Cycling Australia

Perfect weather greeted hand-cyclists and tri-cyclists in Sydney's west at the weekend for the opening round of the 2013 Australian National Hand-cycling Series (NHS).

On Saturday, Sutherland's Waratah Park hosted the criterium with twelve riders taking part. 

In the H1 class, Glenn Bennett (NSW) won ahead of Emilie Miller (NSW) who was participating in her first NHS race.

Alex Welsh (VIC) claimed the H2 classification, with Ron Gibson (NSW) in second place and Harley Quinlan (QLD) in third, while the honours in the H3 event went to Grant Allen (SA) over Albert Lee (NSW).

In the tri-cycling criterium, Paralympic road time trial champion Carol Cooke (VIC) was victorious in the T2 race.

In Sunday's road races at Lansdowne Park in Bankstown, the temperatures continued to rise throughout the day as competitors contested the road races along the two kilometre circuit.

Glenn Bennett (NSW) continued his great form to win H1, with the H2 race results identical to the previous day with Welsh claiming the win.

Grant Allen (SA) won the H3 event, with Jarrad Langmead (NSW) taking the T2 win over Carol Cooke (VIC).

Special thanks  to Wheelchair Sports NSW, especially for helping out with transport on both days and to Sutherland Shire Cycling Club and Waratah Masters Cycling Club.

The NHS features four rounds of racing action in New South Wales, Queensland, Western Australia and Victoria and will feature cyclists from Australia and New Zealand. Round 2 of the NHS takes place in QLD on 23-24 February.

The NHS is coordinated by Cycling Australia and is supported by Scody and the Australian Paralympic Committee.