By Jamie Finch-Penninger – @FishysCP
Ben Dyball (Avanti) emerged triumphant atop Mt Hotham yesterday after gapping the field early on the climb and maintaining his advantage through to the line. He claimed both the stage win and the overall after coming into the day in second position, 17 seconds behind youngster Ben O’Connor. Peloton Café spoke to Ben Dyball after the stage.
“This morning I decided I was just going to give it everything and either get the win or not worry about where I finished. I think I’ve shown I can pull out some good results when I’m on the back foot. I have been close to winning before, so it’s good to be able to win now.” Dyball had been distanced by Lucas Hamilton and Ben O’Connor on the previous stage, nullifying his initial advantage after the first stage TT. Dyball continued, “After what happened up Tawonga Gap (Stage 2), I was a bit unsure of myself, but I figured that it was best just to forget about it and see what happened if I gave it 100%. I know I’m a good climber, so it’s just a matter of reminding myself of that.”
The 53.5 kilometre final stage was always going to be all about the 29.7 kilometre ascent of Mt Hotham, and so it proved as the action began on the slopes of the mountain. Dyball describes, “Up the Meg, it looked like Ben O’Connor was struggling a bit, I attacked for the KOM points and to see what happened behind. Canty (Budget Forklifts) counterattacked, and everyone else sat up a bit, so that’s when I went.” Behind Dyball, the chase was slow to get coordinated, and lead to him getting over a minute’s advantage at one point over the false flat before the steep final 10 kilometres. “I knew that I just needed 17 seconds on Ben O’Connor and to stay within sight of Lucas Hamilton, and that if I had a gap going into the last part of the climb I’d be able to hold on. On the flatter sections I was just trying to keep a decent tempo, and then go harder on the steeper sections, then literally just freewheeling down the descents to save as much as I could. I had a time check of 42 seconds going into the final 10 kilometres, and I thought that would be enough, but then I looked back and saw Canty and Hamilton nearly on me. I had to dig really deep to just stay ahead of them.”
Dyball finished just four seconds ahead of pre-race favourite Brendan Canty on the stage, with Lucas Hamilton 35 seconds back, claiming 2nd overall. Dyball spoke about his reaction to wearing the leader’s jersey atop the podium. “It’s always been a goal of mine to win the Tour of Bright, when I’ve looked at the stages, I’ve always thought that it would be possible for me to win, but it’s always turned out to be tougher than I thought. I’ve been close the last 3-4 years so to win is a big relief.”
Dyball has had a tumultuous weekend, starting the Tour with a good hit–out in the TT, only to wake up to the news that he would have to search for a new team next year after the proposed Dynamo Cover Pro Racing Team collapsed, citing sponsorship problems. The Wales based venture had signed a number of riders, including Dyball, NRS star Ben Hill, Nick Kergozou and BMC development squad member Jesse Kerrison. “Yesterday (Saturday) wasn’t the best of days, I woke up to read that email that said that the team has folded. It was a bit hard to concentrate on the racing. I don’t know how much it was playing on my mind but on the last climb I didn’t feel fantastic and I ended up losing a bit of time to Lucas Hamilton and Ben O’Connor. At the moment I don’t have anything (for next season). I spoke to the Satalyst team, but I’m not sure… I’d still want something in Europe, Andrew Christie-Johnson (DS of Avanti) is trying to help me find something, but so far I don’t have anything. I was worried that something like this might happen, people kept asking me how excited I was, and my response was that ‘I’m excited, but not till it’s all done and I’m actually in Europe and racing’. It’s really disappointing, they were making a lot of big promises and it was a big surprise when I got that email.”
With his performance this weekend, Dyball has certainly put himself on the radar for a lot of teams, and he shouldn’t be long without a contract.
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