Cream rises to the top in AusCycling Club Esports Series – Round 5

20 May 2022 | 01:28 PMBy: Ryan Miu

Round 5 of the AusCycling National Club Esports Series saw an honest sorting-out of the peloton on Zwift’s ruthless Bologna climb.

The 24-kilometre race was held over two laps of Zwift’s ‘Bologna Time Trial’ route, a replica of the 2019 Giro d’Italia prologue course that finishes in the 2km, 9.6% wall-like climb to the Sanctuary of the Madonna di Luca.

Men’s A

Grafton to Inverell runner-up Mark O’Brien lined up in Men’s A and dominated both ascents. Only Aiden Sinclair and two international riders were able to return to his wheel after the first ascent. After this quartet held off the main peloton along the flats, O’Brien lifted the pace on the final climb and rode away to cross the line first.

Ben Pegard (University of Queensland CC), Brendon Brauer (Mackay CC) and Zachary Muetterties (Illawarra CC) took the top three spots out of the AusCycling-registered riders for maximum club points.

Women’s A

The Women’s A race saw Oceania time trial champion Georgia Howe make her first appearance this series. She rode a dominant race, taking off solo from the start and sailing away at 4.5 watts per kilogram to finish over 3 minutes ahead of her nearest competitor.

Behind, Jessica Bemrose (Gold Coast CC) once again collected maximum points to make it five from five. She finished ahead of Kathryn Alley (Randwick CC) and Dayna Davidson (Southern Cross CC).

Other categories

Elizabeth Hall (Hawthorn CC), Deborah Ainslie (Northern Sydney CC) and Emily Hohnke (Randwick CC) collected top points in the other women’s categories. Philipp Joebges (Lifecycle CC), Benjamin McMahon (Waratah Masters CC) and Shane Kelly (Waratah Masters CC) won the other men’s races.

Overall standings

It was a big week for series leaders Waratah Masters Cycling Club, which added 400 points to extend their lead to over 500 ahead of Bathurst Cycling Club. Thanks to their high placings in the women’s categories, Randwick CC have now overhauled Vikings CC for third spot.

The AusCycling National Club Cycling Esports Series continues on Zwift next Thursday with round 6, a sprint-friendly race on the Makuri Islands 'Electric Loop' course.