Tour de France 2003 green jersey champion Baden Cooke was encouraged by an eighth-place finish in his return to competition as two newcomers claimed the main races at the Mick Chapman Memorial road race on Sunday.
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Cooke, 38, was the headline act at the Hunter Economic Zone course in Pelaw Main for the annual Hunter District Cycling Club race held in honour of their long-time competitor, coach, administrator, foundation member and president.
Canberra rider Sean Whitfield, competing for Hunter-based Oliver’s Real Food Racing team, won the 100-kilometre men’s A-grade race in a sprint finish. Sutherland Shire cyclist Emily Cunningham earlier claimed the women’s division by more than three minutes after breaking the field with a mid-race move.
Despite not competing for two and a half years, 38-year-old Cooke showed his class to stay with the leaders throughout and finish just over a second behind Whitfield.
“I’ve done only about three rides in the last three weeks, so I was really happy just to get around. I didn’t think I’d make it,” Cooke said.
“If you’d offered my eighth before the start, I would have taken it.
“I’m pretty keen to get back into it, so that’s given me a bit of motivation, the fact that I could finish so high. I had to use every trick in the book, though. I was pulling out all my old tricks to stay near the front.”
Cooke said he had “put on five kilos and lost about 50 per cent of my power” since retiring three years ago, “but I’m keen to do the local stuff and do it as a hobby again.”
Whitfield, 21, edged out Cameron Scott, from the St George club, and Hunter District CC rider Reece Robinson for the win before praising the work of his teammates.
“The wind was strong so it wasn’t necessarily going to be a sprint finish, but all the guys kept it together for us and had confidence in me to get through to the finish and I got the job done for the boys,” Whitfield said.
“Ben Marshall and Carsten Chapman rode really strong and Matt Warner-Smith was crucial in the final lap to keep everything together.”
Whitfield returned to competition with a club race win on Saturday in Canberra after time off in Belgium. He is now targetting the under-23 national criterium titles in January.
“I’ve just had a bit of time off the bike so it’s a massive confidence boost this early in my training,” he said. “It looks good for the summer coming up.”
Cunningham was also targetting the national titles, as well as the December 2-4 Tour of Bright, after her commanding victory.