NOWRA Velo Club’s Matt Carmolotti has won this year’s 120-kilometre Cootamundra Road Classic in a wet bunch sprint finish by 10 lengths and going away.

Nowra riders competed at Cootamundra last weekend in the Cootamundra Classic on the Saturday and the Cootamundra Recovery Ride on Sunday.

Jason Caldwell, Matt Carmolotti, Joe Fenech, Alexis Barnes, Greg Molony Damien Mason and Roger Bird all entered both events and came away with some good results.

Matt Carmolotti has hit some form of late and took this form into the race.

Starting from the fourth bunch out on the day he set about making sure they weren’t going to be caught and was to become one of the real workers in this group pulling some strong turns on the front.

This bunch was to be the only one to hold the chasers off for the full duration of the race; they had managed to ride through the field and had picked up the front markers with 15 kilometres left to the finish.

Throughout the course of the race there are set sprints at different points on the course.

The last sprint for the day before the finish was about the 110km mark.

By this stage Nowra’s Damien Mason, Greg Molony, Matt Carmolotti and Roger Bird were in the now 40 odd rider bunch that were up to contest it.

Carmolotti claimed the prize as they crossed the line.

With this last sprint now out of the way and the rain now falling the finish became everyone’s priority.

The finish had some tight turns just before the run to the line and in the wet this would be testing.

Over the railway line and a sharp left turn, several riders came to grief, but the Nowra riders escaped the carnage.

Down into the finish straight Carmolotti hit the front with two riders on his wheel.

They started to move and Carmolotti kicked, leaving the opposition in his wake and he crossed the line 10 lengths clear of the field and going away.