THE popular Long Swamp Road course played host to the first race of the Armidale Cycling Club championships on Saturday.
A large turnout was on hand with everyone keen to race the two laps and tackle the tough hills twice.
Young members dominated all three grades, with Mitch Sozou taking out A grade, Reece O’Hara victorious in B rade and Jillian Backhouse coming in first in C grade.
Sozou and Geoff Straub broke away in the top grade and stayed there to finish first and second, while Andrew Kirk took third ahead of Dave Munday and Pat McMillan.
Placegetters in B grade were O’Hara, Simon Paul and Kenny McDonald.
Second and third in C grade were Lasse Mikkelson and Geoff Allen respectively.
The club championship is held over six rounds, with the final race taking place in September.
Points are awarded to the first five placegetters, with first place taking five and fifth one.
Riders must race in one of each of the criterium, road race and time trial to qualify.
The next event is a criterium on May 31 at the Traffic Education Centre, followed by a time trial on June 14 on Dangarsleigh Road.
A 30km road race will be held on the same course on August 16, followed by a time trial on August 30.
The championship ends on September 13 with a criterium, once again held at the Traffic Education Centre.