A brilliant solo move by former rower Sean Lake (African Wildlife Safaris Cycling Team) saw him claim stage one of the Jayco Tour of Tasmania, while Canberra’s Ben Hill (CharterMason Giant Racing Team) retained the leader’s jersey after finishing fourth.

After enduring variable weather conditions on the scenic 119.9 kilometre ride from Strathgordon to New Norfolk, Victoria’s Lake attacked inside the final 15 kilometres, holding off Anthony Giacoppo (Avanti Racing) and teammate Michael Schweizer to secure victory by less than a second.

“I am absolutely stoked,” the 2014 Grafton to Inverell Cycle Classic winner revealed following his win. “It has been a while between drinks, and I was very happy with the way it panned out.

“I was out there by myself for about 15 minutes or so until the line, and then just held off the chase – having no time gap at the finish was a bit too close for comfort.”

A flurry of attacks were made immediately after the roll-out from Strathgordon, with the riders too focused on the task at hand to fully appreciate the spectacular scenery along Lake Pedder’s banks.

A five-man breakaway quickly established a considerable time gap – stretching to over four minutes and thirty seconds at one point – before losing two riders and being absorbed back on the descent towards New Norfolk.

Lake soloed away just as the breakaway was caught, with the 23-year-old drawing on energy reserves to survive the climb towards the Subaru finish arch.

“The last little climb was pretty brutal,” he explained. “My legs were gone but I just managed to find something extra.”

Despite spending their day driving the peloton in pursuit of the breakaway group, CharterMason positioned their yellow jersey holder wisely on the final ascent to ensure Hill retained the general classification lead.

“It was a tough day and there were some nervous moments,” said the Canberran, who won Tuesday’s prologue in Hobart. “But the boys worked really strongly on the front today and we did enough to keep the lead.

“When Sean went off the front we probably should have closed that down straight away, because he is such a strong rider,” he continued. “But the boys rode their legs off today trying to hang on to [the leader’s jersey], so I’m just happy to still be in yellow.”

The Jayco Tour of Tasmania, part of the Subaru National Road Series, continues on Thursday with a 106.2 kilometre road race departing from Ulverstone in the state’s north. Often the decisive stage in past Tours, an ascent up Gunns Plains will test the peloton before they reach a picturesque seaside finish in Penguin.

Text via Cycling Australia Media Release

Images copyright Con Chronis