After over 90 hours in the saddle Dylan Sunderland has reflected on his Grand Tour debut as "one hell of a lap around Italy".
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The Inverell cyclist wrapped up his maiden Giro d'Italia campaign with a 92nd placing in the 21st and final stage to finish 114th in the general classification.
"Happy to have finished my first Grand Tour and couldn't have had a better bunch of people to do it with," the 24-year old posted on social media.
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Riding for South African team NTT Pro Cycling, Sunderland had a tough start to his first Grand Tour race, finishing 158th in the opening stage, but improved in the placings as the tour went on.
Highlighted by a 39th place finish on Stage 8, he had 10 top 100 finishes overall, six of which came in the final six stages, and was 37th in the young rider classification.
In what was likely their last Giro d'Italia as NTT, with the Japanese telecommunication company announcing just days before the race it would be leaving the team at the end of the year, Sunderland's efforts helped the team to their best-ever performance in the race.
They finished sixth in the overall team classification and had one stage win, three second places and nine top 10 finishes.
Closer to home and the Tamworth Cycle Club recorded some good results at the Orica Kermesse held at Kurri Kurri on Saturday.
Competing in her first State Open event, Isla Maidment made it onto the podium, finishing third in Division 3. Pip Ash and Phil Kelaher also had top 20 finishes in their respective events, with Ash coming home 12th in the Division 1 women and Kelaher ninth in the men's Division 2, while overall the TCC were eighth in the club road championships.
