After a week of terrible weather, riders were greeted by fine and sunny conditions at the race start in Warragul. That welcome ‘blue sky’ was replaced by clouds and fog at the Mt Baw Baw finish, but nonetheless the rain stayed away.
First of all – Congratulations to everyone who finished the 2014 Mt Baw Baw Classic – it is a truly brutal course and all finishers should feel very proud of their efforts.
The Elite Men’s category was taken out in decisive fashion by Brodie Talbot (Team Budget Forklifts), the recent NRS Adelaide Tour winner. Talbot bridged across solo from the peloton to a small breakaway group, and then continued on to finish 26 seconds ahead of second placed Mark O’Brien (Avanti Racing), who had been in the break all day and held on very bravely to defy the charging peloton in the closing kilometres.
Brodie summed up the final climb very well, “I was waiting for the climb to level out in the final 6km, but it never did. I had a 39×28 gear ratio on and it was only just enough. It was brutal.”
The Women’s event was taken out by Lizzie Williams (Specialized Securitor). Williams repeated her victory of three weeks ago in the Mt Buller Road Race. Ironically, Tessa Fabry (Brunswick CC) once again took second place, as she also did at Mt Buller.
A summary of the Mt Baw Baw Alpine Resort Classic winners and VRS leaders in each grade can be viewed below.
| Grade | Baw Baw Classic Winner | 2nd | 3rd | VRS14 Leader |
| Men’s A | Brodie Talbot | Mark O’Brien | Matt Clark | Sam Crome |
| Women’s A | Lizzie Williams | Tessa Fabry | Kristy Glover | Shannon Malseed |
| Masters A | Cameron Clamp | Peter Dennis | Adam Versteege | Cameron Clamp |
| Men’s B | Scott Thompson | Scott Gigante | Sean Carruthers | |
| Women’s B | Rebecca Stephens | Prita Jobling-Baker | Katherine Taylor | Rebecca Stephens |
| Masters B | Steve Guy | Julien Fleurus | Leigh Hauxwell | Julien Fleurus |
| Men’s C | Darryn Benn | Michael Stringer | Jared McClintock | Darryn Benn |
| Women’s C | Samantha Abbott | Fiona McMillan | Katrina Barrow | Samantha Abbott |
| Masters C | Andrew Gray | Matthew Irons | Bruno Rabl | Andrew Gray |
More detailed Mt Baw Baw Alpine Resort Classic results can be found on the link below:
Detailed Results
Cycling Victoria would like to thank Warragul Cycling Club, Karin Jones, Mt Baw Baw Alpine Resort, Victoria Police, Vic Roads, Baw Baw Shire Council and all the volunteers, riders and officials who combined to make the 2014 Mt Baw Baw Alpine Resort Classic such a great success.
Race report from Masters C by Team Blotto.
Article in The Warragul & Drouin Gazette.
Photo set 1 & photo set 2 by Jen Davies
Photos by Jo Upton
