Congratulations and kudos to SKCC’s Matilda Raynolds for winning the famous 267km Melbourne to Warrnambool road race, with a winning time of 6.21:31, beating Justine Barrow and Nicole Frain with a sprint to the line.

Here’s what Matilda had to say:

“Pure relief to get through the 2021 Melbourne to Warrnambool, a bonus to take the win in a sprint finish.

“Firstly, I want to say an enormous thank you to @purd12 and@lowercasev for driving 12hrs and feeding me throughout the day (at 230km we finally got that feed), and congratulations to @justinelbarrow?and @_nicolelouise_?- great positioning and strong riding all day.

“Soft tail winds and a sunny day made for perfect conditions for a ride but difficult to split the race, even so it took me a long time for my legs to come good. So many times I thought I was out of the race, and had to fight to hang on and return to surfing the peloton again. At 200km the peloton was still together, bar 2 up the road, unfortunately I just couldn’t hang on to the men up the final KOM, and even if I had I’d have been shelved during the final 50km crosswind.

“So much can happen over 270km, and after my past 3 races ended in an ‘out of my control’ DNF I was desperate to finish the 2nd oldest race in the world. I needed this one, it’s a good reminder that tough times will pass. That’s the thing about cycling, there’s always another race.

“Thank you for all the support particularly those who have kept me going the past few months on and off the road, and congratulations to the @m2wcyclingclassic organisers for rescheduling this event after Melbourne’s snap lockdown. Glad to take that off the calendar!”

Matilda is now back racing in the United States.

In the men’s race, SKCC’s best place was Carter Turnbull finishing 16^th.

Congrats to all who raced and finished:

In Elite: Kelland O’Brien, Terance Hore (also 3^rd in KOM), Lewis Bull, Lewis Fulcher and Adam McGillivray; In A-Grade: Stephen Richards. B-Grade: James Parkinson (5^th). C-Grade: Greg Walters (5^th).

Also on the same day was the 76km Port Campbell to Warrnambool Handicap. SKCC competitors included Gemma Abery, Tim Berry, Steven Drake, Campbell Fuller, Troy Keith, David Mercovich, Alan Nelson, Paul Sadgrove and Henry Schreier.

A big thanks to Alison Raaymakers for her transit assistance and other support, and to the Murray2Moyne Bega Bunch for lending SKCC their bike trailer.

• Anna Legg