Heading for home the lead group cranked up the pace Stewart in particular spending a lot of time on the front with strong help from his partner Cherie Prince.
Graeme Cox, Craig Bright and Carl Rusden were also regularly in the thick of the action.
Meanwhile, the chasing bunch were slowly closing the gap though the pace tended to drop each time Cheatley and Goode who had continued in their efforts to break away were shut down by their co-markers.
As the leaders hit Upokongaro with less than 10km to travel, the gap was a mere 35 seconds and they appeared to have little chance of staying clear.
Without a fully committed chase behind them though, their hopes grew as they charged towards home and continued to hold an ever-diminishing advantage.
Behind them, Paul Forrest had a good crack at trying to bridge the gap as the scratch bunch passed Sparrow Cliff at the 3km mark, but lacking real support his effort faded.
As the leaders crossed the small bridge a kilometre from the finish their margin was only 10 seconds and shrinking.
It was Stewart who came through as they entered the home straight and steadily wound up his speed until he hit full flight about 100m from the line, convincingly holding off late challenges from runner-up Rusden, who rallied well.
Bright worked honestly all day to come home third.
Laurence Sunde was fourth across the line, producing his usual solid effort, with a big lineup for the next placings.
For the scratch group it was a case of what might have been, as about eight seconds after Stewart crossed the line Sturzaker burst out of the following pack to head in the chasing bunch and claim the day's fastest time (54.30).
In the C-grade race over the same course it was the ever present Dean Blackwell who slipped clear of his opposition and beat home Steve Carle by a margin of about one minute.
Results:
A&B; Grade: 1. Chris Stewart; 2. Carl Rusden; 3. Craig Bright. Fastest time: Jason Sturzaker (54.30).
C Grade: 1. Dean Blackwell (fastest time); 2. Steve Carle.
