He?s better known for his mountain-biking heroics but yesterday Garth Thomson showed he can succeed on smooth, even surfaces too.

The well-known cyclist emerged from a pack of seasoned competitors to win the Male Category Two division at the annual IBC Front Street Races.

He finished the 60-minute (plus one lap) criterium ahead of Kent Richardson and Greg Hopkins respectively.

Meanwhile, veteran Melanie Claude took the Female Category One title from Lynn Patchett as Jamie Brown, Ricky Sousa and Riaan Naude finished in that order in the Male Category Three. Competitors in both of these divisions also rode for one hour.

?It was a peculiar race because Lynn had a mishap on her bike when she was taking the Birdcage and she kind of fell off and that pulled her back. I was up in the front but then Matthew Herring crashed on the curve and I banged into him and that took me off the bike,? explained Claude.

Patchett was trying to catch up to Claude at this point and, with the latter suffering another piece of misfortune by way of a flat tyre, she was able to bridge the gap.

?We ended up riding together for the last 25 minutes and it was a sprint finish between us. It was a good race and a good test for me,? recalled 42-year-old Claude who is yet to determine how much she will compete this year.

?I?m ecstatic because I wasn?t expecting to take this race today given how strong Lynn has been riding. Her experience on the bike has increased a lot.?

Among the juniors, Matthew Godfrey snatched the 15-16 boys? crown (45 minutes plus a lap) from James Adams and Aaron Fenn while Peter Dunne won the Male Veterans (also 45 minutes) from Vic Ball and Paulo Medeiros.

More than 200 children, aged eight and under, also participated in the Pee Wee Races.