Henderson however, was content to sit in the bunch and support his brother, club president, Chris Henderson while Alex MacGregor and Andy Connelly did the hard work up front to split the field.
In the end, it was the Taieri Gorge train that was the deciding factor, as riders were forced to stop at the rail crossing, allowing the whole field to regroup 1km from the finish.
Once the train had passed, Brad Evans was quick to capitalise on the opportunity presented and bolted for the line ahead of Mark Spessott, Chris Henderson and Alex MacGregor.
Greg Henderson graciously declined to contest the sprint and rolled over the line in fifth place.
The category 3 bunch was bolstered in numbers and in strength by several category 2 riders reassigned to the next grade to small numbers entering that grade.
This made it tough going for some of the new recruits to road racing as the stronger riders pushed the pace up front. At times the field was well strung out as the mother and daughter team of Jan Brosnahan and Elyse Fraser made several attempts to get away.
However with Alysha Keith, Maaike Duncan, Shaun Scott, Mary Grey, Peter Hart and a few others on the chase, they were reeled back in.
In the final lap though, there was no stopping the ever improving Fraser, as she took off just after the rail crossing. It was an all-woman affair at the finish with Fraser comfortably taking the win, Keith second and Grey third.
This week saw five new woman riders entering the road racing as the women on wheels (WOW) track programme begins to flow on to the road. Viv Allen-Kelly and Rachel Sime held their own in the category 3 race while Hilary Lennox, Louise Kennedy and Chrissy Crooks entered category 4 and raced alongside junior rider Campbell Mann.
While Mann got away at the start and held his lead for three and a-half laps, Lennox showed she was ready to graduate to category 3 with a powerful chase in the final lap to wipe out his huge lead and claim victory.
- Jan McClelland
