Jayco Herald Sun Tour 2020 – Stage 4 [FULL RACE]

February 8, 2020

Jayco Herald Sun Tour 2020 – Stage 4 – Mansfield – Mount Buller : 106,6 km

The 2020 Jayco Herald Sun Tour makes a return to the real mountains, featuring the iconic Victorian climbs of Mount Buller and Falls Creek – both of which have featured in Australia’s oldest stage race before, but which will this week feature together in the same edition for the first time in the event’s 68-year history.

Herald Sun Tour leader Jai Hindley (Sunweb) took his second stage victory at this year’s Australian stage race on the summit finish at Mount Buller, Victoria, on Saturday, and in doing so extended his advantage in the general classification to 10 seconds over St George Continental’s Sebastian Berwick.

It was another sensational ride by 20-year-old Berwick, taking on – and beating, bar Hindley – the WorldTour teams once more, and moving himself up from third overall at the start of the day to second place, with only one stage left to go in Melbourne on Sunday, which should go the way of the sprinters.

Mitchelton-Scott’s Damien Howson – who won the race overall in 2017 – lost ground in the final few kilometres of the 16-kilometre-long climb up to the ski resort, and crossed the finish line 22 seconds behind Hindley. It meant that the 27-year-old dropped from second place – four seconds behind Hindley at the start of the stage – to third, now 36 seconds behind the race leader.

“The team was incredible today, and the guys just rode on the front from the first kilometre,” said Hindley after crossing the finish line. “It’s great that all their hard work paid off, so this is pretty special.”

For the second half of the final climb, the 23-year-old race leader had Sunweb teammate Michael Storer working for him on the front of the main group, and Hindley only had to make his move with a kilometre to go when Berwick put in an attack.

“I’ve known Michael since we were young, so to have him riding the final for me like that was unreal,” said Hindley. “I didn’t have to say anything; he knew exactly what to do. He’s phenomenal.”

There was praise and respect for Berwick, too: “Hats off to Sebastian. He threw the kitchen sink at me, and was super impressive, so congratulations to him as he was super strong.”

With just one day to go, and barring accident or injury – or a stage that goes totally off-script – Hindley should be crowned the 45th Australian winner in 67 editions of the Herald Sun Tour in Melbourne come Sunday evening.

“It’s really special,” he said. “I really love the Sun Tour – it’s the third time time that I’ve done it – and to be an Australian racing here, and to wear the leader’s jersey going into the final stage, I’m a bit lost for words.”

How it unfolded

It was Team BridgeLane’s Ben Hill who attacked from the start of stage 4 in Mansfield, instigating a 20-strong breakaway, which was quickly brought back by the bunch.

Ten kilometres into the 106.6km stage, however, EF Pro Racing’s Jonas Rutsch – who had been part of the day’s first move – succeeded in slipping away, and was joined by BridgeLane’s Ayden Toovey.

They were soon joined by Toovey’s teammate Hill again, plus Black Spoke Pro Cycling Academy’s Ethan Batt, Ben Perry (Israel Start-Up Nation) and Conor Murtagh (Oliver’s Real Food Racing), and they became eight riders at the head of affairs when Michael Rice (ARA Pro Racing Sunshine Coast) and David Williams of the Kordamentha Australian National Team also got across to join them.

After losing the green jersey as the race’s best sprinter on stage 3, Hill made sure that he took maximum points at the first intermediate sprint after 21km on what was his fourth day out of four in a break.

With 50km covered, Williams let a small gap open on a descent, and suddenly found himself unable to get back to his seven breakaway companions, despite a huge effort.

Shortly afterwards, Rutsch had a front-wheel puncture, and a very quick disc-brake wheel change by neutral service had Rutsch on his way again swiftly. The remaining six riders didn’t wait – but perhaps should have done, given the young German’s powerful engine – but the 22-year-old used that power to get back, all guns blazing, on the next short descent.

The break was allowed to build up a maximum lead of almost four minutes, while, behind them, Sunweb controlled the front of the bunch.

Hill was again able to take maximum points at the second and final intermediate sprint with 29km to go, completely unopposed, and just ahead of the final climb, Murtagh was the first to drop away from the lead group, followed shortly afterwards by Batt and Rice once on the climb.

Hill – having done enough to take back the green points jersey – did one last turn on the front to help his teammate Toovey, and then also lost contact, leaving Rutsch, Perry and Toovey to push on, but with their lead rapidly dropping down.

With 8.5km to go, Rutsch attacked, taking only Perry with him, while Toovey lost contact. Behind them, Sunweb’s Storer and Rob Power led the case group for Hindley in third wheel, followed by Berwick and EF’s Neilson Powless, while Mitchelton continued to keep their powder dry for Howson.

But not for long: the team’s New Zealander, Dion Smith, attacked with 5km to go, catching Perry and Rutsch, with only Rutsch capable of following.

Israel Start-Up Nation’s James Piccoli then attacked from the chasing group with just 3km to race, and caught and passed the leading duo, seemingly with enough of a gap to potentially win the stage.

He was pursued by Mitchelton’s Simon Yates, striking out for the stage win, and clearly feeling better than he had when he lost six minutes at Falls Creek two days previously.

Yates was unable to get across to Piccoli, however, and with a kilometre to go, Berwick attacked, and only Hindley could follow, and the two blew past first Yates and then Piccoli, and the two best climbers at this year’s race duked it out for the victory, with Hindley coming out on top.

Results :
1 Jai Hindley (Aus) Team Sunweb 3:01:25
2 Sebastian Berwick (Aus) St George Continental
3 Jay Vine (Aus) Nero Continental 0:00:09
4 Jesse Ewart (Aus) Team Sapura Cycling 0:00:17
5 Neilson Powless (USA) EF Pro Cycling 0:00:18
6 Nicholas Schultz (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott 0:00:22
7 Damien Howson (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott
8 James Piccoli (Can) Israel Start-Up Nation 0:00:23
9 Marcos Garcia Fernandez (Spa) Kinan
10 Thomas Lebas (Fra) Kinan 0:00:30
11 Rudy Porter (Aus) Kordamentha Australian National Team 0:00:43
12 James Oram (NZl) Black Spoke Pro Cycling Academy 0:00:48
13 Mark O’Brien (Aus) Kordamentha Australian National Team
14 Simon Yates (GBr) Mitchelton-Scott
15 Samuel Hill (Aus) Team Bridgelane 0:00:50
16 Charles-Etienne Chretien (Can) Aevolo
17 Michael Storer (Aus) Team Sunweb 0:00:53
18 Hayden McCormick (NZl) Black Spoke Pro Cycling Academy 0:00:55
19 Cameron Meyer (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott 0:01:23
20 Calan White (Aus) Kordamentha Australian National Team 0:01:44
21 Benjamin Perry (Can) Israel Start-Up Nation 0:01:59
22 Jonas Rutsch (Ger) EF Pro Cycling
23 Angus Lyons (Aus) Oliver’s Real Food Racing 0:02:01
24 Dion Smith (NZl) Mitchelton-Scott 0:02:09
25 Marcus Culey (Aus) Team Sapura Cycling 0:02:12
26 Florian Stork (Ger) Team Sunweb 0:02:23
27 Alexander Cataford (Can) Israel Start-Up Nation 0:02:28
28 Conor Schunk (USA) Aevolo 0:03:03
29 Samuel Jenner (Aus) Team Bridgelane 0:03:21
30 Omer Goldstein (Isr) Israel Start-Up Nation 0:03:31
31 Ari Scott (NZl) Black Spoke Pro Cycling Academy 0:03:52
32 James Whelan (Aus) EF Pro Cycling 0:04:42
33 Lachlan Morton (Aus) EF Pro Cycling 0:05:17
34 Ayden Toovey (Aus) Team Bridgelane 0:05:51
35 Guillaume Boivin (Can) Israel Start-Up Nation 0:06:12
36 Salvador Guardiola Tora (Spa) Kinan 0:06:17
37 Ben Metcalfe (Aus) Team Bridgelane 0:06:27
38 Carter Turnbull (Aus) Kordamentha Australian National Team
39 Dylan McKenna (Aus) Nero Continental 0:06:32
40 Mitchell Docker (Aus) EF Pro Cycling 0:06:52
41 Brendon Davids (RSA) Oliver’s Real Food Racing 0:08:42
42 Michael Freiberg (Aus) ARA Pro Racing Sunshine Coast
43 Joel Yates (NZl) St George Continental 0:09:34
44 Ryan Cavanagh (Aus) St George Continental 0:09:37
45 Rob Power (Aus) Team Sunweb
46 Sebastian Presley (Aus) Oliver’s Real Food Racing 0:09:40
47 Sebastian Barrett (Aus) ARA Pro Racing Sunshine Coast
48 Connor Reardon (Aus) St George Continental 0:10:07
49 Liam White (Aus) Oliver’s Real Food Racing
50 Alex Dowsett (GBr) Israel Start-Up Nation 0:10:12
51 Alex Heaney (NZl) St George Continental
52 Benjamin Hill (Aus) Team Bridgelane 0:11:53
53 Riley Fleming (Aus) Oliver’s Real Food Racing 0:13:54
54 Godfrey Slattery (Aus) Kordamentha Australian National Team
55 Max Kanter (Ger) Team Sunweb
56 Ashley Mackay (Aus) ARA Pro Racing Sunshine Coast
57 Ben Carman (Aus) Nero Continental
58 Moreno Hofland (Ned) EF Pro Cycling 0:14:05
59 Mihkel Räim (Est) Israel Start-Up Nation
60 Hiroshi Tsubaki (Jpn) Kinan
61 Ethan Batt (NZl) Black Spoke Pro Cycling Academy 0:14:11
62 Ryan Thomas (Aus) ARA Pro Racing Sunshine Coast 0:14:39
63 Michael Potter (Aus) ARA Pro Racing Sunshine Coast
64 Samuel Bewley (NZl) Mitchelton-Scott 0:15:31
65 Tom Scully (NZl) EF Pro Cycling
66 Scott McGill (USA) Aevolo
67 Tyler Stites (USA) Aevolo
68 Luke Mudgway (NZl) Black Spoke Pro Cycling Academy
69 Conor Murtagh (Aus) Oliver’s Real Food Racing
70 Joshua Kench (NZl) Black Spoke Pro Cycling Academy 0:15:40
71 Christopher Miller (Aus) Nero Continental 0:16:02
72 David Williams (Aus) Kordamentha Australian National Team 0:16:12
73 Thomas Bolton (Aus) Oliver’s Real Food Racing
74 Yasuharu Nakajima (Jpn) Kinan 0:16:22
75 Genki Yamamoto (Jpn) Kinan
76 Asbjørn Kragh Andersen (Den) Team Sunweb 0:16:50
77 Alberto Dainese (Ita) Team Sunweb 0:16:52
78 Kaden Groves (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott
79 Jesse Coyle (Aus) Nero Continental 0:19:01
80 Michael Rice (Aus) ARA Pro Racing Sunshine Coast 0:19:30

General Classification after Stage 4 :
1 Jai Hindley (Aus) Team Sunweb 12:51:45
2 Sebastian Berwick (Aus) St George Continental 0:00:10
3 Damien Howson (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott 0:00:36
4 Neilson Powless (USA) EF Pro Cycling 0:00:51
5 Jesse Ewart (Aus) Team Sapura Cycling 0:01:26
6 Jay Vine (Aus) Nero Continental
7 Michael Storer (Aus) Team Sunweb 0:01:50
8 Thomas Lebas (Fra) Kinan 0:01:55
9 Rudy Porter (Aus) Kordamentha Australian National Team 0:02:32
10 James Oram (NZl) Black Spoke Pro Cycling Academy 0:02:50
11 Marcos Garcia Fernandez (Spa) Kinan 0:02:54
12 Charles-Etienne Chretien (Can) Aevolo 0:03:20
13 Hayden McCormick (NZl) Black Spoke Pro Cycling Academy 0:04:05
14 Jonas Rutsch (Ger) EF Pro Cycling 0:04:41
15 Alexander Cataford (Can) Israel Start-Up Nation 0:04:59
16 James Whelan (Aus) EF Pro Cycling 0:06:00
17 Omer Goldstein (Isr) Israel Start-Up Nation 0:06:41
18 Samuel Hill (Aus) Team Bridgelane 0:07:10
19 Samuel Jenner (Aus) Team Bridgelane 0:07:28
20 Simon Yates (GBr) Mitchelton-Scott 0:07:50
21 Lachlan Morton (Aus) EF Pro Cycling 0:08:21
22 Ari Scott (NZl) Black Spoke Pro Cycling Academy 0:08:51
23 Florian Stork (Ger) Team Sunweb 0:09:02
24 Conor Schunk (USA) Aevolo 0:09:20
25 Mark O’Brien (Aus) Kordamentha Australian National Team 0:10:14
26 Mitchell Docker (Aus) EF Pro Cycling 0:13:14
27 Marcus Culey (Aus) Team Sapura Cycling 0:13:54
28 Dion Smith (NZl) Mitchelton-Scott 0:13:56
29 Carter Turnbull (Aus) Kordamentha Australian National Team 0:13:57
30 Benjamin Perry (Can) Israel Start-Up Nation 0:14:26
31 Calan White (Aus) Kordamentha Australian National Team 0:14:46
32 Brendon Davids (RSA) Oliver’s Real Food Racing 0:15:02
33 Salvador Guardiola Tora (Spa) Kinan 0:15:34
34 Cameron Meyer (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott 0:16:53
35 James Piccoli (Can) Israel Start-Up Nation 0:17:39
36 Guillaume Boivin (Can) Israel Start-Up Nation 0:17:46
37 Angus Lyons (Aus) Oliver’s Real Food Racing 0:17:52
38 Nicholas Schultz (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott 0:18:12
39 Rob Power (Aus) Team Sunweb 0:19:31
40 Michael Freiberg (Aus) ARA Pro Racing Sunshine Coast 0:20:11
41 Ayden Toovey (Aus) Team Bridgelane 0:20:54
42 Sebastian Presley (Aus) Oliver’s Real Food Racing 0:21:03
43 Dylan McKenna (Aus) Nero Continental 0:24:06
44 Ben Carman (Aus) Nero Continental 0:25:59
45 Ben Metcalfe (Aus) Team Bridgelane 0:26:20
46 Connor Reardon (Aus) St George Continental 0:26:41
47 Tom Scully (NZl) EF Pro Cycling 0:27:00
48 Alex Dowsett (GBr) Israel Start-Up Nation 0:29:41
49 Ryan Cavanagh (Aus) St George Continental 0:29:42
50 Alex Heaney (NZl) St George Continental 0:29:59
51 Moreno Hofland (Ned) EF Pro Cycling 0:30:33
52 Mihkel Räim (Est) Israel Start-Up Nation
53 Joel Yates (NZl) St George Continental 0:31:27
54 Michael Potter (Aus) ARA Pro Racing Sunshine Coast 0:31:45
55 Ryan Thomas (Aus) ARA Pro Racing Sunshine Coast 0:32:06
56 Tyler Stites (USA) Aevolo 0:32:31
57 Godfrey Slattery (Aus) Kordamentha Australian National Team 0:33:41
58 Sebastian Barrett (Aus) ARA Pro Racing Sunshine Coast 0:34:39
59 Max Kanter (Ger) Team Sunweb 0:35:47
60 Michael Rice (Aus) ARA Pro Racing Sunshine Coast 0:36:01
61 Alberto Dainese (Ita) Team Sunweb 0:36:21
62 Kaden Groves (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott
63 Christopher Miller (Aus) Nero Continental 0:37:10
64 Riley Fleming (Aus) Oliver’s Real Food Racing 0:38:05
65 Hiroshi Tsubaki (Jpn) Kinan 0:38:16
66 Liam White (Aus) Oliver’s Real Food Racing 0:38:44
67 Ashley Mackay (Aus) ARA Pro Racing Sunshine Coast 0:38:53
68 Thomas Bolton (Aus) Oliver’s Real Food Racing 0:40:23
69 Scott McGill (USA) Aevolo 0:40:27
70 Joshua Kench (NZl) Black Spoke Pro Cycling Academy 0:42:06
71 Yasuharu Nakajima (Jpn) Kinan 0:42:14
72 Genki Yamamoto (Jpn) Kinan 0:42:21
73 Luke Mudgway (NZl) Black Spoke Pro Cycling Academy 0:43:32
74 Asbjørn Kragh Andersen (Den) Team Sunweb 0:43:50
75 Ethan Batt (NZl) Black Spoke Pro Cycling Academy 0:44:02
76 David Williams (Aus) Kordamentha Australian National Team 0:44:24
77 Benjamin Hill (Aus) Team Bridgelane 0:46:02
78 Jesse Coyle (Aus) Nero Continental 0:50:36
79 Conor Murtagh (Aus) Oliver’s Real Food Racing 0:50:50
80 Samuel Bewley (NZl) Mitchelton-Scott 0:53:50