@sutty: Most probably, yes. As seen last year, less selective stages made for an open race, but maybe we will see more attacks this time
@baia: If the racing is similar to last year, he should have chances to go for another good result!
@Ian: Thanks, mate. What can i say, i will do my best to make your job as hard as possible Imo, there will be better screens in the next event than my latest collection, so feel free to check out and make your decision
@Froome: Well, Earle's fans won't have the same opinion, I guess. Maybe the first day (with the first of three hilly stages) shows if Earle or others are in best shape..
Tour of Great South (Day 1, Crit and hilly 63km RR)
The Tour of the Great South Coast kicks off in Mount Gambier, with two stages featuring this beautiful piece of land: a flat criterium is followed by a hilly circuit race around the Blue Lake.
It ain't the toughest hilly profile though, so it will be interesting to see, if there is a chance for some first gaps - like last year, where a group of 8 riders established a 40"-gap eventually!
STAGE 1 - MT GAMBIER CRITERIUM/
Like in 2013, the first crit would end in a bunch sprint! So no surprise today:
Huon pulled the break of the day back and also does a nice leadout (Beckinsale) for Giacoppo, with Neil Van der Ploeg right at his wheel as the sprint kicks off!
It's a dominating and well deserved win for Anthony Giacoppo! The perfect work by his teammates and his outstanding sprint make for a great start into this race for Giacoppo, who disappointed in Geelong a few days back.
Van der Ploeg grabs 2nd (also for valuable bonus seconds), same goes for surprising 3rd Will Walker for Drapac! Both are amongst the top-favorites for the GC here, so bonus seconds are welcome..
STAGE 2 - MT GAMBIER ROAD RACE/
An eventful road race around the iconic "Blue Lake", with several riders trying to break clear from the bunch during the 60km.
But we're already in the final lap (6km) and all escapees have been caught in the meantime.. Hucker (Drapac) is the first GC-favorite to attack the bunch!
He's joined by 6 more riders just a few moments later, and this group of 7 GC-contenders established a 25"-gap on the peloton with only 3.5km remaining:
Will they manage to hold off the now hard chasing bunch?
It looks like they can! The sprint kicks off with the leading group still those 25" ahead of the pack:
Wurf and Cupitt (winner of this stage one year ago) jump away from the others in the group with an impressive acceleration, it seems the stage-win will be decided between those two..
Yes, it's a stage-win for Cameron Wurf! He struggled so far in the season, but couldn't have asked for a better start into this Great South Coast Tour!
Cupitt 2nd, Walker with another 3rd a few metres behind (same time though), ahead of top-favorite Earle as 4th.
The peloton finishes 24" behind, with Van der Ploeg crossing the line as 8th. A rather small, but of course important gap for those 7 in the leading group.
So Wurf also takes the race-lead as Giacoppo and VdP lost those 24" today. Walker 2nd thanks to his bonus seconds in both stages, ahead of Cupitt and Earle.
With only two hilly stages remaining (both weren't selective at all - at least in 2013), Wurf's lead ain't too comfortable tough: with 10-6-4-2-1 bonus seconds rewarded for the stage's Top-5, sprinters like Giacoppo definitely do have a chance to attack those stage-racers.
Thanks for your support, guys! Earle, Cupitt, Semple.. seems we have several riders to cheer for
Tour of Great South (Day 2, Crit and hilly 94km RR)
Kicking off with a flat crit in Portland, the road race to Casterton is a great chance for the puncheurs to create some more gaps, just like top-favorites like Earle, Cupitt and race-leader Wurf did yesterday.. on the other hand, the stage wasn't selective at all back in 2013. How will it go this year?
STAGE 3 - PORTLAND CRITERIUM/
It ain't the tough crit like last season, where several GC-contenders (Cupitt, Haig, Paul VdP) lost all ambitions due to a nasty mass crash on slicky roads.
Today it's "simply" the expected bunch sprint with no splits in the pack.. Huon and Drapac set up trains for Giacoppo and Davison, while also Neil VdP and Jones (GPM) are in the mix by now..
Both top-sprinters Giacoppo and Davison struggle though, as it seems to be a fight between Beckinsale, Jones and VdP!
The latter enters the finishing stretch with a small disadvantage - can he still repeat his stage-win from last year here in Portland?
Yes, he can! Neil Van der Ploeg celebrates his first stage-win in the Great South Coast, ahead of Beckinsale, Jones and top-favorites Davison and Giacoppo.
So VdP does not only take out this crit, but starts to re-gain the lost seconds from yesterday's hilly race, jumping back into Top-10 with 18" behind still leading Wurf.
STAGE 4 - HEYWOOD TO CASTERTON ROAD RACE/
Let's go straight into the final 15km of the hilly road race then.
A group of 3 riders attacked the bunch halfway through the stage, overtook an early escaping group and leads by 1'27" on the peloton, which is already to be seen in the back though:
Spencer (Charter), Taylor (GPM) and defending race-winner Hall (Satalyst)! With Semple sitting in the GC's Top-10, it seems like Hall will go for more surprising race-tactics this year!
Like last year, the road race won't be selective at all - a quite disappointing fact, that may lead to change of route in 2015..
..anyway: the leading three still hold on to a gap on the final short climb close to the line, but Subway works hard to pull them back right in time!
At least it's a tricky finish, right after a short descent.. Subway Cycling worked hard today and will also feature the stage-winner:
David Edwards! The domestique takes out the stage for an unexpected win, ahead of Drapac's Pollock and Sulzberger..
But what he (and his teammates) didn't - and couldn't - notice, actually: their captain and race-leader Wurf hits the gravel on this tricky descent!
Horrible news.. will he be back on the bike?
He will! And Wurf also fights hard to finish within the same time as the peloton.. it's a close decision, but in the end, he finishes as today's second to last (132nd) and - most important - with the same time as teammate Edwards!
So Wurf remains in the GC-lead ahead of Walker and Cupitt, with no major change in the Top-10. Except of VdP dropping to 11th thanks to Freiberg (one of today's escapees) taking bonus seconds during the race.
@sutty/baia: Yap, a quiet day for the Budget boys. But hey, it could have been worse
@Ian: VdP indeed doing well so far, scoring Top-5 finishes on regular base for nice points to the NRS rankings. Maybe even a chance for a great GC-finish?! Earle's obviously waiting for the crucial final stage
Tour of Great South (Day 3, Crit and flat 50km RR)
One of the easiest looking days here: a flat crit in Port Fairy is followed by a more or less panflat road race to Hawkesdale, with only one difficulty near to the finish.
So it's expected to be a day for the sprinters and as the gaps ain't to huge yet, every bonus second is worth being collected.
STAGE 5 - PORT FAIRY CRITERIUM/
Both the sprinter-teams Huon and Drapac, as well as Subway Cycling were in total control of the race yet again. We will see another bunch sprint to the line!
6 riders established a small advantage on the bunch, where race-leader Wurf could avoid any trouble this time:
Huon's duo Beckinsale/Giacoppo with Neil Van der Ploeg behind, as well as Drapac's duo Lapthorne/Davison with defending Great South Coast-winner Hall behind!
But it's gettinc closer as the riders come down the finishing stretch:
again Beckinsale (instead of Giacoppo), Van der Ploeg and also Hall hold on to their small gap, with more sprinters like Law (GPM) or Edmondson (Euride) closing up..
No luck for the latters though, as veteran Bradley Hall fools the sprinters for his first stage-win in 2014! Will he be in the mix for the race-win yet again? Bonus seconds were crucial to his victory here one year ago and the 36 years old definitely knows how to deliver in this race.
VdP sprintes for yet another podium as 2nd with Edmondson, Law and Beckinsale completing today's Top-5.. Geelong-winner Davison (7th) doesn't find his legs here in the GSC!
Wurf still in the race-lead, as VdP jumps back on 8th with now only 12" in arrears.. Hall 12th by now with 19" on Wurf.
STAGE 6 - PORT FAIRY TO HAWKESDALE ROAD RACE/
The short flat road race appeared to be a quiet one - an escaping group was swallowed by the bunch quite early and no more attack happend til the final 2km..
..but here goes Lapthorne (Drapac) now! He tries to escape right after this stage's only "real" difficulty.. does he stand a chance with his late move?
He didn't, but Drapac gave it another try with Sulzberger also attacking the peloton before the sprint kicked off..
..the Tasmanian veteran fights hard, but it will be a very close one with the bunch narrowing the gap quickly now..
And so an uneventful road races makes for a thrilling - and maybe crucial - sprint finish:
Michael Cupitt (Budget) takes out the stage ahead of an again strong Hall, Edmondson, walker and Sulzberger! Cupitt was one of those, who finished in the leading group ahead of the bunch on the first day here (+ 4" in GC), so those are valuable bonus seconds!
He's rewarded with the provisional race-lead with now 6 of 9 stages completed! Cupitt, who already took out a stage-win for the GC-lead here back in 2013 (but lost it due to a crash), leads the race by 6" on Wurf and 8" on Walker, who collected more bonus seconds, too.
Earle as 4th (and no bonus seconds so far) is 16" behind Cupitt, with Hucker, Semple and Davies at the same time.. Hall jumps onto 9th thanks to his to great results today!
@baia: Better day for Budget, right? And thanks, mate
@Miguel: It is. But it's still all open!
@sutty: Yap, Cupitt did great and yap, that's also means some pressure now
Tour of Great South (Day 4, Crit and flat 100km RR)
Penultimate day here at the Great South Coast and - finally - we have a road race featuring parts of the Great Ocean Road. A highlight in terms of the landscape.
Profile-wise it's yet another day made for the sprinters. A flat crit is followed by the flat road race, with a short climb at Port Campbell near the finish. A chance for a puncheur to go for a late break? In 2013, the GC-contenders took this stage as a chance to sprint for bonus seconds.
STAGE 7 - KOROIT CRITERIUM/
So far in this GSC-Tour we haven't seen any major splits in the peloton, but today's tough weather conditions (rain, 48kmh crosswinds) lead to such a split in the bunch - 50 riders are dropped quite early in the stage, most notable names:
Some of the most promising sprinters, so either they all have a bad day or just were in a too bad position halfway through the race! Or is it just Huon's brutal pace?
Anyway, a rather big escaping group (12 riders) is caught right in time, as Huon also leads the peloton into the bunch sprint!
Under the kite, 5 riders dominate this sprint: Giacoppo, Edmondson, followed by Neil VdP, Aitkin (Jayco) and Beckinsale!
Alex Edmondson takes it for Euride! He took advantage of his perfect position behind Giacoppo, who crosses the line as 2nd ahead of Van der Ploeg. The latter jumps onto GC's 5th thanks to more bonus seconds, while Giacoppo (10th) and Edmondson (12th) may also hope for a nice GC-result with still two stages remaining!
STAGE 8 - KOROIT TO PETERBOROUGH ROAD RACE/
The day continues with the road race from Koroit to Peterborough, alongside the famous Great Ocean Road! It keeps raining and also the peloton has no mercy for the escapees again, who will be swallowed quite early into the stage!
And so it's the expected bunch-sprint, with some GC-contenders joining the mix for bonus seconds though!
Edmondson kicked early but suffers with the finish approaching.. it's race-leader Cupitt ahead of the bunch now! But also Earle and sprinters like Davison or Law are not too far behind..
Just like Edmondson, also Cupitt seems to have kicked too early, as he's losing his speed with only a few metres remaining:
Giacoppo (left) and Earle (right) both have no problems to move forward, also previous race-leader Wurf and - of course - Van der Ploeg are in the mix! Bonus seconds, it's all about bonus seconds for guys like Cupitt, Earle, Wurf and also VdP!
Anthony Giacoppo grabs another win here, thanks to a perfect-timed sprint this time! This will make him improve even more in the GC.
Same goes for Van der Ploeg, who sprints for yet another podium-place as 2nd.. Earle with his best stage-result as 3rd ahead of Wurf and Davison. Cupitt misses bonus seconds as 6th!
But at least, Michael Cupitt will lead the race into the final stage: he's 6" ahead of Wurf and 8" on Van der Ploeg, who brought in some impressive bonus seconds so far.
Walker with the same time as VdP on 4th.. Giacoppo jumps onto 5th (+ 0.11) ahead of teammate Earle (+ 0.12) and Semple/Hucker/Davies (0.16)..
The GSC-tour concludes tomorrow with a hilly loop around Camperdown - a race that wasn't selective a year ago, but that actually does feature a short but steep climb near the finish.. So will we see bonus seconds be crucial again or guys like Wurf, VdP, Walker and Earle attacking Cupitt?
Thanks, mate. What can i say, i will do my best to make your job as hard as possible 
Imo, there will be better screens in the next event than my latest collection, so feel free to check out and make your decision 
..
Finally... great shots mate. 
