Highlights from the 2014 Jayco Herald Sun Tour

Prologue ITT: Melbourne Southbank

In its first year back as a UCI 2.1-ranked race, the Jayco Herald Sun Tour got underway with a twilight prologue in the centre of Melbourne on Wednesday. The technical 2.5km course featured a number of tight turns, potholes and drain covers to negotiate and for most of the riders it was a case of getting through the stage safely, without losing too much time.

Will Clarke (Drapac) was an early contender for the win, setting a time of 3:02 and sitting in the hot seat for much of the night. His time was later beaten by Tom Scully (New Zealand National Team) by a single second and with only two riders left it looked like the night belonged to Scully.

But as the penultimate rider to leave the start gate, Jack Bauer (Garmin-Sharp) averaged 50km/h to post a time of three minutes flat, taking the win ahead of his compatriot Scully. It was an impressive start for Garmin-Sharp who not only took the win but placed four riders in the top seven overall.

Click here for results from the prologue.

Stage 1: Geelong to Ballarat

Jack Bauer started stage 1 in the leader’s yellow jersey and it was left to his Garmin-Sharp team to control proceedings. A three-rider group of Thomas Hamilton (Jayco Australian U23 National Team), Alberto Bettiol (Cannondale Pro Cycling) and Nathan Elliott (African Wildlife Safaris) escaped from the peloton on the outskirts of Geelong and held their lead over the tough Glenmore Road climb, with Hamilton taking maximum points.

The trio was caught by a chasing group of 15 riders on the other side of the KOM and much of the peloton would later join them over the category four climb of Mt. Egerton.

When it came to the uphill bunch sprint on Sturt Street in Ballarat, Nathan Haas made it two wins in two days for Garmin-Sharp, overpowering his bigger-name opponents, including Matt Goss (Orica-GreenEDGE) and Jonathan Cantwell (Drapac).

Click here for results from stage 1.

Stage 2: Ballarat to Bendigo

The first two days of the race belonged to Garmin-Sharp but on stage 2 it was Orica-GreenEDGE’s chance to get back on the winners’ list.

A group of 17 riders got away from the peloton just 20km into the stage, with Simon Clarke one of several riders flying the flag for Orica-GreenEDGE. The break managed to pull away from the peloton on what was a hot and hilly day and when the 17-rider group hit the day’s main climb, up Mt. Alexander, the group fractured.

Clarke attacked on the climb, dragging Jack Haig (Avanti) and Cam Wurf (Cannondale) with him and the trio managed to hold on for the remaining 48km to the line.

Clarke took a comfortable win ahead of Wurf and Haig, taking the overall lead from Nathan Haas and ensuring that the three breakaway riders would occupy all three steps on the overall podium. It would turn out to be the final podium as well.

Click here for results from stage 2.

Stage 3: Mitchelton Winery to Nagambie

It didn’t take long for the day’s breakaway to get established with Chris Jory (KordaMentha Australian National Team), Hugh Carth (Rapha Condor JTL), Davide Frattini (UnitedHealthcare), Nathan Elliot (African Wildlife Safaris), John Anderson (Drapac), Sam Spokes (Jayco U23 Australia), Thomas Hamilton (Jayco U23 Australia), Elchin Asadov (Synergy Baku) and Kristian Juel (Budget Forklifts) building a nearly-four-minute advantage over the main field.

They contested the day’s two climbs amongst themselves but by then the lead was well and truly starting to come down. Orica-GreenEDGE, Garmin-Sharp and Cannondale all contributed to the pacemaking at the front of the main field, ensuring the race would end with a bunch sprint.

A crash in sight of the second intermediate sprint point saw several riders hit the deck, including Pat Shaw (KordaMenthe National Team) who was taken from the race in an ambulance.

The final sprint arrived and what might have been a Matt Goss (Orica-GreenEDGE) win was spoiled by a dropped chain with 200m to go. Unofficial reports suggest that many of the riders were actually sprinting for a blue inflatable Subaru sign 200m from the finish which saw many sprinters mistime their run.

But in the end it was 19-year-old sprinter Robert-John McCarthy who took the biggest win of his young career, ahead of New Zealand’s Rico Rogers (OCBC Singapore) and Felix English (Rapha Condor JLT).

Back in the bunch Simon Clarke finished in 11th on the same time, ensuring he would hold on to his overall lead, ahead of Cameron Wurf and Jack Haig who both finished in the bunch as well.

Click here for results from stage 3.

Stage 4: Arthurs Seat

Stage 4 of the Jayco Herald Sun Tour was supposed to be the race’s queen stage; a stage that was scheduled to include three ascents of the short but steep Arthurs Seat climb. But with bushfires burning out of control in several parts of Victoria emergency service crews and vehicles were needed elsewhere.

And so, in consultation with Victoria Police, the race organisers cancelled the stage. It was a disappointing outcome for the many fans that had made the journey to the Mornington Peninsula to watch the race and, no doubt, for the riders who were looking forward to an exciting final day’s racing.

But “safety first” was the order of the day and the cancelled stage saw Simon Clarke crowned the winner of the 61st edition of the Jayco Herald Sun Tour. Cameron Wurf finished second overall, eight seconds behind Clarke while Jack Haig was third, 11 seconds behind Clarke.

Click here for the final results.

: Race director John Trevorrow, a three-time winner of the race himself, addresses the crowd at Federation Square ahead of the team presentations.

: Matty Lloyd (far left), a last-minute call-up to the KordaMenthe Australian National Team, made a point of standing apart from his teammates during the team presentation.

: Orica-GreenEDGE is presented to the Federation Square crowd ahead of the prologue ITT.

: Thomas Hamilton (Jayco Australia U23 National Team) turns on to Southbank during the ITT prologue. The 20-year-old would later go on to win the KOM classification.

: Left: Matt Goss and Mitch Docker (Orica-GreenEDGE) check out the prologue ITT course. Right: Kristian Juel (Budget Forklifts) speeds along Southbank.

: Nathan Haas (Garmin-Sharp) is offered a gift during the ITT but has other things on his mind.

: Guillaume Boivin (Cannondale) enters the final 100m of the prologue ITT.

: Elchin Asadov (Synergy Baku) gets the prize for the best angry face in the prologue.

: Mitch Docker buried himself on his way to 27th in the prologue, eight seconds behind Jack Bauer.

: Jack Bauer (Garmin-Sharp) was the second last rider to leave the start gate but he proved fastest overall, finishing the 2.5km course in a time of 3:00.

: With Jack Bauer in the leader’s yellow jersey on stage 1 it was left up to Garmin-Sharp to control the race.

: The peloton snakes its way through the Victorian countryside.

: Nathan Elliott (African Wildlife Safaris) was part of a three-rider breakaway on stage 1 that hit the Glenmore Road KOM with a lead over the main field.

: Eventual winner Simon Clarke (Orica-GreenEDGE) battles up the steep Glenmore Road KOM on stage 1.

: The Glenmore Road climb is well known by club cyclists in Melbourne for being part of the Hell of the West race. The climb itself is 1km long at an average gradient of 14% with several ramps of 20%+.

: Nathan Haas sprints to the win on stage 1 in Ballarat. He was leading out Steele Von Hoff but a mechanical mishap left Haas with no choice but to go for the win himself.

: The stage win was Nathan Haas’s first victory in Garmin-Sharp colours. Fitting that he should take it at the Sun Tour, a race that he won in 2011, propelling him into the WorldTour.

: Simon Clarke makes his race-winning move on Mt. Alexander on stage 2. Thomas Hamilton, in the polka dot jersey of the KOM classification leader, was the first to respond. Jack Haig was not far behind.

: Simon Clarke cools himself off as his race-winning break of three — featuring Jack Haig (Avanti) and Cam Wurf (Cannondale) — nears the finish to stage 2 in Bendigo.

: Garmin-Sharp and Drapac did their best to chase down the leading trio but the heat and the parcours took their toll and the leaders were able to stay away.

: Simon Clarke crosses the line in Bendigo, winning ahead of Cam Wurf and Jack Haig.

: Nathan Haas recovers after losing the yellow jersey on stage 2 to Simon Clarke.

: The peloton rolls out of Mitchelton Winery on stage 3.

: Lachlan Morton, Cameron Meyer and Simon Gerrans lead Simon Clarke on stage 3.

: The main field, led by Garmin and Orica-GreenEDGE, head towards Nagambie on stage 3.

: Damian Howson (Orica-GreenEDGE) does a turn of pace at the front on stage 3.

: Robert-Jon McCarthy (Jayco U23 National Team) takes the win on stage 3. Word on the street is that most of the sprinters thought the blue Subaru banner seen in the background was the finish.

: Nineteen-year-old Robert-Jon McCarthy comes into the podium area after taking the biggest win of his career.

: Race director John Trevorrow and the race’s chief commissaire discuss the possibility of stage 4 being cancelled.

: Matt Wilson, Orica-GreenEDGE director sportif, makes a call as the news emerges that stage 4 has been cancelled. Emergency services personnel and vehicles were needed to attend to bushfires elsewhere in the state, leaving the race unable to go ahead.

: Simon Clarke, winner of the 2014 Jayco Herald Sun Tour. The stage 2 breakaway of Clarke, Wurf and Haig determined the overall standings after stage 4 was cancelled.

local

Whats the story with Matt Lloyd?
- Matt de Neef
  
  Good question. He looked thoroughly disinterested at the teams presentation, then went out and took it easy on the prologue, finishing last. He dropped 10 mins on stage 1, 25 minutes on stage 2, then finished on the bunch on stage 3.
  - Andy Logan
    
    Why bother accepting if your not going to do anything, an up and coming rider could of taken that spot and gained some valuable experience from it.
    - Dave
      
      I’d like to think the selectors won’t make the mistake of picking Lloyd for a national team again, but with the CA track record of not learning from their failures it’s a possibility.
      
      Imagine an Australian cricketer doing that in a Test Match though? They’d be shot at sunset after the first day’s play.
    - Chicks on bikes
      
      Andy…..Come on guys, Lloyd is still a great rider…. Hill climbers are known for dropping time, in prep for a hill stage break away. I think your being a bit short sighted all things considering….
      - Andy Logan
        
        Yeah, but at least act like a team player, don’t stand off to the side of the team presentation. Granted he might of been losing time deliberately but there is no excuse for acting like he did, Matt Lloyd is a seasoned pro and should know better.
        
        Chicks on bikes
        
        Sorry how did he act? You are note basing your comment on the fact he was out of line in the team presentation….?
        
        Andy Logan
        
        Standing to the side, looking disinterested during the presentation. Acting like a spoilt kid really.
        
        Faz
        
        Apart from the obvious where he is standing off to the side, is there an explanation as to why he was doing that? I was kinda of hoping for some follow up with how the caption pointed it out. Did any one put the question as to why to him??
        
        Chicks on bikes
        
        He probably wasn’t aware he was that misplaced, would be my guess. Andy I think it’s a bit ruff to be so critical over someone standing out of line… He didn’t ever make a comment while he was up there..
        
        Sean
        
        Matthew Lloyd is one strange unit at the best of times. I wouldn’t read to much into how he’s standing at a presentation. However I do feel he wasted his selection, there’s no way he was dropping time to try something on the last stage. His form has been in the gutter for a couple of years now, he’d struggle to win a VRS race these days. He’s a very exciting rider to watch when he’s going well, super aggressive on the climbs, I hope we see that form again in the next for years.
  - Rob
    
    Thats abit disappointing. I know he is abit of introverted person (some say strange), but i got the impression he was a genuine nice guy who has had abit of bad luck in the last few years.
    
    Perhaps something else was at play to make him upset? No need to feed him to the dogs. Everyones got problems in life.
Matt de Neef

It was interesting listening to Gerry Ryan speak at the final presentation at Arthurs Seat on Sunday. He was invited to say a few words as Cycling Australia president and did so, praising the event organisers and the sponsors (he owns the title sponsor). He then congratulated all the teams on their efforts … before saying that he was particularly glad Simon Clarke won the race overall. (OGE also won the teams classification). Interesting to see the interplay between Ryan’s various roles.
- conflicted?
  
  …and don’t forget he also owns Mitchelton Wineries – Stage 3 start…
  - Dave
    
    Who knows, next thing he might buy the Oz operations of either Ford, Holden or Toyota and switch the CA/AGF vehicle sponsorship from Subaru to his new car company.
    
    Interesting to note that OGE now have Volvo support vehicles (classy, but a distant second to Sky’s Jags at the TDU) but Subaru still have the CA/AGF sponsorship.
- Johnny
  
  I agree – thats not a particularily good thing that he was made the CA president!!!
  Everyone in the cycling industry should be very worried by that
Dave

The organisers made 100% the right decision yesterday, early in the day (before the emergency elsewhere was well developed) there was actually an emergency call to investigate smoke above Arthur’s Seat itself.

Did they put on an exhibition crit at the start line area or anything for the fans like the TDU had planned near the Tour Village for the possible cancellation of stage 1 this year?
- Craig
  
  I’ll stand corrected but I believe the race was not called off until 2pm??
  As a career firefighter my workmates and I were discussing how they would be able to hold the stage as far back as last wednesday given the weather forcast and terrain of Arthurs Seat.
  - Dave
    
    As an Adelaide Hills resident who has to remain aware of bushfire dangers every year (I know the cyclist who spotted the bushfire started by the freight train in Belair National Park on Saturday morning) I also saw that coming a few days before. Plenty of time to cancel and pick a safer alternative as either a proper race stage (not sure on UCI rules for making a change other than shortening/cancelling) or an exhibition crit for the fans.
    
    The early report of smoke above the hill turned out to be smoke from a distant fire across the other side of the hills from the caller, it was the need for CFA units elsewhere and the projected seven minute time for a fire to reach the summit that forced the late cancellation.
a different ben

heh heh, seems all little kids love those plane tree leaves.
Chicks on bikes

Come on guys, Lloyd is still a great rider…. Hill climbers are known for dropping time, in prep for a hill stage break away. I think your being a bit short sighted all things considering….