Two star riders named Sam provided an epic race as the Armidale Cycling Club staged a successful interclub event on Saturday.
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Tamworth ace Sam Spokes took on Armidale’s under-23 national champion Sam Jenner in a thrilling A-grade contest.
Spokes earned bragging rights after posting victory on a day where New England’s speediest cyclists rode into town for Criterium races.
Riders from Inverell and Tamworth took on the best of the locals the Traffic Education Centre’s track.
First up, the three clubs put forward four of their best cyclists for the team’s pursuit.
In a thrilling finish, Tamworth pipped a very young Armidale side by two seconds and Inverell came in third.
"Although we didn't win it, it is notable that our team was basically kids and we had Holly [Harris] in there as well so it was mixed,” Armidale Cycling Club’s publicity officer Rob Hale said.
"Hugh is still at school, David is still at school and Holly is a national mountain biking champion but she is not a 30-year-old semi-pro road racing cyclist.
"Although Sam Jenner was in there, we deliberately put a young team in there and they did really well so I think it was good they could mix it with the older, more experienced riders in the other clubs.
"I think that was really good, they were within two seconds of winning that against some really strong riders from the other clubs.”
The B-grade race was taken out by Armidale’s John Scott-Hamilton.
Hale said the interclub criterium offered a bit more of a challenge for riders with the level of competition at a higher standard than club level.
"For the last couple of years we have run road races at Armidale, Tamworth and Inverell but this year we thought we would try a criterium,” he said.
"Tamworth and Inverell riders really enjoyed racing competitively with other local clubs so it was a bit different, not just week-in, week-out with their own club so there was a bit of variety.
"Different track as well, a bit more challenging, a bit more interesting.”
The second round of the interclub criterium will be raced on Sunday in Tamworth.
The Armidale Cycling Club are also in preparations for their notable Autumn Festival race.
A strong field of cyclists have put their hand up for the 13th running of the March event.
Hale said they also have a race with a bit of a difference coming up for club members or the general public interested in joining in.