Darren Glasford held off top junior rider Dominique Mayho and Damian Sharp to seal victory in the 24th edition of the Sinclair Packwood Memorial Cycling Race yesterday.The Winner’s Edge rider outduelled his rivals in the closing stages, crossing the finish line in 26 minutes, 37.33 seconds, two spots better than his third place finish of a year ago.Mayho, of Team Madison, clocked 26:37.64 while Bicycle Works’ Sharp was hot on their heels in 26:37.79 to round out the top three.With a record number of entries in this year’s event and defending champion Wayne Scott admitting prior to the race that anyone could win, it was a dash from Somerset to Cedar Avenue in Hamilton that proved his prediction right.On a day that is traditionally sunny and humid, the weather played one of the biggest roles in the race with rain in the early stages before the sun shone through.With each team strategically placing themselves in winning positions throughout the race, it was Winner’s Edge who managed to pull the trigger at the right time to get their rider in the leading pack in the final stages.Glasford, adding a Sinclair Packwood title to his resume, said his ‘game plan’ was to stay out of trouble on the 13-mile course, while also remaining in the hunt until the race reached Hamilton before calling upon his sprint skills to secure the win.“There was a lot talk early on about this year being fast but the pace early on was a bit slow,” said Glasford. “Team Madison took control of the pace early on, Winner’s Edge threw a couple of attacks in and Damian tried to get something going and breaking early.“We had a team plan and stuck to it.“Getting to Front Street, Bicycle Works drove the pace and pushed everyone, and once everyone began jockeying for position it was going to be a free for all.“Heading onto Church Street I found myself in front and Mark Hatherley pulled alongside me while Dominique ran into gear trouble and he fell off the pace momentarily.“The plan was to get to Cedar Avenue and hit the last corner as fast as I could to open up a gap and this worked.“I opened up a gap and pedalled as fast as I could to the line to get this win.“Winner’s Edge performed well today and everyone rode fair and it was good to see no crashes.“It was ideal conditions, there was a little sprinkle out there in Somerset which was a little worrying for some people but the sun came out.“If you were in the pack you were sheltered, but it was a good race overall.”Nicole Mitchell (26:45) won the women’s category, beating Karen Bordage (27:08) and Andrea Proctor (40:39) to the line.“It was a fast race, I tried to be there at the end it paid off in keeping in the lead male pack,” said Mitchell. “There were a lot of riders out there and a few close calls with wheels touching, so the main thing was to stay safe and go hard at the end.“It was a good race for myself, I was looking to keep out of any trouble and did just that, so I’m please with the ride I had.”Mayho, second overall, won the junior male division ahead of Mark Godfrey (26:44.89) and Vashon Cann (26:48.99).