Santos Festival of Cycling 2022 – Stage 2 [FULL STAGE]

January 28, 2022

Santos Festival of Cycling 2022 – Stage 2 – Mount Lofty – Woodside : 112,9 km

The Santos Festival of Cycling, which includes four days of racing across South Australia for the women and men, is the National Road Series replacement for the cancelled Tour Down Under, which was last held as a WorldTour event for men. The multi-day event provides an opportunity for the top domestic racers to line up alongside some of the nation’s WorldTour professionals who returned home for the Australian summer. The domestic event will feature three-day stage races for elite women and elite men, as well as men’s and women’s criteriums in Victoria Park.

Criterium winner Blake Quick (InForm TMX MAKE) continued his winning run of the Australian season on stage 2 of the men’s race at the Santos Festival of Cycling, taking the sprint in Woodside after the bunch caught a late attack on the final run into the line.

Jensen Plowright, racing for Team Westpac in his Groupama-FDJ colours, crossed the line in second place but was penalised for an irregular sprint and relegated to the back of the group, so Cameron Scott (ARA Pro Racing Sunshine Coast) was awarded second and King of the Mountain jersey wearer Ben Hill (CCS Cycling) took third.

“My team do a really good job of keeping me out of the wind and dropping me off at the perfect time,” said Quick, who has also swept up the U23 Australian road race title and Lexus of Blackburn Bay Crits this month.

“It worked out really well at the end. We had a few boys riding when it was coming down, then right at the end, probably 900m to go, when Rudy [Porter] launched, BJ [Brenton Jones] was on him. When BJ went it was just so hard, no one was going anywhere and we just finished in the same position we started.”

The relegation of Plowright makes it the second day in a row where a penalty has had a big impact on the results board. On Thursday stage 1 solo winner and overall leader James Whelan was stripped of one minute of his hard-earned gap due to a controversial penalty for slipstreaming after an early bike problem.

Hill’s third place, and the time bonuses that go with it, also mean Whelan had a couple of seconds shaved from his lead, with the rider from Canberra now in second place 25 seconds back.

While Whelan finished with the lead bunch along with key rivals Luke Durbridge (BikeExchange-Jayco), Brendan Johnston (Giant Racing) and Chris Harper (Villawood), there were bigger shifts in GC behind them. Luke Plapp (Team Garmin Australia) slipped nearly two minutes back after suffering a late flat when the pace was on in pursuit of a break.

“About 15km to go the front wheel punctured and I almost lost it around the corner so it was a long chase back,” Plapp said. “We did what we could but couldn’t get there. It’s a bit of a shame we are out of the race [GC] now, but Willunga tomorrow and we go for the stage honours.”

There are now 13 riders within 33 seconds of the lead ahead of the final stage to the top of Willunga Hill, setting up a thrilling finale, with Richie Porte also hoping to end the race with a final victory.

How it unfolded

The 112.9km stage started at the top of Mount Lofty, rolling down the winding road before the flag dropped for racing to begin.

Wearing his Jumbo-Visma colours Rohan Dennis (Villawood) struck out early with Callum Scotson (BikeExchange-Jayco) on his wheel but it was a short lived attack.

KOM jersey wearer Hill was at the front in the race for the first mountain points of the day, with nearly 90 km to go, then the key break of the day formed quickly and already with a minute gap with 80 kilometres to go.

It included Ben Dyball (Aus II) – who wore the sprint jersey at the end of the day after taking the Echunga points, former Qhubeka NextHash rider Dylan Sunderland (Team Westpac), Carter Bettles (ARA Pro Racing Sunshine Coast), Torben Partridge-Madsen (CCS Cycling), Tom Chester (Rauland Development) and Robert Parker (Onyva Racing).

The group of six held firm as the race headed into the four laps of the finishing circuit but ultimately became a group of three, with Dyball, Sunderland and Bettles proving too strong for the rest of their companions at about 30km to go.

With a gap of about two minutes and no particularly dangerous riders on the overall, there wasn’t too much pressure on Team BridgeLane to reel them back in, but others clearly did want to.

Team Garmin Australia was working at the front, as was InForm TMX MAKE, so that by around 12 kilometres to go the gap had dropped to about a minute. Then Dennis put a nail in the coffin with a power surge to help Harper’s GC position.

The group were caught during the last lap but it wasn’t the last attack, with 18 year-old Dylan George (Team Garmin Australia) trying to salvage the day for the team. He clipped off the front late and held the gap for a while but was swept up tantalisingly close to the line on the long straight run into the finish.

That left it up up to sprinters to fight for victory and it was another chance that Quick.

Results :
1 Blake Quick (Aus) Inform TMX Make 2:29:52
2 Cameron Scott (Aus) ARA Pro Racing Sunshine Coast
3 Ben Hill (Aus) CCS Cycling
4 Nick White (Aus) Team Bridgelane
5 Declan Trezise (Aus) ARA Pro Racing Sunshine Coast
6 Dylan George (Aus) Team Garmin Australia
7 Chris Harper (Aus) Villawood
8 Brendan Johnston (Aus) Giant Racing Team
9 Luke Durbridge (Aus) BikeExchange-Jayco
10 Oscar Chamberlain (Aus) CCS Cycling
11 Jason Thomason (Aus) Butterfields p/b Van d’Am Racing
12 Brenton Jones (Aus) Inform TMX Make
13 Brendon Davids (RSA) Oliver’s Racing
14 Tasman Nankervis (Aus) St George Continental Cycling Team
15 James Whelan (Aus) Team Bridgelane
16 Carter Turnbull (Aus) Inform TMX Make
17 Kane Richards (Aus) ARA Pro Racing Sunshine Coast
18 Dylan Sunderland (Aus) Team Westpac
19 Cameron Rogers (Aus) BikeExchange-Jayco
20 Joshua Wilson (Aus) VA Pro Racing
21 Steven Robb (Aus) Cycle House Racing
22 Rudy Porter (Aus) Inform TMX Make
23 Jesse Ewart (Aus) Aus II
24 Alastair Mackellar (Aus) Team Westpac
25 Dalton Stretton (Aus) VA Pro Racing
26 Drew Morey (Aus) Team Bridgelane
27 Stinus Kaempe (Aus) Team Westpac
28 Dylan Hopkins (Aus) Aus II
29 Tim Roe (Aus) Villawood
30 Nathan Earle (Aus) Aus II
31 Tyler Tomkinson (Aus) Team Garmin Australia
32 Ben Carman (Aus) Nero Continental
33 Matt Dinham (Aus) Team Bridgelane
34 Cameron Fraser (Aus) Onyva Racing
35 Cameron Meyer (Aus) BikeExchange-Jayco
36 Jean-Pierre van der Merwe (Aus) Team Bridgelane
37 Jensen Plowright (Aus) Team Westpac
38 Carter Bettles (Aus) ARA Pro Racing Sunshine Coast 0:00:25
39 Richie Porte (Aus) Team Garmin Australia
40 Rohan Dennis (Aus) Villawood 0:00:34
41 Luke Britten (Aus) Rauland Development Cycling Team 0:00:39
42 Iven Bennett (Aus) Nero Continental
43 Matson McAdam (Aus) Ncmg Criterion Racing
44 Connor Reardon (Aus) St George Continental Cycling Team
45 Hugo Thompson (Aus) Ncmg Criterion Racing
46 Jesse Norton (Aus) Giant Racing Team
47 Will Moloney-Morton (Aus) Cycle House Racing
48 William Golding (Aus) Onyva Racing
49 Sam Golding (Aus) Butterfields p/b Van d’Am Racing
50 Campbell Palmer (Aus) Team Westpac
51 Zack Gilmore (Aus) ARA Pro Racing Sunshine Coast
52 Hamish mac Kenzie (Aus) BikeExchange-Jayco
53 Riley Fleming (Aus) St George Continental Cycling Team
54 Patrick Saccani_williams (Aus) VA Pro Racing
55 Jordan Villani (Aus) Team Westpac
56 Jacob Langham (Aus) VA Pro Racing
57 Nick Pedlar (Aus) Ncmg Criterion Racing
58 Samuel Hill (Aus) Nero Continental
59 Timothy Cameron (Aus) Rauland Development Cycling Team
60 Leo Yip (HKg) Nero Continental
61 Mackenzie Edwardson (Aus) CCS Cycling 0:00:48
62 Liam Walsh (Aus) Giant Racing Team 0:00:50
63 Daniel Luke (Aus) Oliver’s Racing
64 Connor Sens (Aus) Team Westpac
65 Chris Luxton (Aus) Villawood
66 Blake Agnolletto (Aus) Aus II
67 Aiden Buttgieg (Aus) Nero Continental
68 Tynan Shannon (Aus) VA Pro Racing
69 Matthew Connan (Aus) Cycling Development Foundation
70 Benjamin Spenceley (Aus) Rauland Development Cycling Team
71 Brendon Green (Aus) Cycling Development Foundation
72 Joseph Inglis (Aus) Cycling Development Foundation
73 Callum Scotson (Aus) BikeExchange-Jayco
74 Jack Marshall (Aus) Cycle House Racing
75 Edwin Britts (Aus) Oliver’s Racing
76 Terance Hore (Aus) Cycle House Racing
77 Griffin Knight (Aus) Cycle House Racing 0:01:24
78 Kael Thomas (Aus) Butterfields p/b Van d’Am Racing 0:01:37
79 Sam Greenwood (Aus) Rauland Development Cycling Team 0:01:39
80 Oli Stenning (Aus) ARA Pro Racing Sunshine Coast 0:01:52
81 Benjamin Dyball (Aus) Aus II
82 Luke Plapp (Aus) Team Garmin Australia 0:01:57
83 Zac Marriage (Aus) Team Garmin Australia
84 Olivar Anderson (Aus) Villawood 0:02:08
85 Curtis Dowdell (Aus) Butterfields p/b Van d’Am Racing
86 Willis Lienert (Aus) Onyva Racing 0:02:10
87 Jack Schouten (Aus) Onyva Racing
88 Lachlan Harrigan (Aus) Onyva Racing
89 Spencer Evans (Aus) Giant Racing Team
90 Cooper Sayers (Aus) Nero Continental 0:04:24
91 Justin Gassner (Aus) Villawood
92 Fintan Conway (Aus) Oliver’s Racing
93 Tristan Saunders (Aus) Inform TMX Make
94 Joe Cooper (NZl) Giant Racing Team
95 Alistair Christie-Johnson (Aus) Team Bridgelane
96 Cameron Bayly (Aus) Villawood
97 Oliver Bledyn (Aus) Butterfields p/b Van d’Am Racing
98 Matthew Bird (Aus) Cycle House Racing 0:05:31
99 Cameron Roberts (Aus) CCS Cycling
100 William Thomas (Aus) Cycling Development Foundation
101 Torben Partridge-Madsen (Aus) CCS Cycling
102 Daniel Potter (Aus) Cycling Development Foundation 0:05:33
103 Tom Lynch (Aus) Rauland Development Cycling Team
104 Robert Parker (Aus) Onyva Racing
105 Lachlan Miller (Aus) Team Garmin Australia
106 Angus Calder (Aus) St George Continental Cycling Team 0:05:36
107 Graeme Frislie (Aus) Aus II 0:05:37
108 Conor Leahy (Aus) Inform TMX Make
109 Kurt Eather (Aus) Oliver’s Racing
110 Sam Jenner (Aus) Team Bridgelane
111 Thomas Bolton (Aus) Oliver’s Racing
112 Angus Miller (Aus) Butterfields p/b Van d’Am Racing 0:09:01
113 Angus Lyons (Aus) ARA Pro Racing Sunshine Coast 0:10:32
114 Dylan Lindsey (Aus) Ncmg Criterion Racing 0:11:02
115 Tom Chester (Aus) Rauland Development Cycling Team 0:12:12
116 Josh Duffy (Aus) Inform TMX Make
117 Kai Chapman (Aus) Oliver’s Racing
DNF Thomas Clark (Aus) Cycle House Racing
DNF Dylan McKenna (Aus) Nero Continental
DNF Scott Reynolds (Aus) Ncmg Criterion Racing
DNF Glenn Mathieske (Aus) Ncmg Criterion Racing
DNF Adam Maccan (Aus) VA Pro Racing
DNF Callum Pearce (Aus) Onyva Racing
DNF Luke Roper (Aus) Rauland Development Cycling Team

General Classification after Stage 2 :
1 James Whelan (Aus) Team Bridgelane 5:12:12
2 Ben Hill (Aus) CCS Cycling 0:00:25
3 Matt Dinham (Aus) Team Bridgelane 0:00:27
4 Brendan Johnston (Aus) Giant Racing Team 0:00:28
5 Luke Durbridge (Aus) BikeExchange-Jayco 0:00:32
6 Brendon Davids (RSA) Oliver’s Racing 0:00:33
7 Chris Harper (Aus) Villawood
8 Kane Richards (Aus) ARA Pro Racing Sunshine Coast
9 Alastair Mackellar (Aus) Team Westpac
10 Rudy Porter (Aus) Inform TMX Make
11 Carter Turnbull (Aus) Inform TMX Make
12 Drew Morey (Aus) Team Bridgelane
13 Tim Roe (Aus) Villawood
14 Ben Carman (Aus) Nero Continental
15 Jean-Pierre van der Merwe (Aus) Team Bridgelane 0:00:52
16 Luke Plapp (Aus) Team Garmin Australia 0:02:30
17 Tasman Nankervis (Aus) St George Continental Cycling Team 0:04:02
18 Dalton Stretton (Aus) VA Pro Racing
19 Blake Quick (Aus) Inform TMX Make 0:04:19
20 Cameron Scott (Aus) ARA Pro Racing Sunshine Coast 0:04:23
21 Connor Reardon (Aus) St George Continental Cycling Team 0:04:25
22 Dylan Sunderland (Aus) Team Westpac 0:04:26
23 Oscar Chamberlain (Aus) CCS Cycling 0:04:29
24 Brenton Jones (Aus) Inform TMX Make
25 Nick White (Aus) Team Bridgelane
26 Declan Trezise (Aus) ARA Pro Racing Sunshine Coast
27 Jason Thomason (Aus) Butterfields p/b Van d’Am Racing
28 Jensen Plowright (Aus) Team Westpac
29 Joshua Wilson (Aus) VA Pro Racing
30 Stinus Kaempe (Aus) Team Westpac
31 Dylan Hopkins (Aus) Aus II
32 Nathan Earle (Aus) Aus II
33 Jesse Ewart (Aus) Aus II
34 Cameron Meyer (Aus) BikeExchange-Jayco
35 Rohan Dennis (Aus) Villawood 0:04:38
36 Carter Bettles (Aus) ARA Pro Racing Sunshine Coast 0:04:48
37 Mackenzie Edwardson (Aus) CCS Cycling 0:04:53
38 Richie Porte (Aus) Team Garmin Australia 0:04:54
39 Iven Bennett (Aus) Nero Continental 0:05:08
40 Matson McAdam (Aus) Ncmg Criterion Racing
41 Hamish mac Kenzie (Aus) BikeExchange-Jayco
42 Will Moloney-Morton (Aus) Cycle House Racing
43 Jacob Langham (Aus) VA Pro Racing
44 Luke Britten (Aus) Rauland Development Cycling Team
45 Zack Gilmore (Aus) ARA Pro Racing Sunshine Coast
46 Jesse Norton (Aus) Giant Racing Team
47 Jordan Villani (Aus) Team Westpac
48 Samuel Hill (Aus) Nero Continental
49 Timothy Cameron (Aus) Rauland Development Cycling Team
50 Daniel Luke (Aus) Oliver’s Racing 0:05:19
51 Connor Sens (Aus) Team Westpac
52 Liam Walsh (Aus) Giant Racing Team
53 Chris Luxton (Aus) Villawood
54 Joseph Inglis (Aus) Cycling Development Foundation
55 Edwin Britts (Aus) Oliver’s Racing
56 Steven Robb (Aus) Cycle House Racing 0:05:39
57 Conor Leahy (Aus) Inform TMX Make 0:06:10
58 Benjamin Dyball (Aus) Aus II 0:06:14
59 Oli Stenning (Aus) ARA Pro Racing Sunshine Coast 0:06:21
60 Olivar Anderson (Aus) Villawood 0:06:37
61 Curtis Dowdell (Aus) Butterfields p/b Van d’Am Racing
62 Cooper Sayers (Aus) Nero Continental 0:08:26
63 Alistair Christie-Johnson (Aus) Team Bridgelane
64 Callum Scotson (Aus) BikeExchange-Jayco 0:08:46
65 Tristan Saunders (Aus) Inform TMX Make 0:08:53
66 Joe Cooper (NZl) Giant Racing Team
67 Tyler Tomkinson (Aus) Team Garmin Australia 0:09:42
68 Robert Parker (Aus) Onyva Racing 0:10:02
69 Thomas Bolton (Aus) Oliver’s Racing 0:10:06
70 Riley Fleming (Aus) St George Continental Cycling Team 0:10:24
71 Tynan Shannon (Aus) VA Pro Racing 0:10:32
72 Cameron Rogers (Aus) BikeExchange-Jayco 0:10:38
73 Patrick Saccani_williams (Aus) VA Pro Racing 0:11:17
74 Leo Yip (HKg) Nero Continental
75 Blake Agnolletto (Aus) Aus II 0:11:28
76 Benjamin Spenceley (Aus) Rauland Development Cycling Team
77 Aiden Buttgieg (Aus) Nero Continental
78 Matthew Connan (Aus) Cycling Development Foundation
79 Jack Marshall (Aus) Cycle House Racing
80 Angus Lyons (Aus) ARA Pro Racing Sunshine Coast 0:11:29
81 Zac Marriage (Aus) Team Garmin Australia 0:11:42
82 Jack Schouten (Aus) Onyva Racing 0:12:48
83 Spencer Evans (Aus) Giant Racing Team
84 Justin Gassner (Aus) Villawood 0:15:02
85 Cameron Bayly (Aus) Villawood
86 Sam Jenner (Aus) Team Bridgelane 0:15:45
87 William Thomas (Aus) Cycling Development Foundation 0:16:09
88 Torben Partridge-Madsen (Aus) CCS Cycling
89 Josh Duffy (Aus) Inform TMX Make 0:16:41
90 Sam Greenwood (Aus) Rauland Development Cycling Team 0:19:38
91 Dylan George (Aus) Team Garmin Australia 0:19:42
92 Hugo Thompson (Aus) Ncmg Criterion Racing 0:20:58
93 Sam Golding (Aus) Butterfields p/b Van d’Am Racing
94 Campbell Palmer (Aus) Team Westpac
95 Nick Pedlar (Aus) Ncmg Criterion Racing
96 Terance Hore (Aus) Cycle House Racing 0:21:09
97 Dylan Lindsey (Aus) Ncmg Criterion Racing 0:21:40
98 Griffin Knight (Aus) Cycle House Racing 0:21:43
99 Willis Lienert (Aus) Onyva Racing 0:22:29
100 Lachlan Harrigan (Aus) Onyva Racing
101 Cameron Fraser (Aus) Onyva Racing 0:23:03
102 William Golding (Aus) Onyva Racing 0:23:42
103 Brendon Green (Aus) Cycling Development Foundation 0:23:53
104 Tom Chester (Aus) Rauland Development Cycling Team 0:24:29
105 Kael Thomas (Aus) Butterfields p/b Van d’Am Racing 0:24:40
106 Lachlan Miller (Aus) Team Garmin Australia 0:25:15
107 Matthew Bird (Aus) Cycle House Racing 0:25:50
108 Cameron Roberts (Aus) CCS Cycling
109 Daniel Potter (Aus) Cycling Development Foundation 0:25:52
110 Kurt Eather (Aus) Oliver’s Racing 0:25:56
111 Fintan Conway (Aus) Oliver’s Racing 0:27:27
112 Oliver Bledyn (Aus) Butterfields p/b Van d’Am Racing
113 Tom Lynch (Aus) Rauland Development Cycling Team 0:28:36
114 Angus Calder (Aus) St George Continental Cycling Team 0:28:39
115 Graeme Frislie (Aus) Aus II 0:28:40
116 Angus Miller (Aus) Butterfields p/b Van d’Am Racing 0:32:04
117 Kai Chapman (Aus) Oliver’s Racing 0:35:15