Jayco Herald Sun Tour Wrap

The UCI sanctioned Jayco Herald Sun Tour concluded on Lygon Street on Sunday with young Aussie amateur, Nathan Haas taking out the overall top spot. It was a hard fought race, completed in some pretty tough conditions, I don't think any of the five days was wind or rain free. As tends to happen in short stage races, the attacks were frequent and hard-hitting.

Stage one was won by Rhys Pollock who, along with a select group of other riders, were able to get away from the pack by a significant margin, making the battle for yellow restricted to a small group of about six riders.

Stage two was taken out by virtual unknown Janse Van Rensburg Reinardt, and the beautiful stage three (which meandered its way along the Great Ocean Road, taking a similar route to the 2XU Great Ocean Classic), was won by the big German, who has thighs the size of watermelons, Marcel Kittel.

Saturday was the day we were all looking forward to - the Queens Stage, a 131.6 km route around the Mornington Peninsula, which incorporated three ascents of the short but tough Arthurs Seat. I rode down to the race and took up a position in 'Bay 13', the best place on hill for channelling Tour de France, Mont Ventoux fandom. Well done Rapha and CyclingTips for creating such a great vibe on the climb. We even had our own devil, a fireman and a telletubby to put a smile on the riders faces, which was probably lost pretty quickly with the sight of two men in mankini's running along side them! The stage was taken out by Egor Silin from Russian Pro team Katusha - but more importantly, Nathan Haas rode himself inside out to take out second and put himself into the yellow jersey, just ahead of Jack Bobridge. He said afterward that he "felt a whole new level of pain" on Arthurs Seat to put himself in the box seat.    

It was a windy, eclectic day on Sunday for the final leg - a criterium around the streets of Carlton. Despite the fact that Victoria's and perhaps Australia's biggest cycling event was held on the same day, the Around The Bay in a Day, there were massive crowds out on Lygon street to witness Marcel Kittel adding to his already overflowing trophy cabinet for 2011 by taking the line honours, and Haas taking the overall (as well as the green points classification jersey and the white young riders jersey!).

This win has skyrocketed Haas into the vision of the big Pro teams and I'm sure we'll learn of a new contract for the young Aussie soon enough. The final presentation was great - Haas spoke well and thanked the Genesys team for their hard work, and it was a who's who of Australian cycling, with all the SBS Cycling Central team there (Matty Keenan, Sophie Smith and Anthony Tan) and Gerry Ryan, Australian cycling stalwart and owner of the new GreenEdge international cycling team, making an appearance on the stage. The only downer was Jack Bobridge, who denied Haas's offer of a swig of champagne on the podium, and just couldn't hide the disappointment of coming second!

Check out some photos of the race below - and post a comment to voice your thoughts on the weeks racing.

Tanny! Anthony Tan from SBS Cycling Central

Wesley Sulzberger

Legends of Aussie cycling - Matty Lloyd and Adam Hansen

Jack Bobridge

Nathan Haas

The peloton comes around Bay 13 corner

The finish line on the top of Arthurs Seat

Egor Silin as he cruises to a stage four victory

Haas and Bobridge as they fight for second place on the fourth stage

An exhausted Rhys Pollock knows he's lost yellow as he finishes on Arthurs Seat

Egor Silin being awarded the stage victory

Finishing time of Silin was actually 3:20; pretty fast all things considered

Haas celebrates taking yellow

Fast cornering on Rathdowne Street

Heading up Rathdowne Street

Janse Van Rensburg Reinardt flies onto Lygon Street

Alexander Serov from Russia - I think!

The finish line on Lygon Street

Matty Keenan interviews Gerry Ryan

Marcel Kittel celebrates his stage win

Janse Van Rensburg Reinardt takes out the Most Aggressive Rider jersey

Luke Davison takes the King of the Mountain jersey

Genesys Wealth Advisors Team takes out the teams clasification

Haas celebrates his victory

(Left to Right) Jonas Aaen Jörgensen (3rd), Nathan Haas (1st), Jack Bobridge (2nd)

'Chasing Legends' Movie Night

I’m a big fan of the CyclingTips blog, another Melbourne based cycling blog that features some really great product reviews, interviews, pro-cycling news and best of all, some A-MA-ZING photos of the pro tour. Last Sunday night CyclingTips hosted a movie night at ACMI (Melbourne’s home of film, television and digital art in Federation Square) screening the new Rapha promotional movie “Rapha Rides the Victorian Alps” and the feature was ‘Chasing Legends’, the story of HTC Columbia’s 2009 Tour De France Campaign.

It was really a great night, it was so thrilling to see so many like-minded individuals show up late on a Sunday night to watch a movie about cycling! In fact it was so popular that many didn’t get a seat! It seems there were some dodgy people that failed to realise this was a paid event!

The first film, despite essentially being an extended ad for Rapha, showcased the Victorian Alps beautifully, whilst telling the story of a Victorian cycling stalwart, Malcolm Powell. The film exhibited a beautiful area of our great state and somehow captured a lot of what I love about cycling. The challenge, the road, the open spaces, the cold of the morning, the speed, and the bike itself – an inspiring machine.

‘Chasing Legends’, the feature, was a great watch for anyone that has a love of cycling.



I looked around the crowd – there were no sleepy eyes or distracted faces. Everyone was mesmerised from start to end. Every Tour de France has the drama and characters to equal any Italian opera or Hollywood film, and the 2009 TdF was no exception. The film focussed on the complete dominance of HTC Columbia, their ups and downs as they took Cav all the way to the Champs Elysees, and the story of him picking up six stage wins. This was also the year Armstrong made his return to the tour and the movie touched on the struggles between him, Contador and Andy Schleck. There are also some great grabs from cycling legend, Jens Voigt, who never minces his words.

In summary, top film, great night.

The SBS Cycling Central crew even made it there to do a piece. I saw the TdF number one commentator ‘in waiting’ Matthew Keenan! It was also great to meet the humble CyclingTips blogger, Wade. When he addressed the crowd he truly seemed appreciative of his readers. And CT, if you read this, thanks for putting on a great night and adding so much to the Melbourne cycling landscape.

And if you are one of those that didn’t pay for the flick – cough up!