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An epic break it was. Three riders went clear of the peloton as soon as the flag was dropped. Aaron Bleakley (NZBRO), Michael Gamst (BL13) and Payne Griffin (Next pb Enshored) went clear immediately as we rolled through the official start banner and that was the last the main peloton would see of them.
The 3 riders worked well together on the Neokyo, Railways and Rooftops course which features the rooftop climb on all 3 laps of this 21km race. The riders team mates were doing there job and tried to keep the activity and pace in the chasing peloton down and the 3 extended their lead to 30 seconds before the final lap and climb. It was only in the final 3km on the Rooftops ascent where Adil Tabalong made his move to try and bridge the gap to the leading trio, Brian Duffy Junior quickly followed Adil's wheel and the 2 riders did indeed bridge the gap to make a leading 5 with around 1.5km to go.
Just under the flamme rouge and it was Aaron Bleakley and Michael Gamst who made the early moves and quickly followed by the other early breakaway partner Payne Griffin who would hit out and try and take the victory. However Tabalong and Duffy Jnr where in the wheels and timed their sprints to perfection. A photo finish was required and indeed Next's Brian Duffy Jnr was the victor on the night. Next packing all 5 riders in the top 10 placings.
They may have joined the series late but they are very quickly closing the gap on the leading team of NZBro.
Watch the action Here: https://www.youtube.com/c/SiBradeley