Jayco Herald Sun Tour 2017 – Stage 4 [Highlights]

February 5, 2017

Jayco Herald Sun Tour 2017 – Stage 4 – Kinglake – Kinglake – 121 km

The Herald Sun Tour is an Australian professional bicycle race held in Melbourne and provincial Victoria, sanctioned by the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI). The first tour was held in October 1952 as a six-day event. It is now held annually over five days in February. It is named after the Herald Sun, Melbourne’s only daily tabloid newspaper. It was originally known as the Sun Tour after The Sun News-Pictorial, and changed its name when The Sun News-Pictorial merged with The Herald in 1990.

Ian Stannard claimed Team Sky’s third win of the 2017 Herald Sun Tour into Kinglake after a late attack from the breakaway. Race leader Damien Howson (Orica-Scott) matched the last lap attacks of Chris Froome (Team Sky) to seal his first professional victory.

The win is Howson’s first of his career and ensures the Australian team claims one of the three big races on home soil after second places at nationals, Tour Down Under and Cadel Evans race.

In the race for the stage, Stannard’s early celebration almost saw him lose the victory on the finish line with Aaron Gate (Aqua Blue Sport) and Taco van der Hoorn (Rompot-Nederlandse Loterij) almost catching him on the line due to a relaxed celebration. Howson crossed the line in 20th place with his hands in the air to signify his overall victory.

“It’s a big sigh of relief now. It’s been an amazing week and to finish it off the way we did, I couldn’t be happier,” Howson said.

“I knew that as long as I had Esteban [Chaves] with me on that final climb, it was going to be pretty simple to control and maintain the overall lead. That is what happened today and everyone just went further than they needed to and made my day as easy as possible which was fantastic.”

Having overcome a late puncture on stage 2 that almost ended his dreams of yellow, Howson then survived two near crashes on stage 3. A somewhat stress-free day on stage 4 followed with Howson’s number 13 dossard proving not to be an unlucky omen.

“It always crosses your mind but it is a matter of keeping calm and it was either going to happen or it wasn’t,” he said.

“Luck was on my side today and number 13 didn’t count for anything.”

Froome’s four-year record of starting his season with a stage race win was broken as he was unable to improve on his sixth place. However, last year’s champion was full of praise for how his team rode in winning three stages.

“We are here to race, of course, we were here to try and win as well so they did a great job. We hit them with everything we had today and they defended it really well,” said Froome.

Jai Hindley (Australia) held onto his second place overall, and with it the best young rider classification, while Team Sky’s Kenny Elissonde kept third place. Ben Hill (Attaque Gusto) won the King of the Mountains jersey, as NSW Institute of Sport celebrated winning the points jersey via Jake Kaufman in its first UCI race.

How it unfolded

After several days of hot conditions, the riders were greeted with wet weather on arrival in Kinglake. The inclement weather saw the neutral zone increased due to the wet roads, while an oil spill meant that the final GC time would be taken with three kilometres to go and not on the finish line.

After an aggressive start, a group of 12 riders got clear and were joined by five others to form the 18-man break on lap two. They built a lead of over four minutes. The riders in the breakaway were Stannard, Tim Ariesen and Taco van der Hoorn (Rompot), Sergey Nikolaev (Gazprom-Rusvelo), Tanner Putt and Travis McCabe (UnitedHealthcare), Aaron Gate and Larry Warbasse (Aqua Blue Sport), Ali Slater (JLT Condor), Tim Guy and Ben Hill (Attaque Gusto) Cyrus Monk (Drapac-Pat’s Veg), Darcy Ellerm-Norton (St George), Jason Christie, James Oram and Sam Dobbs (New Zealand national team), Robbie Hucker (IsoWhey Sports SwissWellness), and Dan Fitter (NSW Institute of Sport).

Over the first two KOM’s Ben Hill took maximum points to secure the mountains classification on his 28th birthday with the breakaway working well together and swapping turns

With 40km to race at the base of the KOM for the third time, the leaders’ advantage over the Orica-controlled peloton was down to 3:26 minutes. On the climb, Fitter was the first rider to try and split the group and drop the riders he felt were no longer contributing to the breakaway.

In the peloton, Froome, Elissonde and Rowe attacked the third time up the climb but the dangerous trio were brought back. Hill, Hucker and van der Hoorn went solo at the head of the race but the front group came through together for the bell lap. The Orica-led peloton that splintered on the climb rolled through two minutes in arrears.

The breakaway continued to attack itself and was down to the six men of McCabe, Stannard, Monk, van der Hoorn, Gate, and Slater with 21km to go and a lead of 2:30 minutes. Orica continued to lead the peloton before the Australian national team chipped in to lend a hand.

With 10km to race, the gap had dropped to two minutes as the riders approached the final ascent of the climb. The gap continued to fall as Simon Gerrans turned the screws.

At 4.8km to go, Froome launched his move with Howson first to react, followed by Elissonde and Hindley. Sebastian Henao then attacked for Sky with the breakaway in sight. The GC battle was over with no change to the top standings.

At the head of the race, Stannard drove the break after cresting the KOM then launched his winning move proving his strength as the sole WorldTour rider in the break. The classics man took his time to celebrate as he sat up inside 100 metres to go and almost lost it on the line to his breakaway companions.

Results :
1 Ian Stannard (GBr) Team Sky 2:52:44
2 Aaron Gate (NZl) Aqua Blue Sport
3 Taco van der Hoorn (Ned) Roompot – Nederlandse Loterij
4 Benjamin Hill (Aus) Attaque Team Gusto
5 Robbie Hucker (Aus) IsoWhey Sports SwissWellness
6 Alistair Slater (GBr) JLT Condor
7 Jason Christie (NZl) New Zealand National Team
8 Daniel Fitter (Aus) NSW Institute of Sport
9 Cyrus Monk (Aus) Drapac–Pat’s Veg
10 Travis McCabe (USA) UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling
11 Cameron Bayly (Aus) IsoWhey Sports SwissWellness 0:00:17
12 Cameron Meyer (Aus) KordaMentha Real Estate Australian National Team
13 Dylan Sunderland (Aus) NSW Institute of Sport
14 Jai Hindley (Aus) KordaMentha Real Estate Australian National Team
15 Lucas Hamilton (Aus) KordaMentha Real Estate Australian National Team
16 James Oram (NZl) New Zealand National Team 0:00:08
17 Janier Alexis Acevedo Calle (Col) UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling 0:00:17
18 Timothy Roe (Aus) IsoWhey Sports SwissWellness
19 Tim Ariesen (Ned) Roompot – Nederlandse Loterij 0:00:08
20 Damien Howson (Aus) Orica-Scott 0:00:17
21 Nathan Earle (Aus) KordaMentha Real Estate Australian National Team
22 Sebastian Henao Gomez (Col) Team Sky 0:00:13
23 Benjamin Dyball (Aus) St George Continental Cycling Team 0:00:17
24 Jesse Featonby (Aus) Drapac–Pat’s Veg
25 Kenny Elissonde (Fra) Team Sky
26 Ian Bibby (GBr) JLT Condor 0:00:12
27 Michael Storer (Aus) KordaMentha Real Estate Australian National Team 0:00:17
28 Tanner Putt (USA) UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling 0:00:31
29 Jhoan Esteban Chaves Rubio (Col) Orica-Scott 0:00:17
30 Ivan Savitckii (Rus) Gazprom–RusVelo 0:00:55
31 Nick van der Lijke (Ned) Roompot – Nederlandse Loterij
32 Marcelo Felipe (Phi) 7 Eleven Roadbike Philippines
33 Martijn Tusveld (Ned) Roompot – Nederlandse Loterij
34 Jesper Asselman (Ned) Roompot – Nederlandse Loterij 0:01:08
35 Michel Kreder (Ned) Aqua Blue Sport
36 Pavel Brutt (Rus) Gazprom–RusVelo 0:01:21
37 Alistair Donohoe (Aus) Attaque Team Gusto
38 Jonathan Clarke (Aus) UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling
39 Luke Rowe (GBr) Team Sky 0:01:29
40 Peter Koning (Ned) Aqua Blue Sport
41 Chris Froome (GBr) Team Sky 0:00:17
42 Sergey Nikolaev (Rus) Gazprom–RusVelo 0:01:21
43 James Gullen (GBr) JLT Condor 0:01:43
44 Josh Berry (Aus) 7 Eleven Roadbike Philippines 0:02:28
45 Jesse Ewart (Aus) 7 Eleven Roadbike Philippines
46 Alexandr Shushemoin (Kaz) Attaque Team Gusto
47 Nicholas Katsonis (Aus) Drapac–Pat’s Veg
48 Michael Hepburn (Aus) Orica-Scott
49 Nikolay Trusov (Rus) Gazprom–RusVelo 0:03:06
50 Mathew Ross (Aus) Drapac–Pat’s Veg
51 Sam Dobbs (NZl) New Zealand National Team 0:03:20
52 Lachlan Norris (Aus) UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling 0:03:36
53 Alex Frame (NZl) JLT Condor
54 Conor Dunne (Irl) Aqua Blue Sport
55 Edgar Nohales Neto (Spa) 7 Eleven Roadbike Philippines 0:04:08
56 Samuel Jenner (Aus) KordaMentha Real Estate Australian National Team 0:04:34
57 Steve Lampier (GBr) JLT Condor 0:04:50
58 Simon Gerrans (Aus) Orica-Scott
59 Brad Evans (NZl) Drapac–Pat’s Veg 0:05:30
60 Rustom Lim (Phi) 7 Eleven Roadbike Philippines
61 Aleksei Tcatevich (Rus) Gazprom–RusVelo
62 Joseph Cooper (NZl) IsoWhey Sports SwissWellness
63 Mario Vogt (Ger) Attaque Team Gusto
64 Mitch Docker (Aus) Orica-Scott
65 Calvin Watson (Aus) Aqua Blue Sport
66 Greg Henderson (NZl) UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling 0:05:55
67 Timothy Guy (Aus) Attaque Team Gusto
68 Mark John Lexer Galedo (Phi) 7 Eleven Roadbike Philippines 0:06:18
69 Artur Ershov (Rus) Gazprom–RusVelo 0:06:50
70 Drew Morey (Aus) Drapac–Pat’s Veg
71 Jesse Kerrison (Aus) IsoWhey Sports SwissWellness 0:07:33
72 Hamish Schreurs (NZl) New Zealand National Team 0:08:10
73 Thomas Hubbard (NZl) St George Continental Cycling Team
74 Lawrence Warbasse (USA) Aqua Blue Sport
75 Leigh Howard (Aus) Aqua Blue Sport
76 Brenton Jones (Aus) JLT Condor
77 Angus Lyons (Aus) KordaMentha Real Estate Australian National Team
78 James Fouche (NZl) New Zealand National Team
79 Kaden Groves (Aus) St George Continental Cycling Team
80 Jeroen Meijers (Ned) Roompot – Nederlandse Loterij
81 Oliver Kent-Spark (Aus) Drapac–Pat’s Veg 0:10:00
82 Matthew Zenovich (NZl) New Zealand National Team
83 Jacob Kauffmann (Aus) NSW Institute of Sport
84 Alex Wohler (Aus) NSW Institute of Sport
85 Joshua Taylor (Aus) NSW Institute of Sport
86 Taylor Gunman (NZl) New Zealand National Team
87 Jay Dutton (Aus) St George Continental Cycling Team
88 Ayden Toovey (Aus) NSW Institute of Sport
89 Brodie Talbot (Aus) St George Continental Cycling Team 0:09:15
90 Guy Kalma (NZl) Attaque Team Gusto 0:11:00
91 Sam Bewley (NZl) Orica-Scott 0:11:25
92 Adrian Hegyvary (USA) UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling 0:11:50
93 Rob Power (Aus) Orica-Scott 0:13:07
94 Philip Martz (USA) Attaque Team Gusto 0:13:59
95 Darcy Ellerm-Norton (NZl) St George Continental Cycling Team
96 Kirill Sveshnikov (Rus) Gazprom–RusVelo 0:16:26
DNF Edmund Bradbury (GBr) JLT Condor
DNF Anthony Giacoppo (Aus) IsoWhey Sports SwissWellness
DNS Danny van Poppel (Ned) Team Sky
DNS Sjoerd van Ginneken (Ned) Roompot – Nederlandse Loterij
DNS Craig Evers (Aus) 7 Eleven Roadbike Philippines
DNS Patrick Sharpe (Aus) St George Continental Cycling Team

Final General Classification :
1 Damien Howson (Aus) Orica-Scott 15:25:13
2 Jai Hindley (Aus) KordaMentha Real Estate Australian National Team 0:00:38
3 Kenny Elissonde (Fra) Team Sky 0:00:53
4 Cameron Meyer (Aus) KordaMentha Real Estate Australian National Team 0:01:08
5 Michael Storer (Aus) KordaMentha Real Estate Australian National Team 0:01:10
6 Chris Froome (GBr) Team Sky 0:01:12
7 Lucas Hamilton (Aus) KordaMentha Real Estate Australian National Team 0:01:13
8 Nathan Earle (Aus) KordaMentha Real Estate Australian National Team 0:01:15
9 Jhoan Esteban Chaves Rubio (Col) Orica-Scott
10 Timothy Roe (Aus) IsoWhey Sports SwissWellness 0:01:17
11 Ian Bibby (GBr) JLT Condor 0:01:21
12 Janier Alexis Acevedo Calle (Col) UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling 0:01:28
13 Sebastian Henao Gomez (Col) Team Sky 0:01:39
14 Cameron Bayly (Aus) IsoWhey Sports SwissWellness 0:01:45
15 Jesse Featonby (Aus) Drapac–Pat’s Veg 0:01:56
16 Benjamin Dyball (Aus) St George Continental Cycling Team 0:02:30
17 Jonathan Clarke (Aus) UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling 0:02:44
18 Alistair Donohoe (Aus) Attaque Team Gusto 0:03:08
19 Dylan Sunderland (Aus) NSW Institute of Sport 0:03:43
20 Jason Christie (NZl) New Zealand National Team 0:04:33
21 Pavel Brutt (Rus) Gazprom–RusVelo 0:04:44
22 Lachlan Norris (Aus) UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling 0:05:16
23 Martijn Tusveld (Ned) Roompot – Nederlandse Loterij 0:06:17
24 Robbie Hucker (Aus) IsoWhey Sports SwissWellness 0:06:50
25 Daniel Fitter (Aus) NSW Institute of Sport 0:06:55
26 Tanner Putt (USA) UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling 0:08:17
27 Cyrus Monk (Aus) Drapac–Pat’s Veg 0:10:12
28 James Oram (NZl) New Zealand National Team 0:11:31
29 Simon Gerrans (Aus) Orica-Scott 0:12:00
30 Jesse Ewart (Aus) 7 Eleven Roadbike Philippines 0:12:34
31 Luke Rowe (GBr) Team Sky 0:13:59
32 Lawrence Warbasse (USA) Aqua Blue Sport 0:14:56
33 Taco van der Hoorn (Ned) Roompot – Nederlandse Loterij 0:16:33
34 Steve Lampier (GBr) JLT Condor 0:17:17
35 Samuel Jenner (Aus) KordaMentha Real Estate Australian National Team 0:17:22
36 Sam Dobbs (NZl) New Zealand National Team 0:17:24
37 Mario Vogt (Ger) Attaque Team Gusto 0:17:48
38 Jesper Asselman (Ned) Roompot – Nederlandse Loterij 0:17:50
39 Conor Dunne (Irl) Aqua Blue Sport 0:19:53
40 Travis McCabe (USA) UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling 0:20:46
41 Alistair Slater (GBr) JLT Condor 0:21:01
42 Timothy Guy (Aus) Attaque Team Gusto 0:21:04
43 Michael Hepburn (Aus) Orica-Scott 0:21:41
44 Nicholas Katsonis (Aus) Drapac–Pat’s Veg 0:22:16
45 Nick van der Lijke (Ned) Roompot – Nederlandse Loterij 0:22:51
46 Sergey Nikolaev (Rus) Gazprom–RusVelo 0:23:19
47 Alexandr Shushemoin (Kaz) Attaque Team Gusto 0:23:20
48 Artur Ershov (Rus) Gazprom–RusVelo 0:23:26
49 James Gullen (GBr) JLT Condor 0:23:49
50 Ivan Savitckii (Rus) Gazprom–RusVelo 0:23:58
51 Tim Ariesen (Ned) Roompot – Nederlandse Loterij 0:24:46
52 Marcelo Felipe (Phi) 7 Eleven Roadbike Philippines 0:25:18
53 Aaron Gate (NZl) Aqua Blue Sport 0:25:27
54 Drew Morey (Aus) Drapac–Pat’s Veg 0:25:38
55 Greg Henderson (NZl) UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling 0:26:54
56 Mitch Docker (Aus) Orica-Scott 0:27:11
57 Aleksei Tcatevich (Rus) Gazprom–RusVelo 0:27:15
58 Brad Evans (NZl) Drapac–Pat’s Veg 0:27:18
59 Michel Kreder (Ned) Aqua Blue Sport 0:27:38
60 Jacob Kauffmann (Aus) NSW Institute of Sport 0:29:23
61 Benjamin Hill (Aus) Attaque Team Gusto 0:30:37
62 Calvin Watson (Aus) Aqua Blue Sport 0:30:45
63 Ian Stannard (GBr) Team Sky 0:31:07
64 Brodie Talbot (Aus) St George Continental Cycling Team 0:31:47
65 Oliver Kent-Spark (Aus) Drapac–Pat’s Veg 0:32:24
66 Joseph Cooper (NZl) IsoWhey Sports SwissWellness 0:32:41
67 Jeroen Meijers (Ned) Roompot – Nederlandse Loterij 0:32:58
68 Rustom Lim (Phi) 7 Eleven Roadbike Philippines 0:33:30
69 Nikolay Trusov (Rus) Gazprom–RusVelo 0:34:01
70 Edgar Nohales Neto (Spa) 7 Eleven Roadbike Philippines 0:34:12
71 Alex Frame (NZl) JLT Condor 0:34:30
72 Mathew Ross (Aus) Drapac–Pat’s Veg 0:34:34
73 James Fouche (NZl) New Zealand National Team 0:36:26
74 Peter Koning (Ned) Aqua Blue Sport 0:36:44
75 Guy Kalma (NZl) Attaque Team Gusto 0:37:27
76 Brenton Jones (Aus) JLT Condor 0:37:42
77 Mark John Lexer Galedo (Phi) 7 Eleven Roadbike Philippines 0:38:05
78 Angus Lyons (Aus) KordaMentha Real Estate Australian National Team 0:38:48
79 Taylor Gunman (NZl) New Zealand National Team 0:39:47
80 Ayden Toovey (Aus) NSW Institute of Sport 0:39:49
81 Jesse Kerrison (Aus) IsoWhey Sports SwissWellness 0:41:29
82 Rob Power (Aus) Orica-Scott 0:42:52
83 Josh Berry (Aus) 7 Eleven Roadbike Philippines 0:43:06
84 Leigh Howard (Aus) Aqua Blue Sport 0:44:37
85 Hamish Schreurs (NZl) New Zealand National Team 0:46:24
86 Matthew Zenovich (NZl) New Zealand National Team 0:48:18
87 Kaden Groves (Aus) St George Continental Cycling Team 0:48:21
88 Joshua Taylor (Aus) NSW Institute of Sport 0:48:31
89 Sam Bewley (NZl) Orica-Scott 0:50:24
90 Adrian Hegyvary (USA) UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling 0:53:02
91 Philip Martz (USA) Attaque Team Gusto 0:54:22
92 Darcy Ellerm-Norton (NZl) St George Continental Cycling Team 0:56:47
93 Alex Wohler (Aus) NSW Institute of Sport 1:00:39
94 Jay Dutton (Aus) St George Continental Cycling Team 1:03:27
95 Thomas Hubbard (NZl) St George Continental Cycling Team 1:05:03
96 Kirill Sveshnikov (Rus) Gazprom–RusVelo 1:05:57