A late call out to entrants in the 101^st Melbourne to Warrnambool has resulted in a strong field for the second official women’s category in the iconic race.

Headlining the start list are current Individual Pursuit World Champion, Rebecca Wiasak and former 24 hour MTB World Champion, Jessica Douglas.

For Douglas, the race is an opportunity to realise a 27 year dream. ‘I have always wanted to do the Melbourne to Warrnambool,’ says Douglas. ‘It’s been on my radar since I was 16 and riding the Great Victorian Bike Ride. As soon as I saw that the race needed more female entries, I got butterflies in my stomach and then I knew I just had to enter. So I did.’ Douglas’ endurance background gives her confidence in covering the distance, but her focus will be on the finish line. ‘My goal is to finish and enjoy working in a good bunch all day long,’ said Douglas.

The timing of the race coincides with summer season preparations for Wiasak, but her expectations for the race are modest. ‘I am only a couple of weeks into my pre-season training so the Melbourne to Warrnambool will get me a lot of base kms!’ said Wiasak. Before taking a short break last month, Wiasak was showing strong form by winning the overall at the Amy’s Otway Classic and stage wins at the Sam Miranda Tour. Wiasak will be joined by her High5 Dream Team team mates, Tessa Fabry and Kendelle Hodges.

Race insiders will be looking to two underdogs to shine, particularly as the race nears Warrnambool: South Yarra resident Purdie Long and Cairns based rider Fiona Yard. Long has had an ideal preparation, with her season built around a performance peak for the Melbourne to Warrnambool. A finisher in the 2015 edition, this second attempt is to address unfinished business. ‘I am here to race it again with the learnings and knowledge gained from last year,’ says Long, ‘and to ultimately improve on my result.’

For Yard, preparation in the north of Australia has been ideal, avoiding much of the spring rain and wind facing the southern states. She has also been able to train with a contingent of six members of the Cairns Cycling Club, led by former Victorian resident Duncan Murray. ‘He conned all six of us (to enter)’ admitted Yard. Those familiar with Yard recognise her pure determination whenever she gets on her bike, a trait that will become essential when the race clocks over 200km.

At 277km the race distances surpasses distance regulations for both male and female cyclists in Australia, with the race requiring an exemption to the distance rulings in order to be sanctioned. It is also unique in world cycling, where men and women all line up together at the start line.

Cycling Victoria CEO Kipp Kaufmann is pleased to see the women’s event strengthened with equal prize money support from the State Government and support from Warrnambool business, Anchor Point Village. ‘The Women’s Melbourne to Warrnambool has quickly established itself as an iconic event in the cycling calendar’, said Kaufmann. ‘We look forward to working with all stakeholders to continue to grow the women’s race.’

The race begins at Eagle Stadium in Werribee on Saturday 15^th October from 7:30am, with riders expected to finish around 3pm (depending on the conditions) in Warrnambool. You can follow the women’s event using the hashtag #WM2W16 or from the dedicated twitter account: www.twitter.com/anchorpointM2W

Women’s entries

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With two races to be run on the day the kermesse was first up, early in the morning, featuring three laps of a 20 kilometre circuit around Canberra. The riders took off from the start/finish at Mt Stromlo in chilly conditions with almost no wind to speak of to break up the race. The placid conditions, combined with nature of the course on wide, open roads that the nation’s capital is renowned for saw a relatively controlled race.

High5 Dreamteam were the main team that took on the responsibility of working to keep the peloton in check and they brought back attacks from the other teams that were looking to be the aggressors.

Georgia Catterick (Roxsolt) launched the first move of the day with Mikayla Harvey (Mike Greer Homes) bridging over before the pair were swallowed up by the bunch. Other riders tried their luck in short-lived attempts, before Rebecca Stephens (CBR Women’s Racing) jumped off the front and built a lead of 20 seconds on the third lap before being caught just before the riders turned off the circuit to return to Mt Stromlo.

That prompted the launch of an attack by Lucy Bechtel (Specialized) who joined forces with Grace Anderson (CBR Racing) in a dangerous looking attack. Again High5 Dreamteam worked hard to bring the riders back and by the time they reached a rain-effected Mt Stromlo circuit it was clear that the race would end in a bunch sprint. In the dash to the line it was Kendelle Hodges (High5 Dreamteam) that paid off the efforts of her teammates, with Rebecca Wiasak coming home in second to make it a 1-2 for the team. Mikayla Harvey came home for third, finishing off impressively after attacking earlier in the stage.

After the stage Kendelle Hodges spoke to Peloton Café about how the stage panned out.

“It’s a pretty special team when your teammate can come up to you with 15-20 kilometres to go and say to you, ‘It’s your turn today”. That was really special, when ‘Beck’ (Wiasak) said ‘We’re riding for you at the finish. I had to win when she said that! She was on my wheel anyway so I knew she’d cover if anything went wrong.”

“We had Lucy Kennedy in the lead with just over a twenty second gap to Ruth Corset and with the criterium in the afternoon, we knew we just wanted to keep it together. We wanted Lucy to finish with Ruth to confirm the GC lead going into the criterium this afternoon.”

Hodges is back in Australia after racing extensively in the criterium series in the United States, coming back for the last few NRS races of the season and grabbing her first NRS victory of the season in the National Capital Tour.

“I had a really great time in America, I got a few wins and that was what I was training for this year. I’ve come back, to support the team really, and I played that role, so to be given the chance to go for the win is really nice.”

The second stage of the day was conducted in wet and miserable conditons on the Mt Stromlo criterium circuit, with the racing coming down to a will-they-won’t-they game of cat and mouse between the peloton and three rider break.

Louisa Lobigs (Holden) was the first of the aggressors, with the Amy Gillet Foundation scholarship winner springing off the front of the race, soon to be joined by Grace Anderson (Mike Greer Homes) and New Zealander Rylee McMullen. The trio worked well together, albeit with Lobigs taking the longest turns in the pace-making.

Behind the big teams of the peloton looked a bit disorganised in establishing a regular chase with Kate Perry (Specialized) doing most of the work on the front of the peloton for teammate and national criterium champion Sophie Mackay. Other than that, the pace really slackened off and coming into the final eight laps, the group of three had a 25 second lead and looked like they could well hold off the chasing pack to take the win.

Sensing the race getting away, Rebecca Wiasak tried an attack with three laps remaining only to be brought back by Sophie Mackay. Then yellow jersey wearer Lucy Kennedy went to the front, pulling a strong turn that brought the break back to within a makeable distance and Wiasak launched a stunning attack. It appeared to be essentially two sprints within the final kilometre, the first catching the leading pair within the final 400 metres before kicking again through the final corner into the finishing straight to win convincingly.

Canberra-based and clearly ecstatic to take another win on the course she has had a lot of success on in the past, Wiasak spoke after the stage to Peloton Café.

“It’s incredible to win at home! My teammate Kendelle Hodges won Stage 3 this morning and we went 1-2. I know this criterium course very well, we race here every week, so it’s so exciting to be able to throw both hands in the air.

“There was a break of three riders away and our team wasn’t represented, the High5 Dream Team had the leader’s jersey so we had to protect Lucy Kennedy from any counter attacks from Ruth Corset. Towards the end when the break was still away I had to just put my head down and attack. I was able to catch the break and I’m really excited to win.”

After successfully navigating the two stages and finishing on bunch time, Lucy Kennedy confirmed her overall victory and spoke about the win after the stage.

“I’m really really happy to win the tour, and for the High5 Dream Team to win every stage of the tour,” said Kennedy. “It was an incredibly successful tour, we cleaned up again!

“I’ve been up there in the mix all season, but haven’t quite been able to get over some of the top competitors before, so it’s been great for me to step it up a notch this tour. For the last few tours I’ve been getting really close, so I’m happy to be able to finish it off today!”

With another strong performance in the race , High5 Dreamteam proved the truth of their name, easily winning the overall National Road Series teams classification.

“I’m so happy to have been able to contribute to the continued success of the team, we’ve now one the Subaru National Road Series team’s classification in the team’s first two years. We have the best sponsors and best support of anyone, so it’s really great to be able to go out there and perform right at the top of the series.”

The other big winner was Lisen Hockings (Holden) who finished third overall in the race to secure the title of the best individual rider in the National Road Series, a remarkable achievement in her first year racing in the NRS.

“I’m pretty relieved and very grateful to the Holden Women’s Racing team supporting me,” said Hockings. “For Louisa (Lobigs) and Shannon (Malseed) to be out here riding for me when conditions were pretty miserable and it would have been nicer to have been at home was amazing. They both got out there and did brilliant rides. The whole of the Holden team have been absolutely fantastic all season.”

The self-effacing 37 year old has made her a massive impact in her debut season and has been a formidable rider in the time trials and climbs throughout the season.

“My first race was at Mersey Valley and all I wanted to do was not get dropped from the bunch, so I’m pretty overwhelmed and excited about winning the series. If Holden will keep having me come along, I’d like to keep having a crack as it’s lots of fun and I’m still learning heaps as we go along.”

With the final stage win, Rebecca Wiasak also won the sprint jersey, Jessica Pratt confirmed her promise by winning the young rider’s classification and Lisen Hockings shared the mountains jersey with Lucy Bechtel after the pair finished equal on points. Hockings would have won on countback but the judges opted to award two jerseys after Bechtel was disadvantaged by the lengthening of the course on the previous stage.

With the lone breakaway rider Lucy Bechtel (Specialized) caught just at the base of Black Mountain to ensure that it would be the main climbers who would fight it out for the win.

From the bottom of the climb Ruth Corset, who came into the stage in 3^rd position attacked hard from the base of the mountain to try and take as much time as possible on her rivals. Lisen Hockings and Lucy Kennedy were the only ones able to follow, with Hockings taking over the pace-making to make sure that the dropped riders remained dropped, moving her up on the general classification. Lucy Kennedy attacked hard as the climb grew steep again, creating a gap that lasted through to the line, taking the win by five seconds over Ruth Corset with Lisen Hockings third, 23 seconds adrift. Kennedy spoke to Peloton Café after the stage.

“That was hard work! It was always going to be hard work, so I was prepared to suffer for 10-12 minutes.

“My High5 Dream Team teammates were absolutely incredible! Beck (Wiasak) in the yellow jersey was driving the bunch, Kendelle (Hodges) was all over the place chasing everything, and Tessa (Fabry) finished awesome as well.

“I needed to win that for the team because they had worked so hard for me, and I just had to deliver for two kilometres at the end. I felt really good, I’d just been eating and drinking all day, and coming into the climb Kendelle delivered me right to the front so I was right where I needed to be going into the climb.”

The peloton started on the shores of Lake Burley Griffin, with the majority of the race comprised of circuits of the Yarramlumba area which contains many of the foreign embassies to Australia. The rolling course wasn’t too hard and the initial saw High5 Dreamteam control the racing action before Lucy Bechtel threw the proverbial cat amongst the pigeons.

Bechtel was very much the animator of the race, jumping away from the main bunch on the third lap of the 7 kilometre Yarralumba circuit and quickly stretching out the gap to the peloton. She would remain by herself for the remainder of the race despite a number of other riders trying to bridge across, with Shannon Malseed and Louisa Lobigs (both Holden) being particularly aggressive.

‘I wasn’t riding for the finish today, I was riding for my teammates, so the plan was to take the points and time on the QOM and sprints each time around as there was a lot up for grabs there. From the first few laps you could see that it was working in the High5 Dream Team’s favour as they were controlling the sprints and QOM’s, then sitting up at the top. I figured we needed to do something different!

“I knew my team were waiting in the bunch and I had full confidence that they were conserving energy, and I knew the moment I got caught they would be ready to go, so I just emptied the tank. The plan wasn’t to conserve until the end, it was just to go as hard as I could for as long as I could, until the gig was up.”

The other major story of the race was the fight for the overall National Road Series lead. Lisen Hockings entered the final event of the women’s NRS with a healthy 13 point advantage on her nearest rival, Ruth Corset. A below-par time trial threw that position into threat, but Hockings hit back with a performance that will, barring misfortune or a truly extraordinary performance by Corset or Kennedy, guarantee her victory. After the stage Hockings shared her thoughts on the race.

“The Holden Girls were just amazing, with Louisa (Lobigs) and Shannon (Malseed) riding like that I just had to do my best to get a result after a pretty ordinary TT by my standards yesterday. I got a bit ‘owned’ in the TT yesterday, which was very disappointing because it’s something that I like and try to be good at. But I’m very new to it too, tactically I had good power but all at the wrong times and I blew up.

“On the climb Ruth floored it from the bottom, as I knew she would, then sat up a bit and I knew I had to keep going. It would lose me the stage, but give me a chance of moving up on GC. I just kept going hard up the hill, trying to put a gap into the people behind. I knew that Lucy and Ruth were outstanding climbers and would go around me, they did and I did my best to try and hold on. It was pretty good fun and pretty hard work.”

“That’s always a little bit in the back of your mind (the NRS overall) but this is only my 4^th or 5^th NRS race. It’s just so much fun racing against girls of this calibre, I’m learning loads.”

After just completing the stage atop Black Mountain, Hockings joked when the question was put to her about the upcoming stages.

“I’m just happy to have finished today first! I was a bit miserable about it being a three kilometre climb up to the finish today as being one of the tallest in the peloton, I have a few more kilos than everyone else to carry up a mountain!”

“We’ll talk to our DS (Julian Knuppel) and come up with some plans for tomorrow and I’m sure Shannon and Louisa with their experience riding in Europe will be able to help me out.”

There was an unusual bit of controversy in the race as well. As lone attacker Lucy Bechtel got deeper into the race her lead began to diminish from the 50 seconds maximum that she had established earlier, as the race prepared to take the turnoff past Old Parliament House and head out to Black Mountain. At that stage there was a lot of confusion between the race organisers and the commisaires with the result being that an extra lap of the circuit was ridden by Bechtel and the field, extending the total race distance by seven kilometres.

“That extra lap was a little heart breaking, I’m not going to lie! I was worried that I was going to be the only one doing an extra lap, so I was slowing down and talking to the motorbike scouts which does break the rhythm. I think that the peloton got a lot closer in that time. I knew it wasn’t right, so I wondered if I should go through the motorbikes, or just follow what they say. It was a little disappointing, but that’s just what happens sometimes.”

After the race, Peloton Café reached out to the race organisers and commisaires for an explanation of the incident, but confusion reigned even after the finish on whose responsibility the mistake was, with none prepared to go on the record.

The race continues tomorrow with a double stage day, with a morning kermesse followed by an afternoon criterium. Last year the same stages were both won by Beck Wiasak and with her hot form at the moment she will again be hard to beat.

After finishing second in the opening stage time trial to teammate Rebecca Wiasak, Kennedy was pleased to be able to keep the yellow jersey in the team.

‘That was hard work! It was always going to be hard work, so I was prepared to suffer for 10-12 minutes.

‘Lucy Bechtel got away from us on around Lap 3 and there wasn’t a huge amount of urgency in the peloton, but I think because she was away for so long it was a bit inevitable that she would slow down eventually.

‘My High5 Dream Team teammates were absolutely incredible! Beck (Wiasak) in the yellow jersey was driving the bunch, Kendelle (Hodges) was all over the place chasing everything, and Tessa (Fabry) finished awesome as well.

‘I needed to win that for the team because they had worked so hard for me, and I just had to deliver for two kilometres at the end. I felt really good, I’d just been eating and drinking all day, and coming into the climb Kendelle delivered me right to the front so I was right where I needed to be going into the climb.

‘We’ll see what happens tomorrow now, with the time bonuses we’re 1st, 4th, and 5th on GC so we still have options and we’ll go and make a plan!’

With one day and two stages of racing remaining, Kennedy leads Corset on General Classification by 21 seconds.

For race reports, photos and updates follow the High5 Dream Team on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram

Tour with another win at the Tour of King Valley showcasing her latent form from her track racing preparations.Wiasak was the last rider down the starting ramp and finished in a time of 12.56, just beating out

Kennedy into 2 nd and impressively closing in on National Road Series leader Lisen Hockings who had started a minute ahead of her. Wiasak spoke to Peloton Café after the stage.

“When I turned… I had no idea what was happening with time checks, but I kept trying to close it down on Lisen,” said Wiasak. “She got away from me at the top of the climb a bit and I wasn’t sure if I could hold on once I saw the finish I was just trying to keep it above 300 watts whilst my legs were screaming at me.”

Wiasak’s ability on the climbs hasn’t been her strength in the past, but after winning the notoriously hilly Amy’s Otway Tour people have had to reassess that opinion. Wiasak explained how six weeks out of track preparations have changed her physiology.

“Our last gym session was at the Olympic staging camp and we all did PBs in the gym QRM box squats, I think I did 120-something kilos, so I’ve been carrying that weight and I’ve been a bit slow because of that amount of work that we have to do as track riders in the gym. Now I’ve shed some of that weight and non-functional muscle and it’s that much easier on the climbs.”

Looking ahead to tomorrow’s road stage which will take place in the centre of Canberra, Wiasak was optimistic about the racing and her team’s chances.

“I absolutely love racing at home, I think the event is really beautiful taking in some iconic landmarks in Canberra. We’ll hopefully keep the jersey tomorrow, maybe I’ll trade with Lucy as she’s got the sprinter’s jersey!”

Cool and breezy conditions around the rolling hills of the southern ACT were the scene of the opening stage of the women’s National Capital Tour. With the 7.2 kilometre prologue over a tricky,hilly course the usual suspects, like series leader Lisen Hockings (Holden), Kate Perry (Specialized),

Ruth Corset, Lucy Kennedy, Tessa Fabry and Rebecca Wiasak (High5 Dreamteam) all expected to challenge.

The short, demanding circuit saw Madeline Park (Mike Greer Homes) emerge as the early pacesetter, before her time was blitzed by Jessica Pratt (QAS), 36 seconds off the eventual winning time. Pratt’s time stayed as the benchmark until the big names of the NRS came out to play, with

Tessa Fabry coming home in a smart time (+25 off Wiasak) to best the young Queenslander.

Kate Perry (+30) came in with a time that wasn’t on par with her early season performances in the nationals time trials and the Tour of Mersey Valley, although the windier conditions haven’t suited her as well as the bulkier riders of the peloton.

Lucy Kennedy stopped the clock at 12.58 and that looked to be the time to beat with the Queensland-based rider clearly peaking at the right time to challenge for the overall win at this race,which should suit her capabilities well.

Ruth Corset came home with a strong performance to finish just 15 seconds off the time of Wiasak and Verita Stewart produced one of the best results of her season, finishing fourth, just 25 seconds off the winner.

Lisen Hockings may be a bit worried about her lead at the top of the series after conceding 32 seconds on the stage to Wiasak. She currently holds a handy points buffer, but will need to add to that with a high finish overall, as Wiasak, Kennedy and Corset are all putting the pressure on to try and take that top spot.

Lucy Kennedy spoke after the race about her thoughts on how the time trial stage panned out and her nerves at sitting on the finish with the best time, waiting for riders to come in.

“It was a bit of a nervous wait for me with still ten riders to finish after me. I was obviously hoping to hold on but to have Beck take it instead is just as good, now we’re sitting one and two with a decent buffer over Ruth (Corset).

I’ve been pretty disappointed about some of my time trials at recent tours so be right up the pointy end is really satisfying.

Like Wiasak, Kennedy was optimistic about her and the team’s prospects for the overall classification for the race.

“Ever since the course came out for this tour I’ve really targeted it. Even though there’s not a lot of climbing in it, they are really decisive climbs, so it’s definitely the race I’ve been focusing on.“We’ve got a couple of different cards to play in the upcoming stages so it should be really exciting.I’m really excited to finish up Black Mountain, we’ve had hilltop finishes before, but I’ve never reallyfound it tough enough. I think we’ll race it pretty aggressively.”

Stage 2 finishes atop Black Mountain and should be decisive in the battle for the general

classification.

Known more for her sprinting prowess than her climbing, Wiasak used the inspiration of the leaders’ jersey to climb with the best riders in the National Road Series, picking up bonus seconds to extend her general classification lead to forty-three seconds as she crossed the finish line victorious.

‘It’s been an exciting weekend for the High5 Dream Team, we won the Queen of the Mountain, Sprint Classification, two stages, overall General Classification and Teams General Classification, so it was a brilliant weekend all around.

‘In the commentary yesterday Ian Maher said I couldn’t climb over a cherry nut so I wanted to prove him wrong, and I think the leaders jersey gives you super powers! I was on a pretty light Willier bike and I had my teammates around me as well in support.

‘It was fairly controlled up the first climb, I was positioned well, and I was kicking myself that I didn’t go for the QOM points there so I made sure I picked up some time bonuses at the sprint point and second QOM as well. Once it was all together approaching the Great Ocean Road I just needed to stay relaxed and focussed on the finish to pull off the second stage win.

‘In the last 10 kilometres I was really nervous, my legs started to cramp a bit on the approach into Lorne. It’s a little bit undulating so every time the road rose up someone tried to go away. There was a really solid attack with about five kilometres to go, but the bunch had been whittled down by then, and it was Ruth (Corset), Lisen (Hockings) and I just following each other’s wheels. Ruth and I were on either side of Lisen (Hockings) and both went at about the same time, but I was able to get the jump first and go head down. I didn’t even salute today, I wanted to make sure I finished it off,’ said Wiasak.

Lucy Kennedy has made a habit of taking Queen of the Mountain jersey home from National Road Series events, and she continued that tradition today, picking up points on both intermediate climbs on the stage.

‘I’ve gotten into the habit of winning the Queen of the Mountain jersey now, so I always want to win it now.

‘The first climb today was a strange climb as everyone was still together, so it wasn’t until the last 500 metres that I found a good spot to attack. That one was a pretty clear win, then for the second one Justine (Barrow) was up the road so it was a bit more of a fight for second, but I needed the points to take the jersey.

‘It was a really successful weekend for the team, Beck had an absolute blinder, and it was really fun to support her towards the end today when I was doing a lot of work to chase down anyone who attacked , so I had a lot of fun doing that. It’s good fun when you have a really strong teammate that you’re working for and I had a lot of confidence that she would pull it off today.

‘I’m really excited about the National Capital Tour next weekend, it’s a short turn around, I’ll go home for three days, then pack up and head to Canberra. It’s going to be an interesting tour because there is a hilly time trial then a stage finish up Black Mountain, then the rest of the tour is pretty flat, so again it will be interesting to see which cards we play,’ said Kennedy.

The High5 Dream Team will be back in action from Friday 16 September at the National Capital Tour, where hometown hero Rebecca Wiasak will look to continue her winning ways.

For race reports, photos and updates follow the High5 Dream Team on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram

Coming into the stage it was Hockings who held the lead she got on the first stage in the time trial, with Rebecca Wiasak 6 seconds behind after her stage win the previous day.

Wiasak quickly went to work whittling that lead down, claiming the 5 second bonus at the first intermediate sprint after a long leadout from Holden and High5, moving her up to just a single second off the virtual race lead in the process.

The race then headed to the hills with the long, two-part climb of Ryan’s Gap followed by flat, then two circuits of the Glenrowan loop where the bunch would tackle the shorter and steeper Taminick Gap.

Up the Ryan’s Gap climb, riders were getting dropped off the back of the race as the favourites waited to sprint it out for the top of the climb. Hockings was lucky to keep her bike upright just a few hundred metres shy of the summit but broke a spoke and couldn’t contest the QOM as Corset, Kennedy, Pratt, McIlroy and Fasnacht took the time bonuses (8,4,3,2 and 1 seconds) at the summit which would be repeated for all the climbs on the day. Miranda Griffiths quickly swapped a wheel with Hockings before rejoining her on the descent to lead her safely back to the bunch.

Once through the descent, the peloton slowed in pace, allowing a number of dropped riders to catch back on. The riders clearly had the Glenrowan loop on their minds, where they would have to tackle the steep Taminicks Gap climb on two occasions, before a 15 kilometres flat run back to the finish.

The pace was very fast on the first ascent of Taminick, with a group of 6 riders attacking up the climb, with Kennedy, Corset, Fasnacht, Hockings and Pratt taking the time bonuses at the top. The riders worked to stay away to the next sprint point, which was only 5 kilometres further up the road. The sprint was won by Corset with Kennedy, Fasnacht and Hockings following just behind to take the rest of the bonuses (5,3,2 and 1 bonus seconds). The climb and sprint combination was particularly significant in the race for the young rider’s jersey as Fasnacht moved clear of previous leader Ella Scanlan-Bloor (Roxsolt) with bonus time gained.

The race quietened down again with still another ascent of Taminicks Gap remaining. On the final ascent of the climb, the pressure duly went on again and just like the first climb Hockings missed out at the top of the climb, but this time it was a lack of power rather than a mechanical.

A group of five including Corset, Kennedy, McIlroy, Pratt and Fasnacht crested the climb together, taking the bonuses in that order as well, moving Corset to equal on virtual time with Hockings and with an advantage on the road as well. Kennedy was still well in the hunt as well with only 6 seconds to make up to the leader and with bonuses of 12, 8, 6, 4 and 2 seconds on the line at the finish there was ample opportunity to do so. Georgia Catterick (Roxsolt) and Justine Barrow (Think Different) were the other riders present in the move.

Hockings put her head down over the top of the climb and managed to rejoin the group using her impressive time-trialling skills, which slowed down the cooperation somewhat. The peloton behind was being driven by Tessa Fabry for her High5 team-mate Rebecca Wiasak, who herself was only 6 seconds down on the GC and if she could claw back the advantage on the road and win the sprint it would the world Individual Pursuit champion who would take home the leader’s pink jersey.

Holden initially helped with the chasing and the gap came down steadily, at one stage the advantage had been reduced from 40 seconds to 25 and it looked like the catch would come before the finish. At that stage, Holden pulled off the front, maybe thinking that there was a better chance of Hockings beating Corset and Kennedy in a sprint than Wiasak and that left the 8-strong attack to contest the finish.

It was Kate McIlroy, the New Zealand triathlete, who emerged victorious in the sprint after being first through the final corner with Jessica Pratt putting down impressive power in the final metres to almost overhaul her by the line. Behind them the battle for the overall race win ended with Lisen Hockings taking third in front of Ruth Corset and Lucy Kennedy to secure the top step of the podium.

“It was an interesting race with the virtual lead changing on the road,” said Hockings, “The High5 team were attacking left, right and centre; they had Lucy (Kennedy) to go over the climbs and Beck (Wiasak) to get all the points at the sprints, just an immensely strong team. It was a great race and the Holden girls really laid it all on the line today so I’m immensely relieved to have managed to hold it together on the finish line.”

“I don’t think it’s quite sunk in yet, it’s my third NRS race so it’s really exciting and I’m in a bit of disbelief because so much of today was based on the sprint and QOM points, so it was really really exciting and I was very happy to be involved with it as part of the Holden’s Womens Racing team.”

“I was 6 seconds up on Beck coming in and 18 on Ruth and Lucy, so to hang on by the skin of my teeth at the finish is nice. I had a bit of time in no man’s land time trialling back on, I had to do a lot of work to get back on at that point. Not how I thought the bike race would play out. One of the problems I had was that I didn’t have a front brake after the incident on the first climb where someone gashed the spokes on the front of my bike. So the descents were interesting and railing it into that left corner was pretty hard but I had to get them both on the line.”

With the win, Hockings overtook the previous series leader Kate Perry (Specialized) who hadn’t lived up to her strong time trial performance for 2^nd in the first stage of the tour.

Ruth Corset, defending series champion of the Subaru National Road Series, also spoke after the race. “It was quite aggressive today, a lot moreso than yesterday. Specialized were the main one who tried to get away as they were quite down on GC, so they were the main ones. I was just trying to get the time bonuses on the sprints, the QOMs and then the finish. There was a small group of us and we tried to stay away and rotate through, but unfortunately Lisen caught us and then it came down to the sprint.”

Madeleine Fasnacht (Tasmanian Institute of Sport) did a superb ride for a junior, going with some of the best in the sport on the climbs and the sprints to take the young rider’s jersey and finish fifth overall, beating out Jessica Pratt, Ella Scanlan-Bloor and Jaime Gunning who all showed a lot of promise throughout the race.

High5 Dreamteam cleaned up the rest of the competitions with Lucy Kennedy winning the Queen of the Mountains, Rebecca Wiasak the Sprints Jersey and all five members standing on the podium as the teams classification winners.

James Finch-Penninger, Freelance Cycling Journalist

BrakeDown Podcast founder

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The High5 Dream Team have finished the 2016 Sam Miranda Tour of the King Valley with bulging suitcases after taking home a victory on Stage 3 and the sprinters jersey by Rebecca Wiasak, third on General Classification and the Queen of the Mountain jersey by Lucy Kennedy, and top spot on Team’s General Classification after a complete team effort all tour.

After scoring points in all three climbs of Stage 4, Kennedy edged out Ruth Corset by two points to claim the Queen of the Mountain jersey, and finished 12 seconds behind race winner Lisen Hockings on General Classification.

‘I’m happy to have managed to hold onto the QOM jersey , and third on GC is a good result. Today we were hoping to take the overall win, so we got everything else, except for that. It was a successful tour taking the Team’s GC, sprinters jersey and mountains jersey, but we just missed out on the tour leader one unfortunately,’ said Kennedy.

Managing the team for the Tour of the King Valley was Kim Palmer, who was so proud of the team’s cohesion and performances across all stages of the race.

‘As a DS I’m very proud of the team and how they came together. The teamwork was excellent, they all had each others backs and they were all working for the common goal. I believe that the strong team ethic and teamwork that we showed was the reason we scored the results that we did. To come away with the QOM Jersey, the Sprint Jersey, a stage win and to lead the team’s classification was very very rewarding and I’m very proud of the girls for all the effort they put in throughout the tour.’

The High5 Dream Team will next be in action at Amy’s Otway Classic from September 10.

“The girls were incredible, I had Sam (de Riter) on the front with just under a kilometre to go driving it and I had Kenny (Kendelle Hodges) on my wheel, and Kendelle ended up coming second so it’s a 1-2 for the High5 Dream Team which is a brilliant start for the rest of our NRS campaign.

Wiasak had been part of the track endurance team that was set for the Rio Olympics, but was the unfortunate one to miss the flight to Rio as she was made the emergency reserve for the team.

“I knew that I had incredible form so Sutto (National Women’s Track Endurance Coach Garry Sutton) suggested I take a break and when I came back from California we had had an incredibly hard and tough training camp but I knew I had the form so I wanted to keep on going and ride for the High5 Dream Team as I hadn’t raced with them yet this season so I thought I’d come and have a race! I didn’t know how my legs would be up the climbs but I’ve definitely got the strength to be able to compete with the climbers today so I’m thrilled.”

Race-leader Lisen Hockings spent the day fending off attacks with the help of the Holden team and was happy, not just with the result and the performance but how much she enjoyed the experience of racing in only her third NRS event.

“Lucy rode really, really well on the QOMs,” said Hockings, “she absolutely floored it so I was just happy to hang onto her wheel. The team rode absolutely superbly to the plan and each and every one of the guys on the team did a brilliant job and I was just sorry that I couldn’t do a better job at finishing it off at some of the key points. They put it all on the line in what were some pretty wet, muddy and miserable conditions at times.”
“I love the gravel, so I was pretty comfortable on that surface but it was a tough climb (the Strade Nero climb) and a couple of the teams did a good job riding the climb on the front. It was good fun and a nice challenge.”
Going into the final stage Hockings holds a 6 second lead over Rebecca Wiasak with Lucy Kennedy, Ruth Corset (Total Rush) and Kate Perry (Specialized) 18 seconds in arrears, tied for third overall. The final stage of the Tour will be run over the Ryan’s Taminick Gap route with some tough climbs that will give attackers a springboard to try aggressive moves.
“Yeah it will be really interesting and good fun,” said Hockings. “Hopefully I’ve ridden my climbing legs in chasing Lucy up those hills. The High5 team rode really well, with Lucy taking bonuses on the climbs and Beck winning the sprints, it was really interesting racing and I’m just happy to be a part of it.”
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James Finch-Penninger, Freelance Cycling Journalist

BrakeDown Podcast founder

brakedownpodcast.weebly.com

“I’m really looking forward to a weekend of racing with my Holden teammates as it’s my first real opportunity to have a proper race with my team and I’m really excited to race with them.

“It’s fantastic to be racing with Holden, I’m very grateful for the opportunity. I’m just getting to know everyone, they’re very supportive, they’re teaching me about race tactics and they’re happy to answer all of my questions, so it’s good fun!

Both Hockings and Cooper will head into the iconic Stage 3 of the Tour of King Valley over the dark dirt and gravel roads or the ‘Strade Nero’ in the pink leader’s jersey after the Stage 2 city Criterium was cancelled with concerns for rider safety with the weather forecast.
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James Finch-Penninger, Freelance Cycling Journalist

BrakeDown Podcast founder

brakedownpodcast.weebly.com