Evan Corry, Toby Boylan, Ian Johnston and Gill McMinn travelled north to Darwin for the 2009 Arafura Games, on 14 - 17th of May.

 

The team were very well looked after by Glen and Claire Evanglista, thanks heaps guys!!!

 

Gill competed in the Womens Time Trial, coming third despite running off course in one of the tight bends on the course.

 

On Saturday she backed this up with an excellent win in the Criterium.

 

The Mens Race was a fast paced affair with a strong presence from the Australian Defence Cycling Club, as well as international riders from Malaysia, Macau and East Timor.

 

After about 45 minutes of racing a break of four riders looked to make the winning move.  Toby bridged across and made sure noone else from the pack was going to play a part.  In the final lap Toby made his move at the perfect time to be in front coming into the final turn.  From there he was unbeatable, holding off the other riders to the line.

 

On Sunday Gill headed out to Hidden Valley Raceway for the Road Race, the start being delayed from the initial 7am because it was still dark!  After 80km only 4 riders remained in the field.  The race came down to a difficult sprint on the straight at Hidden Valley.  Gill was able to cover the moves of the other riders to finish with her second Gold medal.   An excellent effort, well done!!!

 

The Mens Road Race started at 10am, the temperature already heading north of 30 degrees.  The Defence Team were out on a mission after missing the podium completely in the criterium, sending a rider off the front from the starting whistle.   After 4 laps of the 20km circuit about half of the field were still in the race, but the heat was starting to take its toll.  A break of 2 riders maintained a gap, and it wasn't until the last lap that Evan pulled a monster turn to get Toby across to the pair.   A group of 6 riders were left to fight it out on the last trip around Hidden Valley Raceway.  In the end Tim Grover from the Defence Team was too strong holding off a challenge from another rider, with Toby finishing third.

 

All in all a very successul weekend for the Team, once again thanks to our sponsors especially Glen and Claire from Balance Podiatry for the opportunity to compete.

 

CQ Website Article:- http://www.qld.cycling.org.au/?Page=33853