By George, you’ve done it again!

Steven George of the Wilson HTM Cycling team has once again demonstrated his peak form in race 2 of the Nundah Cycle Series, edging out Gilbert Gutowski of Team Ord Minnett. The duo broke clear in the final lap and in an ultimate display of brute strength; it was George that was victorious in the ever increasing winds of Albert Bishop Park, Nundah.

49 riders set to the start line this day in the 1 hour + 4 lap affair. The race was punctuated with 3 sprint primes provided by Chris Langdon of Zipp Australia. The pace was much faster from the beginning in both the A and B grades, each group setting a firm tempo for the first 10 minutes. After the first sprint which would see Matthew Hobbs victorious, as in race2, B grade switched off allowing the A grade field to take huge chunks of time away and ultimately catching them within 17 of the 60 minutes carded for the event.

Liam McCarthey (MB Coaching) was ever present at the front of B grade, without the help of his fellow competitors, his attempts to hold off a charging A field would be without reward.

A grade caught B at around 17 minutes, just in time for sprint 2. Michael Hepburn (Yellow Jersey) would be successful in taking the reward and had to catch his breath as A grade upped the pace immediately after tagging the B Elite field.

At the front of affairs now team Wilson HTM flexed their strength along with Ord Minnett, having a total of 12 riders out of the 28 strong A grade field. Greg Campbell, Steven George and ever present Mark Ledgerwood (Wilson HTM) shared the work with Cameron Hughes- recent winner of Australia’s premier 1 day event, The Grafton Inverell- and his Ord Minnett partners in Chris Pryor, Gavin Nicholls and Gilbert Gutowski.

The race was dominated with attack after attack until a group of 10 were established of the front. A neutral was called due to a crash and with an ambulance required, the groups were asked to remain “neutral” until the Ambulance had cleared the rider. Bringing the race to a stop, the riders of the front break were allowed their 10 second gap, with the chasing bunch sent off 10 seconds later so to ensure the break was allowed their gap in sports and fairness. The break quickly reestablished its gap and with little or no co-operation in the chase, the gap went from 10-15-35 seconds.

This break consisted of Mark Roland, Mark Ledgerwood, Steven George and Greg Campbell (Wilson HTM) Cameron Hughes, Chris Pryor and Gilbert Gutowski (Ord Minnett) Brendan Kay (Healthworks) Matthew Smith (2XU- Bike Sales) Matthew Williams (Peleton Cycles).

Mark Ledgerwood took out the last prime in fine sprinting form ahead of his fellow break aways. From this point the group was smooth and fast, holding their significant lead to the chase. Gavin Nichols (Ord Minnett) was incredibly strong in bridging across to the break with fellow rider Michael Hepburn. Hepburn paying for his efforts and being dropped on the final lap.


The last lap was littered with attacks with the strongest from Gilbert Gutowski. With only 800 metres to go he was tagged by recently awarded Track Cyclist of the Year Steven George. George is enjoying the benefits of his hard training with some fantastic form, easily out sprinting his competitor for 2 wins from 2 starts in the series. Team mate Mark Ledgerwood came in for 3rd with Matthew Smith of 2XU- Bike Sales taking the remaining money.

Based on his many attacks and fantastic bridging efforts, Gavin Nichol was awarded Most Aggressive with Jianna Hobbs taking out the women’s event.

Results1 Steven George (Wilson HTM)2 Gilbert Gutowski (Ord Minnet)3 Mark Ledgerwood (Wilson HTM)4 Matthew Smith (2XU-Bike Sales) Most Aggressive: Gavin Nichols (Ord Minnet)Women: Jianna Hobbs ZIPP Sprint Primes 1 Matthew Hobbs2 Michael Hepburn3 Mark Ledgerwood (Wilson HTM)