Brutal opening stage to Mitchelton Tour of Gippsland sees Richards, Plouffe reign supreme

The Mitchelton Tour of Gippsland got underway with a tough, attritional men’s race that produced a superb winner as Kane Richards of ARA Pro Racing Sunshine Coast emerged the victor, outmuscling a group of three in the final dash to the line at Woolamai Racecourse.
It was a strong sprint after such a hard day’s racing, with Richards ecstatic with the result.

"Heaps of fun and a lot of tactics came into play because it was three versus two and then three on one with Bridgelane so really had to play the game a bit," said Richards, "and even risk losing it to be there at the end but it was all good."

Richards will hold the overall race lead heading into a tricky course for Stage 2 departing from and finishing at Inverloch, with three rivals very close on the general classification.

​Earlier in the day, a group of five broke away on the first lap to form a dangerous combination of Ben Carman (Nero Continental), Brenton Jones (Inform TMX Make), Ben Metcalfe (Team Bridgelane), Angus Lyons (ARA Pro Racing Sunshine Coast) and Will Moloney-Morton (CycleHouse), building up a lead of three minutes through the first lap. 

A strong chase from the main bunch quickly diminished the lead of the front five, rapidly hauling in the escapees on the second of four hilly circuits of the 27-kilometre course around Woolamai.

What would turn out to be the winning move surged clear midway through the race, with five riders jumping clear after the early breakaway had been dragged back. Angus Lyons (ARA-Pro Racing Sunshine Coast), Richards, Cooper Sayers (Nero Continental), Liam Johnston (Inform TMX Make), Alastair Christie-Johnston, Jean Pierre Van der Merwe (both Team Bridgelane), were joined by a bridging pair of Cyrus Monk (CycleHouse) and National Road Series leader James Whelan (Team Bridgelane) to form an impressive front group.

With three laps to go the octet had a slim lead but pushed out their advantage over the peloton until the effort gave out in the chase, with the front riders battling it out for the stage win and early favouritism in the battle for the overall Mitchelton Tour of Gippsland victory.

​Bridgelane looked to take a stranglehold on the race as Van der Merwe and Christie-Johnston jumped clear at the start of the fourth and final 27-kilometre lap with Whelan following behind. Lyons buried himself for Richards to drag the escaped pair back, with Whelan getting his chain stuck in the bottom bracket and having to stop before attempting to chase back on. 

Richards, Monk and Johnston made the most of the situation to jump away on the final loop of climbs, with Whelan chasing behind. The trio came into the finish, with Monk dropping off just at the end as Richards launched a long sprint, overpowering Johnston to the line for his first NRS victory of his career.
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“We rode really well in the first few laps, we were in every move. Unfortunately, in that final lap I dropped my chain and it was stuck in the bottom bracket.  I lost a bit of time I think about ten seconds (25 seconds), not a complete disaster but frustrating not to be able to pull it off after all the work the team put it, but I’m still in there for GC.”

In the women’s race it was a case of fireworks on the final lap as ARA-Pro Racing Sunshine Coast weathered a series of attacks on the final climb to put sprinter Maeve Plouffe in with a chance to win on the fast sprint in Woolamai Racecourse, with the track star delivering in style ahead of Amber Pate (Inform TMX Make) and Josie Talbot (Sydney Uni-Staminade).

Plouffe revealed that she had to dig deep to put herself in a position to win after being left behind by the pace on the climbs halfway through the race.

“I was actually dropped in the middle of the race, that was terrifying, but we rode back on and managed to recover,” said Plouffe. “That last climb, there was a big attack on that steep bit at the end of the climb and I just used that track power to bridge on over, I knew there was only a minute or so left. I just ran in the wheel for the last kilometre or two, I didn’t touch the wind.

​“I tried not to sprint too early this time, I’ve gotten into a bad habit of sprinting with 500 metres to go, I toned it down on this one and waited until 200.”

The first two laps of the race were kept together in the women’s event, with the short-lived attacks of Alyssa Polites (Sydney Uni-Staminade) particularly prominent as the rising star of the sport tried to force a move clear.

​Attacks continued to flow and be stymied, with the most likely looking split forming over the top of the main climb on the second lap, but the main contenders were all back within a chance for the win as they entered the finale 27-kilometre lap of the picturesque Woolamai circuit.

The decisive move came at the top of the final climb, with just a rapid descent and the flat run into the finish remaining. Plouffe was able to latch and delivered a powerhouse sprint from the front of the group to win, holding off Pate and Talbot to win in style, with Courtney Sherwell (Roxsolt Liv SRAM) and Georgia Howe (Knights of Surburbia) also finishing in the front group.
13 riders sit within 28 seconds of the overall race lead off Plouffe, with a number of teams no doubt looking to reverse that equation as they tackle Mount Misery on Stage 2 of the Mitchelton Wines Tour of Gippsland.

​The Under 19s races were taken out by William Eaves (Tasmania Institute for Sport) in a superb solo ride and Isabelle Carnes (ARA-Pro Racing Sunshine Coast) as she won the two-up sprint on the fast finish.  

Stage 2 of the Tour of Gippsland will start and and finish within the seaside town of Inverloch, the stunning coastal vistas adorning the peloton's excursion through the Bass Coast.

Full Results Here!