Jayco Herald Sun Tour 2020 – Stage 3 [FULL RACE]

February 7, 2020

Jayco Herald Sun Tour 2020 – Stage 3 – Bright – Wangaratta : 178,1 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.

Mitchelton-Scott’s Kaden Groves won the bunch-sprint finish to stage 3 of the Herald Sun Tour in Wangaratta, Victoria, on Friday, beating stage 1 winner Alberto Dainese (Sunweb) and Israel Start-Up Nation’s Mihkel Räim.

Dainese’s Sunweb teammate Jai Hindley finished safely in the bunch to retain his overall lead by four seconds from Mitchelton-Scott’s Damien Howson and six seconds over St George Continental’s Sebastian Berwick.

“We knew that EF Pro Cycling were going to be strong; they have a really strong team here, and had Jimmy [Whelan] in the break, so they never had to chase today,” Groves told reporters after his stage win.

“I think I came around the last corner in maybe sixth wheel, or something, but, with 400 metres to go, I was confident that I could come over the top,” he said, having overpowered EF’s Moreno Hofland and Räim in the final couple of hundred metres, with Dainese coming through to take second.

“It was a pretty hard stage today,” Groves added. “It was the stage I’d picked for the week, and I’m not climbing too badly at the moment, so I was pretty happy with the hard pace on the first climb, and I made the front selection.

“After that, Sunweb were really marking us out of the race – and not letting us go in the break – so we had to chase all day,” he explained. “After the final climb before the finish, I managed to drop some of the guys, and I had ‘Yatesy’ and Cam Meyer riding on the front. Although it all came back together, I think I was one of the freshest at the finish.”

Having Simon Yates – the team’s leader who lost six minutes on the final climb to Falls Creek on stage 2 – pulling on the front in the closing kilometres to set Groves up for the sprint was, the 21-year-old Australian admitted, “pretty special”.

“It just shows how much of a good teammate he is, and that all the guys are super happy to ride for each other. I think that’s why the team has so much success, too,” Groves said.

How it unfolded

An uphill start to stage 3 from Bright to Wangaratta saw the race split apart on the first KOM climb, where Team BridgeLane’s Sam Hill led over the top. By the bottom of the descent, with 36km covered, a group of around 55 riders had come together, which included race leader Jai Hindley (Sunweb).

Going clear over the top of the day’s second climb after 60km, eight riders – Michael Rice (ARA Pro Racing Sunshine Coast), Carter Turnbull (Kordamentha Australian National Team), James Whelan (EF Pro Cycling), Israel Start-Up Nation’s Guillaume Boivin, James Oram (Black Spoke Pro Cycling Academy), Ben Hill (Team BridgeLane), and Aevolo pair Charles-Etienne Chretien and Tyler Stites – were allowed to build up a lead of just over four minutes with 100km of the day’s 178.1km stage to go.

Whelan went into the stage 1:11 down on race leader Hindley, and became the race’s virtual leader on the road, and with 87km left to race, he and Turnbull decided to attack their breakaway companions. While first Hill and Boivin, and eventually the two Aevolo riders, Stites and Chretien, were able to join them, the move served to drop Oram and Rice, and the six remaining riders’ lead was built back up to 4:30 with 67km to go.

Inside the last 35km, Stites was no longer able to follow the pace, and then, almost immediately afterwards, Hill, who was in his third break in three days, was forced to pull over at the side of the road suffering with severe cramp – just before the final intermediate sprint in Glenrowan, where he was hoping to try to take more points to secure his green jersey.

The leaders’ advantage started to plummet as the sprinters’ and GC contenders’ teams formed at the front of the bunch, and while Whelan’s vitual leadership slipped away, the quartet – led by Boivin and Whelan – still had just over a minute at the start of the final KOM climb with 18km to race.

After a strong ride in the break, Turnbull dropped away on the climb, and, with 12km to go, the remaining trio was caught by a group led by Mitchelton-Scott, which had managed to go clear of a second group on the climb, with Sunweb sprinter Dainese having missed the boat.

However, it all came back together inside the final 10km, and it was Mitchelton-Scott who came out on top when it came to delivering their sprinter to the line.

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

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