Jayco Herald Sun Tour 2017 – Stage 2 [Highlights]

February 3, 2017

Jayco Herald Sun Tour 2017 – Stage 2 – Mt Beauty – Beechworth – 165,6 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.

Team Sky’s Luke Rowe enjoyed his first victory since 2012 on a day that almost saw the Herald Sun Tour blow apart and the breakaway survive on stage 2 into Beechworth. Rowe won alone, crossing the line more than 30 seconds ahead of Conor Dunne (Aqua Blue Sport) and Tanner Putt (UnitedHealthcare) who were second and third on the stage.

Rowe’s win was the second for Team Sky at this year’s race after Danny Van Poppel’s victory in the prologue.

A mechanical problem for race leader Damien Howson at the base of the final climb, with 20km to go, on stage 2 could have spelled disaster as Sky looked to capitalise and move Chris Froome up the general classification. Howson had his Orica-Scott teammates drag him back to the head of the reduced peloton, making contact with the Froome group inside the final kilometre to ensure his race lead remained intact.

“There weren’t too many words that were spoken. I think we all knew what we had to do,” Howson said after collecting the yellow jersey following the fight to keep his lead. “It was a matter of giving it our all and hoping we didn’t come up short which obviously didn’t result and I can’t be more grateful for what everyone has done for me today.”

Post-stage, Froome confirmed that as the race was in “full swing” and that there was no waiting around for Howson to recover from his misfortune.

“For us back in the bunch, obviously we wanted to shake things up on the general classification so we hit the climb hard,” Froome said of the stage finale. “Halfway up the climb, we heard that Howson had punctured but by then the race was in full swing and there was no stopping.”

There were conflicting comments from stage winner Rowe post-stage though as he explained that he heard over the radio the command to ‘stop riding’ but he was unsure of the specifics.

“It sounded quite chaotic. I am not exactly sure what happened but I know Damien was behind at one point and I heard over the radio at one point, ‘stop riding’ because it is not really a classy way to take the win and rather try and do it on another stage on a climb,” he said. “I think they knocked it off and it came back together and good on Damo because he is a great guy. It is great to see him in the jersey and I am glad he kept it to be honest.”

For Rowe, the winning plan was hatched the night prior to the stage after Sky lost out to Orica-Scott on Falls Creek and to prove himself as the strongest rider on the day capped it off despite the uncertainty over what occurred when Howson punctured.

“Last night, I said I wanted to go in the breakaway because it could stay today. It wasn’t by coincidence or chance. I was really trying for the breakaway, it was my goal for the day so I did that,” said Rowe. “Then it was just a case of ten guys decking it out and on a climb like that, I don’t want to sound too big headed, on a climb like the strongest guy is going to win and it came down to that. I took the opportunity.”

A beautiful start in Mt Beauty

The fast rolling roads out of Mt Beauty saw riders reach speeds of 70kph as the break attempted to form with Aqua Blue Sports and UnitedHealthcare the chief animators. The attacking and aggressive start continued for the opening kilometres as the peloton approached the first KOM of the day at Mullagong Rd.

Ben Hill took the KOM points with Joe Cooper second and Larry Warbasse in third which was enough for the Attaque Gusto man to take the lead in the classification.

Steve Lampier (JLT Condor) and Rowe launched a two-man move on the descent off the climb. Tim Ariesen (Roompot-Nederlandse Loterij), Robbie Hucker (IsoWhey Sports SwissWellness), Conor Dunne (Aqua Blue Sports), and Josh Taylor (NSW Institute of Sport) set off in pursuit of Lampier and Rowe with points leader Jake Kauffman (NSW Institute of Sport) trying to catch on with the peloton one minute behind the leaders.

The escapees were almost reeled in with the peloton deciding it wasn’t happy with Rowe’s presence up the road. At 30km in, the duo were caught by the early quartet of Arriense, Hucker, Dunne, and Taylor who had rolled the dice again 34km into the stage. UnitedHealthcare’s Tanner Putt successfully bridged across to the front group of seven riders, dragging Nick Katsonis (Drapac-Pat’s Veg) and Alexey Tsatevich (Gazprom-Rusvelo) with him.

The trio ensured a 10-man breakaway for the day, with a nature break in the peloton signalling its comfort with the composition of the leaders who had pulled out a four-minute lead. At the first intermediate sprint, won by Kauffman, the gap to the peloton was 4:53 minutes which would remain consistent for most of the day. There was no contest at the second sprint with the breakaway letting Kauffmann take the maximum prize and secure a second day in green.

The breakaway’s advantage hovered around the five-minute mark with both groups of the road knowing the stage winner would be decided by what the time gap was at the Stanley climb.

Rolling the dice

Rowe decided to roll the dice for his chance to take the win as the breakaway started to splinter in approach to the climb and Dunne punctured. Putt and Hucker joined Rowe at the head of the race with the leader’s advantage down to a touch over three minutes. While the four leaders, Dunne had re-joined his breakaway companions, were fighting for the stage win knowing they had a significant buffer, there was chaos in the chasing peloton.

A flat front tyre for Howson, just before the climb, saw Orica-Scott commit its team and Mitch Docker his wheel to keep the overall aspirations of the race leader alive. Froome, meanwhile, had attacked and closed the gap by several minutes to have the breakaway in his sights. Over the radio, Sky was reportedly told not to ride with a group of seven riders bridging up to Froome who had slowed his pace. In that group was Kenny Elissonde, Ian Bibby (JLT Condor), Ben Dyball (St George) and a KordaMentha quartet.

Behind, Orica-Scott had fully committed to Howson with Power, Esteban Chaves and Simon Gerrans all turning domestique for a rider more common with the reversal knowing the race was slipping away.

While Rowe was forging ahead on his own down the fast descent into Beechworth, the eight-man ‘Froome group’ was also bombing on and with 3km to race were 27 seconds off Rowe with Howson’s group a further 18 seconds back.

Rowe enjoyed his solo victory as Dunne then Putt crossed the line with Hucker and Lampier next to follow. Howson’s group made contact with Froome’s group inside the final kilometre and with a belly full of rage, Howson then decided to sprint for the line. A dropped chain was a further slice of drama for the day but the Australian and his teammates had done enough to secure the lead.

A late attack inside the final few hundred metres saw Cam Meyer steal vital seconds to move up to fourth overall with final changes to the general classification likely to come on Sunday’s circuit around Kinglake.

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

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