Peloton Cafe || 2015 Tour of the King Valley Stage 2 (image copyright Con Chronis)
The 2015 Subaru National Road Series continued with the Sam Miranda Tour of the King Valley kicking off in spectacular fashion on Friday with two stages held under perfect conditions for racing.
In the morning, riders took in the beautiful surrounds of the Dal Zotto winery for a 9km Individual time trial, with the men’s won by Avanti’s Joseph Cooper and the women’s by 2014 Under 19 World Championship bronze medallist Anna-Leeza Hull.
The Wangaratta CBD came to a stand-still in the afternoon with a blistering fast criterium which saw Avanti’s Patrick Bevin (NZ) and High5 Dream Team’s Georgia Baker (TAS) take the honours.
Stage 1 Review
In the Stage 1 time trials on Friday morning, time trial specialist Avanti’s Joseph Cooper won the men’s race against the clock while Anna-Leeza Hull was victorious in the women’s event.
“The short course definitely suited my strengths, I have shown in the past three years at this level that anything around 10km is my bread and butter,” said Cooper.
“If there is an opportunity over a short time trial you know that you have to take it as the Series has so many bunch kicks, so when you get the chance to take a time trial, you have to make the most of it.”
Hull, riding as a NSWIS Scholarship holder and heading to the Junior World Championships in less than a month, was excited to get the stage win and early lead.
“This morning I knew I had really good legs and was really excited to get out there,” said the northern NSW cyclist. “It’s been a long time goal of mine to win an NRS stage so I am really happy.”
Stage 2 Review
Multiple attacks from Avanti Racing, African Wildlife Safaris Cycling Team, Charter Mason Giant Racing and Data#3 Symantec Racing Team kept the field strung out, with Charter Mason’s Ben Hill & Raphael Freienstein forming a 1-2 combination as they attacked at each intermediate sprint.
The battle for the lead on General Classification was an internal scrimmage between Patrick Bevin (New Zealand) and Joseph Cooper (New Zealand), who exchanged bonus seconds and the virtual lead of the race throughout the hard fought 39km criterium.
In the end, it was World Tour bound Bevin who took the stage win ahead of Raphael Freienstein and Michael Schweizer.
“We had Matty (Clarke) up there, a local boy, so it would have been nice to see him sail away for the win but it doesn’t always happen that way,” said Bevin, who announced this week he will join World Tour team Cannondale-Garmin in 2016.
“I was following the Charter train, they were committing a lot of effort to the chase, so I tried to save energy where I could and I actually ended up making quite a bit of time in the intermediate sprints.
“Joe got across to the break in the middle of the race but nobody is going to work with the leaders jersey which is always a tough one. I don’t like taking the jersey off a teammate but we can’t give away 40 seconds to the other guys in the race, so that’s bike racing.”
“We keep the jersey in the team and get ready for the dirt tomorrow” added Bevin.
Following the men’s race, the women took to the streets in front of a large crowd who were enthralled with the race that saw aggressive attacks from the gun.
Specialized-Securitor’s Verita Stewart (Victoria) went alone on the second lap, and after attacking consistently throughout the stage was rewarded with the Most Aggressive jersey.
Holden Women’s Racing Racquel Sheath (New Zealand) and Sophie Williamson (New Zealand) animated all the intermediate sprints and Williamson will defend the sprint jersey on stage three on Saturday.
Georgia Baker (Tasmania) took the stage win for the High5 Dream Team in a bunch kick, and dedicated the win to her late father.
“I’m so happy to take the win for the High5 Dream Team, and I can’t thank my teammates enough, they rode so awesome and it’s great to take the win,” said Baker, who recently spent six weeks with the Cycling Australia High Performance Unit Women’s Track Endurance squad.
“I know how proud my dad would be of me, and he would want me to live and do everything the best I can so the win is definitely for him today, I know he was with me the whole way” added an emotional Baker.
With her stage win, Baker has taken the lead on General Classification and holds a seven second advantage over second place Anna-Leeza Hull, with Sophie Mackay a further seven seconds back in third.
The Tour continues tomorrow with Stage 3 at 8am from the Sam Miranda winery. Riders will take in 115km’s and four dirt sections, including the famed Strade Nero.
Text via Cycling Australia Media Release
