Jayco Herald Sun Tour 2017 – Stage 1 [Highlights]

February 2, 2017

Jayco Herald Sun Tour 2017 – Stage 1 – Wangaratta – Falls Creek – 174,2 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.

A solo victory by Damien Howson on the 29km climb up Falls Creek on Stage 1 of the Herald Sun Tour has lifted the Orica-Scott rider into a strong position to seal the overall title. Howson and Team Sky’s Kenny Elissonde had attacked from a reduced peloton mid-way through the climb with the Australian getting the better of the Frenchman in the closing kilometres.

Jai Hindley put in the ride of his young career to attack the select group behind the leading duo, which included Chris Froome and Esteban Chaves, to finish in second place as Elissonde faded in the final kilometre. Hindley’s Australian national teammate Michael Storer was next to cross the line in fourth place. Chaves then stole a second over Froome in the sprint for fifth place to put Sky on the back foot in the battle for overall glory.

“It was a dream scenario to have enough time coming through the finish, in the last kay, [with a] nice gap, thinking what salute to do,” Howson said of his thoughts approaching the line and whether to salute or push for every possible second. “It was one of those finishes over a climb, world’s best climbers behind you, to finish it off the way I did I am very happy with that.”

Over the last 18-months, the former U23 time trial world champion Howson has developed as a key climbing domestique alongside Chaves at Orica-Scott and explained that once he was in the position to pursue a personal result, he fully committed knowing it was a move that would also benefit the team.

“That was the tactic and we had so many cards to play, four climbers within a team of seven, that any of use could have won today and we all put it out there,” said Howson. “It all fell in place for myself today, I got that break and it was just a matter of making sure I had the race under control and was 100 per cent confident in myself to win. Once I said I was confident to win, the team put full faith in me as well so I can’t thank the team enough for that.”

Howson leads Hindley by 38 seconds on the general classification with Elissonde at 53 seconds, and Froome at 1:12 minutes in fifth place. Chaves is now ninth, two seconds off Froome.

The result ensures Sky will need to race aggressively if it is to wrest the yellow jersey off Howson’s shoulders and that is what Elissonde is anticipating over the next three days.

“It is nice to be there but I would prefer Chris to win than me to finish third. That is maybe for later in the week,” Elissonde said. “It seems logical that we don’t ride for third place. We will not defend this place for sure so we will try something. Chris is also there to make some effort and there is still space for making some action so it is just the first day.”

Team Sky director sportif Brett Lancaster suggested race radio had affected team communication but admitted Howson was the stronger of the duo on the day.

“It will be very tricky to get over a minute on Howson but it’s bike racing and Froomey is one of the best bike riders in the world. We’ll never give up. It’s not over until the fat lady sings,” he said.

How it unfolded

With the local school kids given the morning off to farewell the riders from the Apex Park start in Wangaratta, the peloton started the first road stage with a cacophony of cowbells still ringing in their ears. A flurry of attacks to get the breakaway established animated the opening stages before an eight-man group was the given the clearance enjoy some non-broadcast TV time.

The breakaway riders were Sjoerd van Ginneken (Roompot-Nederlandse Loterij), Greg Henderson (UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling), former winner Calvin Watson (Aqua Blue Sport), Steve Lampier (JLT Condor), Benjamin Hill (Attaque Team Gusto), Mathew Ross (Drapac-Pat’s Veg), Darcy Ellerm-Norton (St George Continental Cycling Team) and Jacob Kauffmann (NSW Institute of Sport).

At the 10km mark of the 174.2km stage, the eight men had a 50 seconds advantage which then ballooned to 2:50 minutes just two kilometres later. The maximum lead for the day was reached with the breakaway enjoying a tad over seven minutes advantage 20km in.

At the sprint point in Myrtleford, Kauffmann took the points and bonus seconds ahead of van Ginneken. The 29-year-old repeated the trick at the second intermediate sprint point in Bright with van Ginneken again second.

The breakaway’s advantage had fallen to a more controllable gap that hovered between four and five minutes. As the race made its way into the category two Tawonga Gap climb, the eight leaders were just over four minutes ahead on the road. Having missed out on the sprint points, Hill decided to chase the KOM points and duly win the sprint ahead of van Ginneken.

Behind, the bunch was being controlled by Sky and Orica-Scott who had Ian Stannard and Sam Bewley on domestique duty. The peloton chipped away at the breakaway’’s lead on the descent off Tawonga Gap down to the turn around point of Mongans Bridge before heading back up the road to Falls Creek.

On the lower slopes of 29km climb, Ross was the first man from the breakaway to be distanced on the Falls Creek climb, soon to be joined by Hill, Vogt, Ellerm-Norton and Kauffmann. Back in the peloton Luke Rowe, Robert Power and Joe Cooper attacked off the front of the peloton that had closed the gap to the breakaway down to 1:22 minutes. Watson took over at the head of the breakaway as James Oram joined in the chase as the peloton started to splinter and the breakaway knew it was doomed.

The breakaway was trimmed down to the quartet of Henderson, van Ginneken, Lampier and Watson as the peloton continued to close down the gap. A Sky rider lit up the chase and initiated a 14-rider group before Froome made the first of his attacks but it came back together.

Ahead on the road, Lampier decided to leave behind Watson as the last man standings in the breakaway with Elissonde and Howson chasing then catching Lampier mid-way up the climb. The duo were quickly 90 seconds to the good on the peloton who let them ride off in the knowledge both were likely to be sent up the road for when Chaves and Froome attacked. At 10km to go, Elissonde and Howson dropped Lampier and went solo together with the JLT Condor man stuck in the middle of the two leaders and chasing bunch, earning the combativity award.

The duo pressed on with the time gap slowly dropping down to 50 seconds at the 3km to go mark as the attacks started to come thick and fast from the peloton. AS it become clear the peloton was racing for third place and the GC was slipping away, Hindley was the principle aggressor as he launched while Howson attacked Elissonde at the head of the race inside 2km. Chaves and Froome both tried moves as the Australian national team did a ‘TTT’ or sorts, arriving en masse at the finish line as Chaves took the honours of the selective bunch.

Race leader Danny van Poppel was over 30 minutes down on Howson as he turned workhorse for Sky today. The same fate is unlikely to befall Howson who has a strong team backing his bid for victory, improving on his third place overall in 2016. Stage 2 is a relatively flat affair but with the inclusion of the Stanley climb late in the day, another shake-up of the general classification could well be on the cards.

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

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