Teardrop Handicap Road Race 2025
The most recent event on Albany Cycle Club’s calendar saw riders venture west to take on the hilly Denmark Teardrop course. From a very damp and gloomy morning, the weather had transformed itself and conditions were ideal for the 50-kilometre race.
The small field was handicapped into five groups with Liz Cooper, Jacob Greenwood and newcomer, Becky Lewis getting things underway on the climb up to the Alpaca Farm. While not especially steep, it is 15 kilometres of climbing and, approaching the turn, there was a definite sense of the later starters closing in those who had started earlier.
By the first turn for the McLeod Road descent, the 7-minute group of Paul Gibson and Martin Depiazzi had split, and the following group of Matt Bascombe and David Beckwith were still together, just. Behind them, Colin Rose and Damien McAleese had proved to be a bit quick for Sean Crisp who was doing his best to stay ahead of a hard charging Brett Dal Pozzo.
The steep, two kilometre climb back up McLeod saw a complete rearrangement in the race. Jacob Greenwood accelerated away from his companions to take a solo lead; a position he clung to for the next 12 kilometres before being finally overwhelmed by Rose, McAleese and Depiazzi as they stormed down the hill for the finish. Behind this, new groups were forming and reforming as the constant climbing started to take its toll on the legs.
As the leading riders neared the finish, it was clear that a two up sprint was on the cards with Depiazzi unable to match the speed of Rose and McAleese. Behind these three, Dal Pozzo was closing in rather rapidly having left all other riders in his wake.
In the final kick for the line, Rose proved too strong and took the win, closely followed by McAleese. Depiazzi just held off Dal Pozzo to complete the podium. Liz Cooper was the fastest female, Jacob Greenwood, the fastest junior, and Brett Dal Pozzo had the fastest time of the day, completing the course in just over 89 minutes at an average speed of 38.4kmhr.
Thanks as always to the volunteers who did the signage, managed the start/finish and the turn arounds. Also, thanks to Rockcliffe for hosting the event.