It was 18-year-old Straub’s first time competing in the gruelling Grafton to Inverell Cycling Classic.

The 228 km route features several climbs over the Great Dividing Range.

Not only did Straub place well in the fourth division, he came first in the sprints into Inverell.

“I’m pretty happy considering it was my first year at competing, it’s much better than I expected,” he said.

“I went into it knowing how hard it was, I would have been happy just to finish the race.”

Straub estimates there were 270 riders involved competing over three grades. In the second division in which Straub competed there were 60 to 70 other cyclists.

“It’s classified as the toughest because you start at sea level at Grafton and then climb up to Inverell which is about 1000 metres above sea level,” he said.

“So you’ve got the distance and the difficulty.

Straub said the biggest challenge of the race was the sweltering conditions.

“I haven’t had much of a chance to test myself in the heat so I found that difficult,” he said.

Straub describes the race as “as test of survival.

“Each time you looked back, the number of riders had disintegrated a little bit,” he said.

“Every hill that you went up, the number of people behind you would get a little bit less.

“At the 120, 130 km mark a lot of people dropped out. Three guys in front of me just rolled off.

“I just rolled in with a group of ten other riders up the front.”

Straub’s proud Dad and brother were there to see him win the sprint at Inverell.