Shane Melrose unleashed his finishing power to win the 18km Berwick circuit race on Saturday.
In brutal heat and a strong headwind, a group of eight riders made a break before another group of three formed on the fourth ascent of the Berwick climb.
With the line in sight, Melrose poured on the power and sprinted to take the win from Joe Chapman and Scott Lyttle.
The category two field split after the first lap, with riders chasing in vain to try to catch the front group.
With every climb of the Berwick hill, riders hauled themselves back into their respective groups.
As the last corner approached, Andrew Riddel made a break for it with Mark Deacon on his wheel.
Stu Thomas tried to catch them in the sprint but had to settle for third, with Riddel winning ahead of Deacon.
Karl Larsen, in category three, did not want to wait for the sprint finish and broke away from the rest on the last lap to take the win from Jan Brosnahan by 10sec.
George Evans won the category 4 section by 3sec from Kevin Harris and Dave McLeod respectively over their 36km two-lap race.
Bailey Koppert-Duggan, back from a bad crash late last year, won the junior handicap event from improving rider Denton Hayward.
