Fast-starting Griffiths has edge in round five

Confirming B-grade's worst fears, Lenny Griffiths jumped out of the blocks and split the group as he impressively wound up the pace.

The strain was certainly felt at the other end of the field with Matt Grealy, Cam Smith and John Brian under the pump.

As he continued to drive the pace, Lenny lapped the field and rejoined the bunch, this time to hatch a plan with younger brother George to go again.

Josh Thomson, Francis Lias, Bryce Denham and Kevin Laffy continued to toil together.

In the end it was Lenny coasting to win from George in second and Josh Thomson leading the bunch home in third.

C-grade

We were graced by EMCC royalty in C-grade with living legend Clint Flanigan returning to race.

Going off script, Will Kettle didn't boil early, and it was Dazz McKemmish and Butch setting the pace with an occasional gap developing off the front of the bunch.

It seemed that Matt Dobeli, Dazz and Butch were intent on keeping the pace high to see if they could stretch the rest of the field.

while these three continued their display of bravado, Clint, Will Kettle and Mel Smolenaars rode smartly and kept bridging gaps as needed.

With a lap to go, the group was looking to see who would make a move.

On the back straight, Matt went around the outside and clumsily collected Mel Smolenaars twice with his front wheel.

Luckily, neither went down, but it was race over for both from there.

In the dash for the line it was Will, Butch and Dazz, with Dazz and Butch neck and neck in the sprint.

As they hit the line, it was Dazz by a rim over Butch, with Will in third.

D-grade

A large group of nine set off in D-grade with Russell Jeffreys returning to Crit racing at EMCC.

From a steady start, the pace picked up with some efforts from Brad Wiggins, Kaz Griffiths and co. progressively applying the torch to Ray, Terry and Jerrod off the back of the bunch.

As the race continued, Paul Oman and Heather Lias looked to be ticking along very comfortably in the bunch.

As they were greeted by the bell, it was Shepparton Cycling Club's Brad Wiggins who put the foot down, but had he gone too early?

In the final push it was Paul Oman crossing the line first for back to back wins, with Heather Lias in second and Kaz Griffiths in third.

It was great to see some of our wounded warriors watching tonight.

To Mick and Levi Hone, Nick Woods and Aaron Mulkearns, we hope to see you back on the bike soon.

A big crowd attended the presentation night to celebrate our successful 2024 Winter Road Race season.