Jayco Herald Sun Tour 2019 – Stage 4 [Highlights]

February 2, 2019

Jayco Herald Sun Tour 2019 – Stage 4 – Cape Schanck – Arthurs Seat : 128,8 km

The Herald Sun Tour is ready to roll out for its 65th edition in Victoria from January 30 through February 3. The UCI 2.1 race began in 1952 as the first professional stage race in Victoria since the 1934 Centenary Thousand Classic, and it continues through this season with only a couple interruptions in the 67-year run. This year’s race features five stages that will take riders from Phillip Island on stage 1 to Melbourne on the final day. Along the way, the 2019 Herald Sun Tour will visit Wonthaggi, Churchill, Sale, Warragul, Cape Schanck and Arthurs Seat.

Mitchelton-Scott’s Nick Schultz beat some of the world’s best climbers at their own game to win stage 4 of the 2019 Jayco Herald Sun Tour on Saturday, beating Team Sky’s Dylan van Baarle on the final climb to Arthurs Seat, with Van Baarle taking the overall race lead.

Van Baarle and Schultz were part of a dangerous eight-rider move that went clear after 20km of racing, and which also included Van Baarle’s Team Sky teammates Luke Rowe and Christian Knees, Team BridgeLane’s Hayden McCormick, Alistair Donohue (Pro Racing Sunshine Coast), Nathan Elliott (KordaMentha Australian Team) and Will Clarke (Trek-Segafredo).

Van Baarle was the danger man in the break for overnight leader Michael Woods (EF Education First) and race favourite Richie Porte (Trek-Segafredo), with the Dutchman having started the day in fifth place overall, 31 seconds down on Woods, and 27 behind Porte.

Sky drove the eight-man breakaway through first Rowe and then Knees once on the climbs, and Van Baarle and Schultz were eventually left at the head of affairs on what was an attritional stage as the finish laps over the three-kilometre climb ticked down, with Donohue the last to lose contact with the two WorldTour riders on the penultimate climb after a brave ride.

The chase group that included Woods and Porte was never able to get back on terms, with both riders having been left without any teammates to assist them in the latter stages, and Woods finished sixth on the stage, 2:14 down, while Porte finished another 13 seconds down in eighth place.

While Van Baarle now leads Schultz overall by 24 seconds, Woods and Porte sit in third and fourth place on the GC, 1:52 and 2:09 down, respectively. With just one stage to go on a course around Melbourne’s Royal Botanic Gardens on Sunday – a stage that should suit the sprinters – Van Baarle’s overall lead should remain safe.

“I think that at the bottom of the final climb Dylan and I were both at our limit,” Schultz told reporters at the finish, having led Van Baarle all the way up Arthurs Seat on the fourth and final ascent.

“He pulled harder than me on the flat part of the circuit, or the descent, so I had an inkling that we were both at our limit, and I think that also with his GC ambitions in mind, it suited him for me to ride as hard as I could up the climb as well, so it all worked out well,” the 24-year-old Australian said.

“Nick did a great last climb from the bottom, full gas to the finish. At one point, with 150 metres to go, I thought he was dying, but he kept going and I was totally empty,” confirmed Van Baarle, after the Dutchman had received his leader’s yellow jersey.

“You’ll never know what’s going to happen if you don’t try,” he continued. “Even if Michael and Richie are two of the best climbers in the world, you still have to try.”

Porte had to concede that he didn’t have the legs on the day, but neither was it up to him or his Trek-Segafredo team to do all the chasing.

“My team rode really well, but it’s not up to us to win the race for Woods,” he said. “Obviously he didn’t have the team there for him, and he also sat on me the other day for the last kilometre [on stage 2], which wasn’t nice, so I didn’t feel any need to try to win the race for him.”

Results :
1 Nicholas Schultz (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott 2:45:42
2 Dylan van Baarle (Ned) Team Sky
3 Chris Harper (Aus) Team Bridgelane 0:01:45
4 Alistair Donohoe (Aus) Pro Racing Sunshine Coast 0:02:14
5 Kenny Elissonde (Fra) Team Sky
6 Michael Woods (Can) EF Education First Pro Cycling
7 Lucas Hamilton (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott
8 Richie Porte (Aus) Trek-Segafredo 0:02:27
9 Dylan Sunderland (Aus) Team Bridgelane 0:02:39
10 Pavel Sivakov (Rus) Team Sky
11 Benjamin Dyball (Aus) Team Sapura Cycling 0:03:00
12 Daniel Whitehouse (Aus) EvoPro Racing 0:03:02
13 Sam Jenner (Aus) KordaMentha Australian Team 0:03:21
14 Jason Lea (Aus) Team Bridgelane 0:03:35
15 Nicholas White (Aus) Team Bridgelane
16 Damien Howson (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott 0:04:09
17 Dion Smith (NZl) Mitchelton-Scott 0:04:46
18 Peter Stetina (USA) Trek-Segafredo 0:05:25
19 Christian Knees (Ger) Team Sky 0:05:57
20 Hayden Mccormick (NZl) Team Bridgelane 0:06:36
21 Jarlinson Pantano Gomez (Col) Trek-Segafredo 0:07:27
22 Jesse Featonby (Aus) Oliver’s Real Food Racing 0:08:15
23 Thomas Hubbard (Aus) St George Continental 0:08:24
24 Jesse Ewart (Aus) Team Sapura Cycling 0:08:25
25 Marcus Culey (Aus) Team Sapura Cycling 0:08:26
26 Sebastian Presley (Aus) Oliver’s Real Food Racing 0:08:28
27 Oliver Martin (Aus) Drapac Cannondale Holistic 0:09:14
28 James Whelan (Aus) EF Education First Pro Cycling 0:09:48
29 Callum Scotson (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott 0:09:54
30 Nathan Elliot (Aus) KordaMentha Australian Team 0:10:42
31 Owain Doull (Gbr) Team Sky 0:11:04
32 Angus Lyons (Aus) Oliver’s Real Food Racing 0:12:58
33 William Clarke (Aus) Trek-Segafredo
34 Dylan Newbery (Aus) Futuro-Maxxis Pro Cycling 0:14:07
35 Timothy Cameron (Aus) St George Continental
36 Brenton Jones (Aus) KordaMentha Australian Team 0:14:55
37 Michael Vink (NZl) St George Continental
38 Aaron Gate (Aus) EvoPro Racing
39 Zachary Johnson (Aus) Drapac Cannondale Holistic
40 Corbin Strong (Aus) St George Continental
41 Michael Potter (Aus) Pro Racing Sunshine Coast 0:14:58
42 Conor Murtagh (Aus) Oliver’s Real Food Racing
43 Jonathon Noble (Aus) Pro Racing Sunshine Coast
44 Freddy Ovett (Aus) Pro Racing Sunshine Coast
45 Luke Rowe (GBr) Team Sky
46 Muhammad Zawawi Azman (Mas) Team Sapura Cycling
47 Muhamad Nur Aiman Mohd Zariff (Mas) Team Sapura Cycling
48 Liam White (Aus) Drapac Cannondale Holistic 0:15:16
49 David Williams (Aus) KordaMentha Australian Team
50 Cyrus Monk (Aus) EvoPro Racing
51 Benjamin Andrews (Aus) Oliver’s Real Food Racing
52 Koen de Kort (Ned) Trek-Segafredo
53 Ryan Mullen (Irl) Trek-Segafredo
54 Kristoffer Halvorsen (Nor) Team Sky
55 Theodore Yates (Aus) Drapac Cannondale Holistic
56 Harrison Sweeny (Aus) EvoPro Racing
57 Robert Stannard (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott
58 Mitchell Docker (Aus) EF Education First Pro Cycling
59 Patrick Burt (Aus) Drapac Cannondale Holistic
60 Ayden Toovey (Aus) Team Bridgelane
61 Liam Magennis (Aus) Drapac Cannondale Holistic
62 Luke Mudgway (Aus) EvoPro Racing 0:15:53
63 Tom Scully (NZl) EF Education First Pro Cycling 0:16:27
64 Neil Van Der Ploeg (Aus) Team Bridgelane 0:17:14
65 Ryan Cavanagh (Aus) St George Continental 0:17:15
66 Shane Archbold (Aus) EvoPro Racing 0:17:37
67 Sam Bewley (NZl) Mitchelton-Scott 0:17:56
68 Muhsin Al Redha Misbah (Mas) Team Sapura Cycling 0:21:13
69 Wouter Wippert (Aus) EvoPro Racing 0:22:05
70 Alex Frame (NZl) Trek-Segafredo
71 Daniel Mclay (GBr) EF Education First Pro Cycling
72 Craig Wiggins (Aus) St George Continental 0:22:33
73 Tom Mcfarlane (Aus) KordaMentha Australian Team 0:22:49
DNF Lachlan Morton (Aus) EF Education First Pro Cycling
DNF Karl Michelin-Beard (Aus) Oliver’s Real Food Racing
DNF Ashley Mackay (Aus) Pro Racing Sunshine Coast
DNF Tom Kaesler (Aus) Drapac Cannondale Holistic

General Classification after Stage 4 :
1 Dylan van Baarle (Ned) Team Sky 11:28:42
2 Nicholas Schultz (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott 0:00:24
3 Michael Woods (Can) EF Education First Pro Cycling 0:01:52
4 Richie Porte (Aus) Trek-Segafredo 0:02:09
5 Chris Harper (Aus) Team Bridgelane 0:02:13
6 Kenny Elissonde (Fra) Team Sky 0:02:19
7 Lucas Hamilton (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott 0:02:21
8 Pavel Sivakov (Rus) Team Sky 0:03:10
9 Dylan Sunderland (Aus) Team Bridgelane 0:04:25
10 Damien Howson (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott 0:04:44
11 Sam Jenner (Aus) KordaMentha Australian Team 0:05:07
12 Daniel Whitehouse (Aus) EvoPro Racing 0:05:16
13 Benjamin Dyball (Aus) Team Sapura Cycling 0:05:22
14 Nicholas White (Aus) Team Bridgelane 0:05:49
15 Alistair Donohoe (Aus) Pro Racing Sunshine Coast 0:06:02
16 Peter Stetina (USA) Trek-Segafredo 0:07:11
17 Dion Smith (NZl) Mitchelton-Scott 0:09:01
18 Jarlinson Pantano Gomez (Col) Trek-Segafredo 0:09:13
19 Christian Knees (Ger) Team Sky 0:13:24
20 Marcus Culey (Aus) Team Sapura Cycling 0:13:49
21 Jason Lea (Aus) Team Bridgelane 0:14:01
22 Hayden Mccormick (NZl) Team Bridgelane 0:14:09
23 Jesse Featonby (Aus) Oliver’s Real Food Racing 0:14:11
24 Jesse Ewart (Aus) Team Sapura Cycling 0:16:08
25 Robert Stannard (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott 0:16:58
26 Owain Doull (Gbr) Team Sky 0:17:06
27 James Whelan (Aus) EF Education First Pro Cycling 0:17:43
28 Freddy Ovett (Aus) Pro Racing Sunshine Coast 0:18:46
29 Sebastian Presley (Aus) Oliver’s Real Food Racing 0:19:33
30 Oliver Martin (Aus) Drapac Cannondale Holistic 0:19:48
31 Cyrus Monk (Aus) EvoPro Racing 0:19:53
32 Nathan Elliot (Aus) KordaMentha Australian Team 0:20:39
33 Luke Rowe (GBr) Team Sky 0:21:08
34 Liam White (Aus) Drapac Cannondale Holistic 0:22:01
35 Brenton Jones (Aus) KordaMentha Australian Team 0:22:30
36 Ayden Toovey (Aus) Team Bridgelane 0:22:39
37 Callum Scotson (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott
38 Kristoffer Halvorsen (Nor) Team Sky 0:22:41
39 Muhammad Zawawi Azman (Mas) Team Sapura Cycling
40 Muhamad Nur Aiman Mohd Zariff (Mas) Team Sapura Cycling
41 William Clarke (Aus) Trek-Segafredo 0:22:52
42 Koen de Kort (Ned) Trek-Segafredo 0:22:59
43 Ryan Mullen (Irl) Trek-Segafredo 0:23:17
44 Benjamin Andrews (Aus) Oliver’s Real Food Racing 0:23:37
45 Theodore Yates (Aus) Drapac Cannondale Holistic 0:24:41
46 Thomas Hubbard (Aus) St George Continental 0:24:46
47 Conor Murtagh (Aus) Oliver’s Real Food Racing 0:24:48
48 Mitchell Docker (Aus) EF Education First Pro Cycling 0:24:55
49 Dylan Newbery (Aus) Futuro-Maxxis Pro Cycling 0:25:17
50 Michael Vink (NZl) St George Continental 0:25:21
51 Michael Potter (Aus) Pro Racing Sunshine Coast 0:25:32
52 Liam Magennis (Aus) Drapac Cannondale Holistic 0:26:18
53 Luke Mudgway (Aus) EvoPro Racing 0:27:04
54 Neil Van Der Ploeg (Aus) Team Bridgelane 0:27:05
55 Ryan Cavanagh (Aus) St George Continental 0:27:06
56 Harrison Sweeny (Aus) EvoPro Racing 0:27:12
57 Aaron Gate (Aus) EvoPro Racing 0:27:33
58 Tom Scully (NZl) EF Education First Pro Cycling 0:27:48
59 Jonathon Noble (Aus) Pro Racing Sunshine Coast 0:28:02
60 Muhsin Al Redha Misbah (Mas) Team Sapura Cycling 0:29:56
61 Corbin Strong (Aus) St George Continental 0:29:58
62 Patrick Burt (Aus) Drapac Cannondale Holistic 0:32:55
63 Craig Wiggins (Aus) St George Continental 0:32:59
64 Tom Mcfarlane (Aus) KordaMentha Australian Team 0:33:15
65 Sam Bewley (NZl) Mitchelton-Scott 0:33:47
66 David Williams (Aus) KordaMentha Australian Team 0:34:26
67 Angus Lyons (Aus) Oliver’s Real Food Racing 0:34:59
68 Daniel Mclay (GBr) EF Education First Pro Cycling 0:36:41
69 Alex Frame (NZl) Trek-Segafredo 0:42:14
70 Timothy Cameron (Aus) St George Continental 0:42:30
71 Wouter Wippert (Aus) EvoPro Racing 0:42:39
72 Zachary Johnson (Aus) Drapac Cannondale Holistic 0:52:12
73 Shane Archbold (Aus) EvoPro Racing 0:55:58