Cyclists flock to Warragul Velodrome for track series

For the first time in years, a crowd of cyclists flocked to the Warragul velodrome to compete.

Five local cyclists were involved, with more than 50 travelling from Melbourne for the ACES summer track series.

“It was so exciting and goose bumps were on all of us, to be honest.

“I can’t even remember the last time we had a carnival or a race meeting at the Warragul Cycling Club’s velodrome,” club president Karin Jones said.

With COVID cancelling dozens of events since March last year, it was the first chance for many young cyclists to try out their skills against other aspiring athletes.

“It was exciting for them to have something at their home club track where they’ve been training every Monday,” Jones said.

22-year-old Tylah Meunier took out the gold in the A-grade aggregate race with a powerful performance, and Grace Graafsma showed she was the one to watch after winning all novice events.

“A standout performance from Grace, she is an incredible talent and I can see her going a long way in her career whether that be cycling or triathlons,” Jones said.

The ACES summer track series includes cycling clubs such as Preston, Brunswick and Blackburn, with race meetings held at a different track every week. Warragul will hold its next track event on January 29, which will be a Victorian Title Race and open to all competitors.

“We expect a very large number of entries and a big crowd to come and watch,” Jones said.

And with sport competitions given the green light, Warragul hopes to bring their famous two-day track carnivals back to life, which brought hundreds of people to the local velodrome from all over Australia.

“I’d be really keen to build back up to having something like that and it seems like our association with these other clubs is going to see that happen again,” Jones said.