Whakatāne Cycle Club’s Monday race on the revised Thornton circuit saw Lorien Hicksen storm to victory by a country mile, making up for a puncture that had ruled him out of contention in the earlier warm-up criterium.

A strong B-grade group – Hicksen, with Jeremy Anderson, Tania Jones, Jason Boonen, Neil Jones, and Antoine Collombet – worked cohesively to overhaul the C-grade and stay ahead of the A and D grades, each of which raced different distances.

Disregarding starters’ orders, roleur Dave Wright, riding in C-grade, hauled his group onto the back of the B-grade train as they surged past with 5km to go.

Wright pulled through to the front for a long effort, only to find himself inadvertently in the role of Hicksen’s lead out rider, with 12 riders stacked close behind. Hicksen launched with 100m to go and was never seen again.

Anderson and Tania Jones claimed the minor B-grade placings, while Dean Sisson, George Westerman, and Malcolm Harison filled the C-grade podium from within the same large finishing group.

In A-grade, the Christie brothers – Ollie and Xavier – alongside Jacques Collombet on his new bike, fought hard for honours, finishing seconds later in that order. Wendy Boonen led Albie Hulse, Zak Brown, and Noel Hutchins home in D-grade soon after.

Handicapper Dave Wright hit the sweet spot, contriving all 20 riders to finish within 20 seconds of each other – despite racing over staggered distances.

Last week’s criterium on the tight Ōhope circuit also delivered close racing across all four grades.

Alex Coventry edged Lilly Collom-bet after 30 minutes and two laps. Jeremy Anderson nudged Phil McIlroy into second place in B-grade, and Neil Jones showed his form by out-sprinting Harison and Dave Keown after 20 minutes and two laps in the seven-strong C-grade.

Wendy Boonen rode strongly again to beat Brown and Hutchins in D-grade.

Monday’s race starts at 6pm outside Thornton School, and Thursday’s race is the club Criterium Championships starting from outside the Ōhope Golf Club on Harbour Road, Ōhope. The full race calendar is available at www.whakatanecyclingclub.org.