Report: Brits suffer in Aussie Heat in Stage 1 of Sun Tour

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In brutal conditions that soared past 40 degrees and found the British rider struggling in the heat, Aussie Aaron Donnelly put four years of misery behind him to take victory in the opening road stage of the Jayco Herald Sun Tour and with it a 14 second overall tour lead.

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The 21-year-old NSW rider outsprinted Victorian Calvin Watson (Jayco-VIS) and New Zealand’s Josh Atkins (Grays Online NZ National Team) for the stage honours in Bendigo after a four hour torture test. Donnelly fought back tears after the win as he described a recent past highlighted by injuries and illness. “It’s my first win in a long time. I’ve had a lot of misfortune the last couple of years, a lot of broken bones,” Donnelly said.

After three years with the Australian Institute of Sport, he broke his wrist in April after falling down stairs at the AIS base in Italy, forcing him off the road for 10 weeks and in the end to a new team in Huon Salmon-Genesys Wealth Advisers. “It wasn’t the best three years for me but I’m glad I’ve come out strong from it,” Donnelly said.

In brutal conditions that soared past 40 degrees, Tour director John Trevorrow was forced to purchase every bottle of water from the Redesdale general store after race supplies ran out half way through the 147.7km stage from Sunbury to Bendigo. The heatwave forced organisers to begin the stage two hours earlier than scheduled but it didn’t stop the 108-strong peloton from racing aggressively from the outset.

Defending champion Nathan Haas (Jayco Australian Team) led the charge just after 20km with an 11-man breakaway that included Donnelly and eventual stage runner up Calvin Watson (Jayco VIS). Haas attacked at the top of the first king of the mountain at Mount Macedon to take the points, only to suffer a mechanical midway through the descent as the lead group hit 100km/hr. He rejoined the lead group but the gap to the main peloton dropped quickly and briefly came back together before the pace again matched the searing heat.

Another escape, this time led by New Zealand’s Mike Northey had five riders with a 2min 30sec margin, before Donnelly and teenager Brad Linfield (Degani Bakery Café Academy) bridged across from the peloton. The attack, described by two-time winner Simon Gerrans after the stage as “a bit of a kamikaze move”, paid dividends as the group of seven extended the lead to six minutes. The peloton reacted, led by an Australian national team keen to minimise the damage for their tour fancies Gerrans, Haas and Simon Clarke.

Donnelly attacked again inside the final kilometres to enter the final one-lap circuit of the Tom Flood velodrome in Bendigo with Watson and New Zealand’s Atkins in pursuit. The aggression was reward with the stage win, the leader’s yellow jersey and also the lead in the sprint and best under 23 rider classifications. “I recovered for about 10km (after the first breakaway) and then me and Brad went again and we were sitting about a minute and a half behind the front guys and there was a bit of doubt there for a while,” Donnelly said.

“There was a few times were I thought we should sit up but I saw the cars ahead and could see we were closing the gap. Just before the mountain three of us got away and we drilled it all the way to the finish line.”

Donnelly will carry a 14 second lead over Watson into tomorrow’s 146.6km journey from Mitchelton Winery to Healesville. Yesterday’s prologue winner Jordan Kerby (Suzuki-Bontrager) finished alongside Gerrans and Clarke in 25th place, 2mins 35secs behind the winner.

Haas lost any chance of defending his tour title, finishing with teammate Stuart O’Grady 11 mins 35secs behind. The duo will now ride in support of Gerrans and Clarke who will sit ninth and tenth overall, 2mins 45seconds behind Donnelly, who may well survive in yellow to the finish on Arthurs Seat on Sunday.

First British rider was Richard Handley in 36th while Raleigh’s Aussie Richard Lang, racing in GB colours, was 10th on the stage winning the bunch kick.

Stage 1 – Sunbury to Bendigo
1 Aaron DONNELLY GEN 04:04:36 0:10
2 Calvin WATSON U23 VIS @ 0:06
3 Josh ATKINS NZL @ 0:04
4 Bradley LINFIELD U23 DEG 2:03
5 Alexander MALONE SGR @ st
6 Brock ROBERTS U23 TTR @ 2:15
7 Nathan EARLE GEN @ 2:29
8 Wil WALKER DPC
9 Luke DAVISON SAS
10 Richard LANG U23 GBR Raleigh @ 2:35
11 Robbie HUCKER DPC
12 Bernard SULZBERGER DPC
13 Simon GERRANS AUS
14 Shaun McCARTHY BFL
15 Jai CRAWFORD GEN
16 Simon CLARKE AUS
17 Jasper OCKELOEN TDU
18 Adam PHELAN U23 DEG
19 Darren LAPTHORNE DPC
20 Lachlan NORRIS U23 VIS Raleigh
21 Jack ANDERSON BFL
22 Cal BRITTEN STR
23 James ORAM NZL
23 Sam RUTHERFORD U23 GPM
25 Jordan KERBY U23 SZB
26 Jason SPENCER TRH
27 Patrick LANE VIS
28 Alex CLEMENTS U23 DEG
29 Mark O’BRIEN SAS
30 Oliver KENT SPARK TTR
31 Karl EVANS BFL @ 2:44
32 Mathew MARSHALL TDU @ 5:03
33 Westley GOUGH U23 NZL
34 Jay BOURKE TTR
35 Nathan ELLIOTT TTR
36 Richard HANDLEY RPH
37 Joseph LEWIS GPM @ 5:07
38 Tom SCULLY U23 NZL Raleigh @ 6:15
39 Joseph COOPER GEN
40 Jack BECKINSALE DEG @ 7:31
41 Chris JORY GPM
42 Michael CUPITT BFL
43 Thomas HAMILTON VIS @ 8:38
44 Rico ROGERS STR
45 Thomas PALMER DPC
46 Marc WILLIAMS BFL
47 Greg HENDERSON NZL
48 Rhys POLLOCK DPC
49 Tom LEAPER TRH
50 Damien HOWSON U23 DEG
51 Jay McCARTHY AUS
52 Mike NORTHEY NZL
53 Simon YATES GBR
54 Alistair SLATER U23 GBR
55 Cameron BAYLY STR
56 Ben GRENDA PGN @ 10:46
57 Neil VAN DER PLOEG STR
58 Pat SHAW U23 GEN @ 11:27
59 Stuart SMITH STR @ 11:32
60 Stuart O’GRADY AUS
61 Nathan HAAS AUS
62 Sam WITMITZ U23 Raleigh
63 Sam HORGAN BFL
64 Edward WHITE U23 GPM
65 Dean WINDSOR SZB @ 13:03
66 Michael CROSBIE TRH @ 13:18
67 Ian RICHARDS TDU @ 15:51
68 Edward LAVERACK U23 RPH
69 Julian DEAN VIS
70 Luke GRIVELL-MELLOR RPH
71 Anthony GIACOPPO GEN
72 Campbell FLAKEMORE U23 DEG
73 Robert John McCARTHY U23 SAS
74 Sam SPOKES U23 VIS
75 Michael CUMING U23 RPH
76 Jayden COPP U23 TDU
77 Nick WOODS U23 TDU
78 Brendan JOHNSTON U23 SZB @ 24:04
79 Sam McCALLUM PGN
80 Geoff STRAUB SGR
81 Andrew ROE SAS
82 Scott LAW GPM @ 27:04
83 David KELLY TRH @27:15
84 Oliver MARTIN U23 PGN @ 31:02
85 Mitchell LOVELOCK-FAY SZB @ 34:03
86 Alexander SMYTHE SGR
87 Alex EDMONSON SAS
88 Thomas DONALD STR
89 Dylan HATELY U23 TTR
90 Stuart SHAW SZB
91 Henry MORLEY SGR
92 Peter SMITH SGR
93 Shannon JOHNSON TRH
94 Ryan MACANALLY TRH
95 Samuel LOWE U23 GBR
96 Graham BRIGGS GBR Raleigh
97 Aaron BUGGLE RPH
98 Matthew GOSS AUS @ 34:08
99 Kristian HOUSE RPH
100 Jack MATTHEWS U23 PGN
101 Jake McMAHON U23 PGN
102 Rowan DEVER TTR
103 Josh TAYLOR GPM
104 Dan McCONNELL U23 SZB @ 37:30

Riders dropping out
Christopher LATHAM U23 GBR

OVERALL
1 Aaron DONNELLY GEN 04:09:57.00
2 Calvin WATSON U23 VIS @:14.00
3 Josh ATKINS NZL @:17.00
4 Bradley LINFIELD U23 DEG @2:20.00
5 Luke DAVISON SAS @ 2:38.00
6 Alexander MALONE SGR
7 Jordan KERBY U23 SZB @ 2:39.00
8 Adam PHELAN U23 DEG @2:44.00
9 Simon GERRANS AUS @ 2:45.00
10 Simon CLARKE

 

 

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