Cycling Queensland

2012 Subaru National Road Series leader Luke Davison (Budget Forklifts) continued his winning ways by taking out the Paradice Investment Goulburn to Sydney road race in a sprint finish on Sunday.

After 170 kilometres, a major break and many attacks on the notorious 'Razorback' Ridge, the race came together with just 5km to go, allowing the in-form sprinter in Davison to claim his first one-day race victory.

Davison beat rival sprinter Anthony Giacoppo (Genesys Wealth) for line honours, Giacoppo crossing for third place behind 21-year-old Scott Law (Illawarra Cycling Club) second.

“With 200 metres left I just had to go for it – it’s great to get the win and to repay all the boys for their hard work today,” an ecstatic Davison said.

“The boys had faith in me and there were some moments where everyone was really starting to struggle but they spurred me on and gave me the encouragement I needed.

“When you have huge wins like this it’s awesome and they put the hard days into perspective,” the 22-year-old said.

The Sydney rider’s win was witnessed by Davison’s family and friends, something he said made the moment all the more special.

“It’s so hard with big races like this. You get a bit emotional but you also don’t know what to expect so you can’t get your hopes up.

“After the finish today it’s the first time I’ve really savoured the win and had a big think about it,” Davison said of his embrace with his mother on the finish line.

Riding high after taking out the Jayco Tour of the Murray just last weekend, Davison's win further puts him in the lead of the Subaru National Road Series over Anthony Giacoppo (Genesys).

“Having the [NRS] leaders jersey you’re always going to be heavily marked – but the pressure is what really helps you lift to the occasion,” he said.

“The [back-to-back] wins have given me a lot of confidence going into the rest of the year but we can’t rest on our loral’s.

“I think the National Road Series title is very prestigious and converted so to win it would be amazing.”

Budget Forklifts' Michael Cupitt was amongst four riders who made a break at the 30km mark, allowing the team to save energy for the eventual sprint finish.

Aaron Donnelly (Jayco Honey-Shotz), Rhys Pollack (Drapac) and Edward White (GPM Wilson) rounded out the breakaway group.

The group took their lead out to 2 min 55 sec before Genesys began to hustle the bunch into action.

It took 110km before the peloton finally reeled in the breakaway, just in time for Razorback Ridge.

“I felt pretty good, I was just trying not to over-ride it just in case we did stay away,” Cupitt said.

“It took the pressure off the team, they didn’t have to chase at all and other teams had to do the work. The race went exactly to our plan and everyone is really happy with the result.”

The break was caught with 20 kilometres left to race and Drapac launched a counter attack immediately. Lachlan Norris (Drapac), Brodie Talbot (Racing Kangaroos) and Chris Joy (GPM Wilson) broke away up the steep climb with others chasing desperately.

Talbot didn’t have the legs to keep up when Lapthorne (Drapac), Luke Fetch (Search2Retain) and Nathan Earl (Genesys) joined the fight.

The group conquered Old Razorback Ridge and held a narrow lead over the chasing field before Fetch and Norris kicked away from the leaders.

However the duo didn’t have the legs to match the pace of the peloton, the field coming together with 5km to go.

The 2012 edition of the Goulburn to Sydney was raced in memory of the late Robbie Williams (Drapac) who died at the age of 27 last month. Williams won the event in 2007 with father Bruce paying tribute to his son as riders observed a minutes silence prior to the race.

“He rode because he loved to ride and he never lost sight of that,” Bruce Williams said to the 159 competitors on a cold and foggy morning in Goulburn.

Drapac’s Rhys Pollack claimed the King of the Mountain classification for the day and said he had wanted to ride the way Williams would have done.

“Today we were all riding with our heart on our sleeves and thinking of him, he said. “Being out in the break today, that would have been the sort of thing Robbie would have done so if he’s looking down I think he would have been happy with how we rode,” Pollack said.

Aaron Donnelly (Jayco Honey-Shotz) claimed the sprinters jersey and Brendan Johnston (Suzuki/Trek) crossed the line in 9th place, to take out the B grade division.

Budget Forklifts' win earned them overall Teams classification honours.