When Luke Deasey woke up on Friday morning he thought he was going to be finalising his preparations for the Melbourne to Warrnambool Classic the next day.
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By the afternoon, the brakes had been put on his National Road Series debut and he was making the mad dash out of Victoria after the state was forced into a five-day lockdown.
Event organisers posted just after 1.30pm that in light of the restrictions the race had been postponed, adding that they and AusCycling "are committed to conducting a successful 105th edition".
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When The Leader spoke with Deasey he was in the log-jam of cars trying to escape the city and with a four-five hour trip to make it to the border.
Having been looking forward to, and working hard towards, taking that next step in his development and experiencing an NRS race, he said it was disappointing not to get to race, although the scenario isn't one he hasn't experienced before. Last year a similar thing happened with the Oceania Championships, although they were cancelled a couple of weeks before.
Coming off the back of the National Road Championships last week, Deasey said he was feeling "pretty good" heading into the time-honoured 267km classic.
He is hopeful of getting another chance in an NRS race at some stage soon, although no specific races have been planned yet.
For now he will focus his attention on a few races around NSW.
The Tolland Handicap in Wagga is coming up on March 6 and 7. The following weekend is the Bathurst Cycling Classic.