Cyclesport Victoria

Shepparton's Trent Stevenson, winner of the 2009 Keith Esson Memorial – Shepparton Road Classic, will be wearing the number 1 saddle cloth when he lines up on Saturday against a star studded “A” field of 27 riders.

The event will be conducted in three grades over 147km starting from Dookie, travelling via Devenish, Lake Mokoan, Tamnick Gap, Wangaratta before finishing back at Dookie.

A total of 103 entries have been received for the event, with “C” Grade to include seven women beginning at 10.00am. “B” Grade will start at 10.30am with the “A” Grade field getting underway at 11.00am.

Stevenson will have plenty of opposition as he looks to go “back to back”.  Last years runner-up, Tom Leaper (Blackburn CC) returns and recent strong form will see him push for a step up the podium, whilst David Pell (Bendigo & District CC), Rhys Pollock (Albury-Wodonga CC) are also excellent chances.

Leigh Egan (Shepparton CC), who finished second in the Victorian 100km Championship at Port Fairy in early July, would love to win this event, named in the memory of Shepparton journalist Keith Esson. Read about Keith here.

The list of quality riders continues with the likes of Dominik Dudkiewicz (Footscray CC) third in the Victorian 100km Championship, Adam Murchie (Footscray CC) & Peter Ladd (Bendigo & District CC) fourth and seventh in the Midlands Tour last Saturday.