Dylan Sunderland and Ryan Thomas will be carrying team hopes and family legacies on their shoulders in the Grafton to Inverell Cycle Classic this Saturday.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The local A Grade pair will return to home roads and crowds for the grueling race, both in with a good chance of topping the podium.
Both will be following the same roads as family members before them.
Dylan hopes to join the winning ranks along with his uncle Scott Sunderland, who finished third in 1986. A world tour professional, Scott competed in many prestigious races on the European circuit, including the Tour de France.
“Working with him, he brings so much experience to help me with my cycling. Just being able to get access to that much experience - not many riders have got that access,” Dylan said.
Dylan was also inspired by his father Peter Sunderland, who did his time on the Grafton to Inverell course, and grandfather Bruce Sunderland, who nurtured his interest.
“I actually started riding with my grandfather. He was the one that started taking us out for a ride every afternoon after school,” Dylan said.
“Then it just got further and further. We started racing local races, junior races, and about age 18 I decided to take it seriously and started racing national level events.” By 19-years, Dylan made his own mark in the 2015 Grafton to Inverell, coming in at eighth place.
The young NSW Institute of Sport racer is a strong contender for the top spot this year after a successful start to the season, winning the 110km Blayney to Bathurst in April.
Ryan also attributes his interest in the sport to his family, and will be racing the same track as his own grandfather, Bill Thomas.
“It was a bit different back in those days because they had a handicap race. So they had an hour and a half to the front guys to catch them before they could actually win,” Ryan said.
“They just had to ride as hard as they could until they caught everyone. It’s very different to what we do now.”
Ryan started his career as a triathlete, and remembers competing as young as five-years-old.
“I was doing triathlons, but I didn’t really like running or swimming, so I just kept riding, and then I started racing, doing nationals and state championships when I was 14, 15. And then I just focused on cycling ever since,” Ryan said.
Ryan won’t be easy to beat in the local cycle classic, and finished 12th in the 2014 race. He had a good start to the year with Oliver’s Real Food Racing, when he won the Sprint Leader’s green jersey for two stages of the New Zealand Cycle Classic. He said Dylan’s success motivated him to do well.