It began in 1960. Fred Icke put
together the first ‘Wendouree 110’, a 110-mile race around the Ballarat area
that started and finished in Wendouree. When Icke passed away in 1981,
the race was renamed the Fred Icke Memorial Handicap and Icke’s friend Wal
Smith took over as organiser. The race route has shifted several times over
the 53 year life of the Classic and the 2012 race, now organised by the
Ballarat Sebastopol Cycling Club, both starts and finishes 11 kilometres north
of Wendouree in the small town of Creswick.
This
year’s 133 kilometre route attracted 165 participants for the 44 kilometre loop
from Creswick through Smeaton, Newlyn and Allendale. The three waves of
the elite riders left Albert St at 10 minute intervals, the first group hitting
the course at 11:30am. The groups came together during the first lap, and
despite the usual attacks and splits in the peloton, the majority of riders
were together three hours later as they chased down the lone rider 30 seconds
ahead who crossed the finish line in a course record of 2:58:36.
For
17-year-old winner Alex Morgan, today’s race feels like a preview of a big
career to come. Despite being in the middle of completing his VCE, Morgan
is already a Junior World Champion on the track, winning the team pursuit with
Jack Cummings, Alex Edmondson and Jackson Law in Russia last August. The
dual track/road rider shows no signs of slowing down, either, citing plans to
compete at the Australian National Junior Road Championships in Shepparton in
June and the UCI Junior Track World Championships in Invercargill, New Zealand,
as well as contesting the Junior Time Trial at the UCI Road World Championships
in Limburg, Holland, in September.
"I just tried to sprint up the hill
on the last climb. The plan was to go outside of town," he said of
the day's race. "I sat up at one point, but I put the gas on at 10
kilometres to go. My lead was building - 10 seconds, 20 seconds - and at
five kilometres to go I knew I had it." He described the win as
'unexpected'. "Last year I was straight out of under-17s. It
all played out well, though."
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