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Oliveira staying well clear of chasing pack

Breaking away: the lead pack (from left to right) Smith, Mace, McComas, Richardson, Hopkins and Oliveira come through John Smith’s Bay during the Madison Digicel Road Race

Matthew Oliveira continued his domination of the domestic cycling scene with a comfortable win in the Madison Digicel Road Race yesterday.

The teenager finished the tough course, which took in hill climbs to St David’s Lighthouse, and up Knapton Hill, in 1hr 53min 28sec.

Oliveira broke away from the lead group on the final climb of Knapton Hill in the Adult A race, and maintained his position in the race down South Shore to the finish at John Smith’s Bay.

Part of a five-man breakaway early in the race, Oliveira, and the lead group stayed ahead over the course of two more laps, that took them to the airport roundabout and back. However, they were reeled in by the main pack before the first ascent of Knapton Hill.

By the time the race passed the start/finish line, before two more climbs of Knapton Hill, a lead group of six riders had broken away. Young Winners Edge riders, Matthew Oliviera, Kaden Hopkins and Tyler Smith were joined by Chequan Richardson of Bicycle Works, Dave McComas of Tokio and Phil Mace of Team Madison Digicel.

This group managed to stay away until the final climb when Oliviera broke away, eventually beating McComas into second by 17 seconds. Phil Mace took third in 1:54:08, with Tyler Smith coming in fourth in 1:54:31.

Hopkins suffered some bad luck on the last climb when his rear derailleur snapped while still in contention, leaving him unable to finish.

In the Adult B race Jonah Jones attacked early on and built up a one minute lead by St Davids on the first lap.

He was later joined by Kevin Topple and Andrew Soares, and the trio managed to stay away from the main pack until the last Knapton Hill climb.

By that time Robin Horsefield had attacked, taken the lead, and beat Adam Kirk into second place by six seconds, finishing in 1:41:55. Topple held on for third place ahead of Rajul Matthie Shakir, Kian Wookie and the very impressive Alyssa Rowse.

The Adult C race quickly split up over one lap of the St David’s loop and two laps of Knapton Hill. Conor White took the victory in 1:05:30, three seconds ahead of from Ziani Burgesson, with Karl Wilson third in 1:05:36.

In the women’s race, which was held over the same course and distance as the Adult C, Martina Olcheski Bell of Team Madison Digicel broke away early, and held off Winners Edge riders, Karen Smith and Julia Hawley, who finished second and third, respectively.

In what was the very first road race for the newly established Novice Women’s group, it was very encouraging to see 20 riders line up for a 17-mile race dash to St David’s Lighthouse and back.

In the end it was a Team MisFits clean sweep of the podium, with Louise Wells taking the win ahead of Sharon Hammond and Marina O’Shea.

The Junior A and B categories raced a relatively flat course from the race start at John Smith’s Bay to Paynter’s Road and back. The winner of the Junior A over eight miles was Caleb Ingham, followed by Blake Oliviera in second and Liam Flannery in third position.

The four mile Junior B race was won by Tommy Marshal, beating Nazarai Fox into second, with Manning Smith taking third.

The female Junior B’s were led home by Megan Hands, followed by Zoe Hasselkuss and Amber Smith.