The Bay Cycling Classic kicks off with a flat criterium on Ritchie Boulevard in Geelong. One of the most beautiful places at "The Bay", the race will be worth an unofficial season opener to the ManGame.
With the sprint-competition being quite close here, it's hard to pick a top-favorite. But some Aussies definitely deserve a special mention: Leigh Howard (Becherovka), Michael Matthews or defending champion Chris Sutton (Risa), as well as Cam Meyer (Fletcher), Damion Drapac (Avanti) or veteran Allan Davis (UniSA) should be amongst the strongest.
Let's not forget to mention some internationals like Matt Rowe (GBR), Sam Bennett (AnPost) or Anuar Manan (Malaysia) though.
Three Aussies went for the first breakaway attempt right from the start and it's at least one "big gun" trying to "steal" points in this flat crit:
Lloyd (UniSA)
Haig (Avanti) and
Lane (Budget)!
Those who followed the Crits Series 2013 will probably know, that this won't be the last attempt to break clear from the bunch. Another group of three riders jumped behind quickly, trying to bridge the gap as soon as possible:
Oram (Scotty Browns)
Cuming (GBR) and
Masuda (Japan) face a minute-gap as they enter the second lap.
It's business as usual in those Crits that there will be more groups trying to join the breakaway. The first six riders joined each other to build a 1'30"-gap on the bunch halfway through the race and now we see yet another group of three attacking the pack:
Yes, it's Michael Matthews with a very surprising move with still 30km to go! Risa definitely has another option in Sutton, but this is still... weird.. to say at least.
This latest attack kicks off just another wave of more riders trying to escape and so group Matthews striggles to open a gap.. Only a few kilometres later, we see some new names on the attack (with only Vink and Brammeier holding on to a small gap on the bunch):
Walker (Risa), Neil Van der Ploeg (Stobart), Avery (Budget) and Hatanaka (Japan)!
So Risa with another "option" here. Walker, as well as Hatanaka, certainly tries to do the same as Lloyd - grabbing points in the flat crits to go for the overall win.
But due to the higher pace in the bunch, it's an empty-handed attempt. The early escapees still lead by a minute with now 12km remaining and no more group could establish a gap... the attacking goes on though... Risa again...
Sutton!
The defending Bay-champion Chris Sutton is the next Risa-professional to attack the bunch, overtaking Hatanaka to go solo! The team keeps surprising both fans, riders and managers..
Sutton quickly narrowed the gap to the breakaway to 30", but the bunch - now led by Oz Cycling and Stobart - keeps pacing hard in order to pull all escapees back... Anyway, with 9km to go, the gap is still at a minute!
And here's the early escapees entering the bell lap with a 55"-lead on the bunch and Sutton somewhere in between.. do they stand a chance to hold the chasing pack off?
It could be just as close as last year, where an escaping trio was caught close to the finish line..
Lloyd and Lane attack the leading group 2km before finish with the peloton still being more than 40" in arrears! Sutton couldn't bridge the gap, by the way. So Risa's tactics didn't pay off..
And now it's good to see, that it's going to be a thrilling finish! PT-team Becherovka took command of the pace now, trying to bring top-favorite Howard back to the very top of the race.
The escapees, with Lloyd holding on to a small gap, already enter the final km!
Lloyd dropped Lane easily and now Cuming moves forward! The sprinting bunch comes closer as well, but will it be enough?
It ain't looking good for the sprint-favorites! Only a few hundred metres remain and as Cuming now overtakes an exhausted Lloyd, there's still a clear gap on the bunch sprint!
He takes it! Michael Cuming (GBR) is the first non-Aussie to win a stage in the Bay Crits! A fantastic sprint, especially as the peloton almost caught up to him eventually!
So that's a bit unlucky for Cuming's breakaway companions, as the 2nd place goes to Awang (OCBC) and 3rd to Howard (Becherovka)! Just not well timed by the chasing bunch.
Lloyd grabs some valuable points as 4th, ahead of some sprinters like Drapac, Rowe and Davis. Some more escapees (Oram, Masuda) finish inside Top-10 with Van Uden completing the points-rankings.
An eventful first crit in the Bay Classics with a surprising and close win for Cuming! Will the top-sprinters strike back on second day? Or will we see the escapees stealing more points? Stay tuned.
Leigh Howard (Becherovka), Michael Matthews or defending champion Chris Sutton (Risa), as well as Cam Meyer (Fletcher), Damion Drapac (Avanti) or veteran Allan Davis (UniSA) should be amongst the strongest.
Matt Rowe (GBR), 
Sam Bennett (AnPost) or Anuar Manan (Malaysia) though.
Azizulhasni Awang
James Oram
Nariyuki Masuda
