Veteran cyclist scores

Press, 31 May 1982, Page 18

Veteran cyclist scores

The redoubtable Clayton Yaxley struck success at last in the Canterbury professional 40km cycling championship on Saturday. . Facing the challenges of two riders with grand records over the distance. Terry Gyde and Steve Doherty, Yaxley, aged 35, had the initiative to slip clear on Sparks Road and to hold off the fast-closing bunch. Gyde at its head, on the Kennedys Bush Road finish. It has been a long, frustrating wait for Yaxley, five times a runner-up for this race, and third on other occasions. But it must

have been just as frustrating this time for Doherty, seeking a personal hat-trick. Halfway through the race, he was forced out when the centre-bracket of his new bike came loose. Two of the more aggressive riders were Gavin Hughes — but not always wisely — and Graham Schist, and Schist certainly chose the right time to reverse his recent run of defeats at the hands of Graham Wilkins. In finishing fifth, a place ahead of Wilkins, Schist won the junior championship. The experience of O’Hagan

and Cleary — or knowing when to look after themselves — helped carry them through to their placings, and in O'Hagan's case, the veteran title as well. But they were all outfoxed by Yaxley, coming through over Gyde, then responding to his heeding to "go.” By the time the opposition woke up, Yaxley had indeed gone, and he recorded 64min 275. After Wilkins, in sixth place, came another'junior. Nigel Dent, then Hughes and Brent Stanaway.