Star and Garter Winter Series Goes Down to the Wire

After the many fireworks of round 9 the two leaders of the Star and Garter Winters series are seperated by a single meagre point. Going into round 9 Caleb "Il Capitano" Captain" Hill enjoyed a comfortable 6 point lead over David "Evans" Ayre. Jonno "Haussler" Kalma trailled by a further 4 points but was still presented a dangerous adversary due to his new found abilities as a bunch sprinter/rolleur/mountain goat.

Prompted by accusations of defensive riding and wheel sucking Ayre donned his skinsuit and went out on the early attack. Ayre was soon joined by the promising young Tom Ashley and the Duet quickly built a comfortable lead which was aided by an untimely puncture suffered by Hill. A number of dirty tactics including non regulation short cuts and the spreading of mis-information saw Ashley and Ayre re-catch the back of the bunch after 30kms if hard riding. At this point the Duet chose to sit on the back and quietly chortle as they watched an eager few attempt to chase them down.

A controlled ascent of the Col de Moutere seemed to gaurrantee that the race would finish in a bunch gallop. However no one bothered to tell the hot headed young Tom Hodgson that this was the only possible outcome. While the sprinters were busy eyeing each other up Hodgson stealthly rode away to take a comfortable second win of the series.

Meanwhile a combined leadout from Nick "Voight" Batt and Chris "Nicholson" Nicholson allowed Ayre and Kalma to pit themselves agianst each other in a contest for second place. Unfortunately for Kalma the Line was placed 5m to early and he was pipped by Ayre by the narrowest of margins (If you are reading this malcolm the cheque IS in the mail -if it doesn't turn up soon hit up postman Gary). An unlucky finish for Hill saw Ayre edge him out of the series lead by one point.

Round 9 also saw the return of three female riders to the Cat 1 peleton; Karen Fulton, Lana King and Bronwyn Fraser. Fulton is rumoured to be unimpressed by the sedate nature of current Cat 1 racing and will be renaming her spin classes "The New Tasman World Championships."

The Scene is now set for an exciting finale for the 2009 winter series which will finish at the top of the Alpe du' Aniseed -the training round of climbing ledgend George Bennett. Current TAB odds give Ayre; who reportedly perfers the comforts of a bar stool to the slopes of a climb, only a slender chance of retaining the series lead. Both Hill and Kalma will be considered as promising bets for the series victory following next Saturdays race.

Stay tuned for exclusive interveiws and insights into the how the series favourites are preparing for the season finale