Gympie to serve up QRTS fireworks

22 Sep 2021 | 09:56 AMBy: Josh Davies

Gympie will play host to the second round of the Queensland Road Team Series (QRTS), as well as the 2021 AusCycling Road State Championships - Queensland for Elite, U23, and U19 categories.

Saturday’s Pie Creek road race will not only count for points in the fight to be crowned overall QRTS champion, but also serves as the battlefield for the coveted Queensland champion crowns.

The challenging course will no doubt present an opportunity for climbers to distance themselves from the fast finishers, with added tactical challenges coming from the mixture of U19 and U23 categories in with the elites.

Riders such as the current QRTS Young Rider Classification leader Rhys Robotham (Cobra9 Intebuild Elite Team) enter the weekend primed to cause havoc on the breakaway friendly course.

Robotham, who outside of QRTS races for Oliver’s Real Food Racing, said the upcoming round will see the strongest riders rise to the top.

QRTS

"The Gympie road race course has always been a tricky one given the terrain," he said.

"There is a bit more incentive on the riders this year with states mixed in.

"My bets are on a slow burn-off, with ones and twos competing for line honours."

In the women's road race, Anya Louw (ARA Pro Racing Sunshine Coast) will be out to continue her rich run of form, after recently winning the upperlimb.com Cunningham Classic.

Louw also leads the QRTS overall standings following a general classification win at the opening round in the Moreton Bay region.

On that weekend it was 2010 road national champion Ruth Corset (Solaris Racing) who provided the fireworks on the final ascent to the line.

Corset is a constant threat when the roads point up and together with fellow Solaris Racing climber Rachael Wales (VeloFit Australia Racing team outside of QRTS) will cause headaches for the women's field around Gympie.

The Women's Racing Project and Scody Racing p/b Balmoral CC will also figure at the head of the race, with WRP's Mia Hayden a name to watch on Saturday.

The injection of Sophie Malowiecki into the Scody Racing p/b Balmoral CC line-up adds another threat to the strong Brisbane-based team's arsenal, alongside the consistently dangerous Hayley Jones.

Werner van der Merwe currently leads the individual classification for Masters, and his team Entrago p/b Aeon White leads the team classification.

The Gympie four-stage QRTS round presented by Gympie Regional Council will encompass the opening road race, a team time trial, a criterium and the fan favourite Station Road Veloclimb.

With each team nominating two competitors, the Veloclimb sees riders depart the Railway Hotel to fly 500m down to the Cogan Street roundabout, where riders will swing around and climb back up to Gympie's iconic Railway Hotel at the beginning of the Mary Valley Rattler historic rail journey.