As much of the road racing world is enjoying the off-season hiatus in the wintry weather of Europe, there is a race tucked among the mountains in Australia which each year seems to be drawing more and more WorldTour riders onto the start list as an early entry point to the Australian summer of racing.
They aren’t chasing points – there is no UCI ranking or prestige, it isn’t even a national level or state series race – but there is something compelling about this club-run race with an impressive history of acting as a proving ground for up and coming talent.
“But I’m not expecting to do much this weekend. So for the Australian guys and girls, they’re already quite, quite deep into training and ready for nationals next month. And yeah, my goals come quite a bit later in the season so it’ll be a good test and it’s always good to open the lungs.”
Given the year the Scottish rider has had, even this early into the rebuild no one will be taking Onley lightly, least of all Plapp who as a WorldTour rider may seemingly have little at stake in terms of the on paper weight of the results, but there is something else that is also important on the line – pride.
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