I can’t remember how many times I’ve watched David Oliver turn an uneventful bike race into a crowd pleaser… and very, very often that doesn’t mean a win for him. Often he ends up being the strongman out the front… on his own… making the sprinters work for their money… and finishing third… or fourth… or back further.
He did his thing again on Saturday in the A Grade Scratchrace at St Helens. There was a bit of tactical stuff going on and it was becoming a bit of a yawn… until Dave took matters into his own hands and found himself at the front… again! POURing on the pressure and slipping away... solo… again.
Dave looked like getting there with a lap to go, but it was going to be close.
Dave’s efforts had animated the field, with the Taylor twins, carnivals fixture Aaron Jones and junior, Sid Natera helping stir things up, in the hope of running him down.
With less than half a lap remaining, Dave was still looking good when the smiling Italian/Hobartian hard-man Luca Rocchi turned on the afterburners with Jack Hadley on his wheel, powering down the home straight and holding off a threatening challenge from Hadley as they blasted past Dave.
Rocchi from Hadley, with Dave… well, somewhere.
A great race to watch but no fairytale ending for Dave.
Did he care? Not much. You see Dave had already laid it all on the line in the Wheelrace earlier in the day and that’s where the fairytale came. He blasted away from the field early for a convincing (and popular) win!
Sash already in the car; Money in his pocket; Wheelrace win under his belt; great big smile on his face... before the Scratchrace even started.
Congratulations Dave! And thank you for making pretty much every race you're in, a race worth watching.
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