Young gun: Levi Hone took out the EMCC Gunbarrel Handicap at the weekend, 25 years after his father MIck (far right), took out the inaugural event. Photo: Richard Bailey
Echuca Moama Cycling Club’s Levi Hone has created a piece of history in claiming the 25th edition of the club’s Gunbarrel Handicap race.
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The win was a proud moment for Levi’s father Mick, who won the inaugural edition of the event back in 1998, meaning two generations of the Hone family will now have their names etched on the winner’s plaque.
“I’m quite proud of him regardless of any particular race, but it’s also the first local handicap that he’s won,” Mick said.
“Even when he doesn’t win things I’m proud as punch, because he is just 100 per cent, he just gives everything.”
A 30-strong field took to the starting line for the 56km race, with the course — as the name suggests — a dead straight 28km to the turnaround, where competitors then cycle the same 28km back in.
The father-son combination of Mick and Levi was part of the seventh and final scratch group, which set off 28 minutes in arrears to the limit riders.
A strong northerly crosswind made life difficult, and with nowhere to hide along the out-and-back course, the blustery conditions claimed many casualties.
The strongest riders stormed through the field, with Levi and Mick, Trent Stevenson and Jake Lay finding themselves at the head of the race inside the final kilometre.
Winner: Levi (right) posing with the Gunbarrel Handicap winner’s plaque alongside race sponsor Ash Hall. Photo: EMCC
With 100 metres to go, Levi launched his sprint, beating his companions to the line in a fast finish that ensured his name was engraved on yet another trophy.
“It’s pretty nice, bragging rights have equalled out now,” Levi said of claiming the race his father won 25 years ago.
“He always mentions something like that every now and then, a trophy that his name is on and mine isn’t, so it’s good that mine is there now, it’s really nice.”
Stevenson crossed the line in second, just ahead of Lay, who rounded out the podium, while Mick Hone finished fourth.
“He was written off, I knew I was going to beat him 100 per cent,” Levi said of his dad’s chances of a win in the final sprint.
“The other guys though, they were riding pretty strong, so just had to wait and see what would happen.”
David Maltby was the next across the line to claim fifth, while Claire Goodman finished sixth, also taking the title of first female across the line.
There was also a tandem entry that made it to the finish, with Kevin Laffy piloting a tandem bicycle with vision-impaired cyclist Barry King on-board in what were tough conditions for the duo.
An immensely talented junior, Levi has been in imperious form of late, having finished second in the overall classification at the Junior Tour of Canberra earlier this month, while also claiming silver in the road race at the Oceania Championships in April.
Mick is putting no limits on how far Levi can take his talents, with Europe the next big step for the star junior.
“Obviously you need a bit of luck, but he just needs to get over to Europe somehow and chip away at that until he’s 25, 26, and see how he goes,” Mick said.
EMCC will be in action next Saturday for the Lockington Handicap trophy race, which was last year won by David Trounson, with Chase Costello-Manning recording the fastest time.
It will be a big weekend for the local cycling community, with a ride and barbecue in honour of longtime EMCC volunteer Roberta Hamilton organised for Sunday morning.
The ride will mark the one-year anniversary of Hamilton’s passing after a long battle with cancer, with all funds raised at the barbecue to be donated to the ERH Cancer and Wellness Centre.
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