Continuing a long line of great cyclists coming out of the Country Music Capital, Sam Hill has claimed second place in the Grafton to Inverell.
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"I died a thousand deaths," Hill joked about how he coped during the 228km stretch.
"I was in a bad way just before Glen Innes, but my legs came good and I got my second wind towards the end of the ride, and then I was running on adrenaline for the last 30 minutes."
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Number 44 riding with the team Nero Continental, the Tamworth cyclist rode in with a time of five hours and 56.37 seconds.
He was pipped to the post by Rudy Porter, who came in at five hours and 56.12 seconds.
Watch Hill battle hard for second place here:
"I had really good legs, and I knew if I could get to the climb with a bit of a gap - I was doubting they were going to get me because I knew I had to hold the gap on the climb... once I got to the top it was full gas," Porter said in his winning speech.
In third place, Ryan Cavanagh brought it home in five hours and 56.37 seconds.
For Hill, it was an interesting race, following tradition with no clear-cut winners showing themselves early, keeping suspense in the balance until the very end.
"It wasn't so much cat and mouse with the teams today, it was more that we got a large gap, and they slowly chipped away at it," he explained.
"And then at the end there was a bit of cat and mouse because they were right there, I thought we were done for, and we kept rolling and they weren't there - it was very surprising."
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