Noah Blannin wins Quest Ivanhoe 127th Austral Wheelrace

Noah Blannin has ridden his name on to the honour roll of the world's oldest active track cycling race by conquering the Quest Ivanhoe 127th Austral Wheelrace at Darebin International Sports Centre (DISC) in Melbourne.

The Gold Coast talent, who represented the ARA Australian Cycling Team at the 2022 and 2023 UCI Junior Track World Championships and Australia at the 2023 Commonwealth Youth Games, was handed a generous 210-metre handicap and grabbed the opportunity with both legs in a calculated winning performance.

Blannin said he was "honoured to be an Austral Wheelrace winner given the history of the event and the names who have won it".

"I was extremely surprised with my handicap mark. I don’t think I’ll be given that much of a handicap in the future," Blannin said.

"The plan was to wait for the middle markers rather than hold them off. However, I didn’t expect the group to become as big as it did which meant I really had to dig deep from a lot further back than expected."

How the 127th Austral Wheelrace unfolded

19-year-old Blannin qualified for the final as the limit man and quickly linked up with South Australian Zac Marriage (Kilkenny Cycling Club), who was also handed a 180m handicap gift, at the front of the race.

The two opted against a committed long-range effort and were absorbed by the splitting middle marker group at the halfway point of the 2000-metre, eight-lap race.

Finn Carpenter (Cockburn BMX), off a 160m mark, inherited the Austral lead but was unable to sustain his all-in effort with two laps remaining.

Only Niel Van Niekerk from Mt Gambier Cycling Club (140m) and Lachlan Walters from Hamilton Wheelers Cycling Club (145m) had followed Carpenter's wheel, and the former powered over the top of the sprinter to lead as the bell rang for the final lap.

16-year-old Walters overtook Van Niekerk on the second-to-last corner and was on the verge of a remarkable win in his debut Austral start.

However, Marriage and Blannin were flying in the wheels behind and gaining metres by the second.

As the lead group hit the finishing straight of DISC, it was Blannin that retook the lead he started with eight laps prior to win by half a bike length ahead of Marriage in second and Walters in third.

Noah Blannin has joined the exclusive Austral Wheelrace winners club. (Picture: Con Chronis)

The Queenslander's victory was clocked at 1:55.75, narrowly shy of Graeme Frislie's winning 126th Austral Wheelrace time off scratch last year.

The defending champion was denied the opportunity the defend his Austral Wheelrace crown after failing to qualify for the final after finishing fifth in the sixth heat, one spot out of the top-four finish that was required.

Other winners on a jam-packed Saturday schedule included Japanese visitors Minato Nakaishi and Haruka Nakazawa in the UCI C1 keirins, while South Korean Taeho Choi and Queenslander Emma Stevens won the junior UCI keirins.

The Junior Austral Wheelraces, proudly supported by the Maillot Jaune Club, were won by Balmoral Cycling Club's Isabella Potts off 40m and Alpine Cycling Club's Lachlan Stewart off scratch.

Feature picture: Con Chronis