Racing in the rain is starting to be the norm these days in Queensland. It was no different on Sunday 9 January when two Bikeline racing members travelled down to Synergy Park in Ipswich for the Ipswich Cycling Club’s Sunday morning crits.
Jesse Hennessy raced in C-grade, regularly leading the pack during the race and then overpowering the group in the sprint for second, after a Logan City rider had made a successful breakaway with a few laps to go to win the race.
Raf Vainikka raced in B-grade with B-grade and A-grade combined. Raf raced for the first time with his Velocite-Aus Cycle Coaching Development Squad team mates, with some from the squad racing in B-grade and some in A-grade.
On the first lap, Raf with two of his Development Squad team mates Kasey Clark and Sam Moore who rode in A-grade made a breakaway. The boys worked together well, alternating leads, extending the lead to the main group to 1min 15sec towards the end, averaging 41.5km/h for the entire race. The breakaway was successful and Raf won B-grade convincingly with the other Development Squad team mates securing one and two in A-grade.