km together behind.
“It is sort of my signature move at about that distance,” Lake said.
“It comes from rowing.
“I think I looked behind me ten times in the final straight.
“I couldn’t believe it.
“It is the hardest race I have ever done and the best feeling of my life.”
STR rider Oliver Kent-Spark won the four-man sprint for second by two bike lengths, with Juel edging out Avanti Racing’s Neil Van Der Plog by an inch for the final spot on the podium.
Kent-Spark almost made it two NRS victories in a row after taking out the Melbourne to Warrnambool a fortnight before.
Kent-Spark and Lake rode with similar tactics, not featuring in any of the sprints or climbs but staying at the front.
The victory has given Lake the confidence to know he is no longer a rower having a go at cycling but a race-winning cyclist who used to be a rower.
“I am going to finish uni and get a full-time coach,” Lake said.
“I’ll do a lot of riding and see what I can do.”