Patrick Bevin Crowned 2014 Tour of Tasmania Champion

Patrick Bevin (health.com.au-search2retain) added his name to the illustrious Tour of Tasmania honours list on Sunday, joining the likes of Cadel Evans and Richie Porte as winners of the marquee Subaru National Road Series event. Having finished second in the gruelling opening stage individual time trial to the summit of Mt Wellington, Bevin fought hard to clinch the Tour lead after winning stage four in the seaside town of Penguin. From there, the New Zealander set about consolidating his advantage, sprinting to a second stage victory on Saturday in Burnie. On the final day, riders contested a 30-lap criterium around Devonport with Bevin finishing safely in the bunch to seal his yellow jersey, 27 seconds ahead of Ben Dyball (Avanti Racing) and over one minute to Tim Roe (Budget Forklifts). ?I feel a little bit out of place to be honest,? Bevin admitted when asked about being alongside Evans and Porte as a winner of the prestigious Tour. ?I?m absolutely ecstatic. When I looked at the season this was the biggest NRS race for me, so to win it is a fantastic achievement and something I?ll be proud of for the rest of my career. ?The whole team has been phenomenal for the last two weeks,? Bevin added. ?We sat down after the stage when I first took the yellow jersey and were kind of like ? this is almost a little silly being an amateur team racing at the front of this bike race, but it shows what happens when you band together and really get behind someone.? Miles Scotson (SASI Cycling Team) held off a chasing peloton to take final stage honours, followed in by teammate Alexander Edmondson and Myron Simpson (Team Budget Forklifts). A four man breakaway of Scotson, Raphael Freinstein (CharterMason Giant Racing), Travis Meyer (Drapac Professional Cycling), and Joshua Prete (Team Budget Forklifts) broke away early, with Germany?s Freinstein collecting both intermediate sprints. Despite building a 36 second lead at the halfway mark, the peloton closed in fast and looked likely to catch the group on the final lap. However Scotson had other ideas, and pushed away on the back straight to secure victory. ?I was up and down all day in the break, and I wasn?t confident,? Scotson admitted after the criterium. ?I was actually hoping it would come back together so that Alex Edmondson could have the sprint because I wasn?t sure about taking Freinstein, he?s pretty quick. But being a track rider, when the others sat up on the back straight I just went as hard as I could and did not look back.? Josh Berry (Cellarbrations Racing Team) held on to the SRAM King of the Mountain jersey, while Freinstein won the Jayco Sprinters Classification with his final day efforts. Having worn the Premax Young Rider?s jersey all week, Nicholas Katsonis retained it with a 29th place finish in Devonport. Avanti Racing took out the team general classification, while Joseph Cooper retains his position as aggregate series leader. The Subaru National Road Series continues with the 99th edition of the Melbourne to Warrnambool Cycling Classic on Saturday 11 October. Text via Cycling Australia Media Release