Karl Menzies of Health Net Presented by Maxxis finished third in the Australian Road Race Championships on Sunday, adding a bronze medal to the gold and silver won by teammates Nathan O'Neill and Rory Sutherland respectively in the Time Trial Championship on Friday. Racing against a strong field on a very selective circuit, Menzies and Sutherland both made the final selection of seven riders that finished at the front of the race. Darren Lapthorne (Drapac-Porsche) took advantage of his team's numbers in the race to get off the front with two laps remaining in the 16-lap race.

He was able to open up a lead of 30 seconds and hold on for a 15 second gap at the line. Rob McLachlan (Drapac-Porsche) took second in the bunch sprint after getting a free ride for the final two laps with his teammate up the road.

"We knew it was going to be a race of attrition," Menzies told Cycling News. "It's just insane. It may only be 160km, but you don't have the hard racing in your legs. It's a bit hot so you start to cramp - you feel great one lap and start to cramp the next."

Despite having only three riders in the race, Health Net Presented by Maxxis did their best to soften the field. On the first lap, O'Neill took off solo near the top of the climb up to Mt. Buninyong, and by the end of the second ascent, his lead had reached a minute.

"Part of the plan was to make the ride as easy as possible for Karl and Rory," O'Neill told Cycling News about his attack. "With not having the numbers, the best thing I could do was draw a group early and take some sting out of the rest of the field - giving them a nice smooth ride for the first 100km."

The field finally awoke and a number of riders attempted to bridge, which effectively cut the gap to almost nothing. Eventually, Simon Gerrans (AG2R) appeared at his side, followed shortly thereafter by Chris Jongewaard (Jittery Joe's). With O'Neill and Gerrans doing most of the work, the trio opened a gap that eventually reached two minutes, at which point, O'Neill shut it down, not wanting to help his rivals any more.

Behind them, the pace and difficult course was having its effect, whittling down the field with each passing lap. "That was a bloody hard road race," Sutherland commented.

When O'Neill's break was finally caught with six laps to go, only a very select group of 13, including Baden Cooke (Unibet.com) and Hilton Clarke (Navigators), remained. Gerrans and Gene Bates (South Australia-AIS) had a go, but with Menzies and Sutherland driving the pace with riders from Drapac-Porsche, their time off the front was short.

But the pace served to further shed riders, including Cooke. With only a few laps remaining the group was down to seven. McLachlan had a go with several attacks. When he was caught, Lapthorne countered and drove it to the finish.

1. Darren Lapthorne (Drapac-Porsche)
2. Rob McLachlan (Drapac-Porsche)
3. Karl Menzies (Health Net Presented by Maxxis)