Time for the final round of the Bay Cycling Classic 2016: Williamstown, a panflat criterium, made for the sprinters.
Five riders still have a (realistic) shot at the overall victory: Drapac (22pts), Itami (17), Chen/Salleh (16) and Matthews (11), while the likes of Othman (12) and Haas (10) would need to fool the sprinters in style.
Will Drapac stand the pressure to defend those points and finally claim the overall win after finishing the Bay Classic inside the Top-10 regularly the past years? Or will we see a first International taking the overall primes?
It ain't the first time that history repeats, but it's always worth a note:
Pat Lane (Avanti) and Matthew Lloyd (Xero) both had been a breakaways in the final crit of the Bay Classic before. Lane in the exactly the same circuit last year.
The duo is accompanied by Dunne and Dion Smith, building a lead up to 2 minutes at it's peak..
The peloton though is taking things seriously again, catching the early break with more than 20km to go! A next wave of attacks is kicked off, as 8 riders try to break clear with 17km left:
Zhang, Opie, Manfred, Sutton, Bayly, Davison, Brammeier and Archbold.. also Jack Haig would launch an attack a few moments later..
But it's again an empty-handed attempt, as those attackers are reeled in by the pack inside the final 10km! It will come down to a sprint decision..
We note the usual suspects at the very front of the peloton, where a long train is built with the final 2km approaching:
Malaysia (Anuawar, Manan, Salleh) again going strong!
Itami, Chen, Simon Clarke, Drapac, Saber, Matthews and Wippert hanging on. So we have all those riders, who could fight for the overall victory. With Drapac also present, this will be a tough challenge though!
Manan now leading Salleh into the final km, Itami and Chen now right behind them! Clarke, Drapac, Saber and Matthews on the further positions.. Drapac not looking as strong as on the first two days.. will he loose the thing here?
He will at least fight for a Top-5 place, while today's win seems to be a decision between those three at the front:
Salleh (who had a super strong leadout from Manan), Chen and Clarke! Chen and Salleh (both 16pts) as some serious contenders for the GC here!
Drapac faces a fight against Matthews, a now struggling Itami and Saber.. the GC-leader needs to finish 4th if Chen or Salleh take the win today!
But who will grab those 12pts?
Chen with a strong finish to go shoulder-to-shoulder with Salleh now! Clarke right behind, but struggling to move forward..
Manan still ahead of Matthews/Drapac, but it ain't looks like he could steal those valuable points from Drapac..
The victory goes to... Libin Chen! The second win for him here and that's the pressure for Drapac, who's in a narrow battle for his needed 4th place!
Salleh again strong as 2nd ahead of Simon Clarke..
What a close decision.. Drapac fought hard and actually claimed that 4th place, that he desperately needed! Matthews 5th ahead of Saber and Itami then.
A great Bay Classic edition for Libin Chen nevertheless: the Chinese sprinted for two single victories and proved that he has become a dangerous sprinter on this level here.
Fun fact: 2x Chen, 1x Othman, 1x Drapac. This year's four criteriums were won by former Oz Cycling riders! Australia's premium cycling team is still waiting for a victory at the Bay though..
And now for the Bay Cycling Classic winner 2016: Damion Drapac! The fourth different Australian to win this pre-season event. Two very impressive days at the beginning and a huge fight today, Drapac surely got paid for his strong efforts here. Congrats to him and his new team Universal Chiquita!
Libin Chen finishes as narrow 2nd with just one point off, while Mohamed Harrif Salleh is 3rd with three points less than Drapac. The Malaysian finished on the podium in all three flat criteriums and had the best sprint train here.
Itami 4th ahead of last year's overall winner Matthews. Simon Clarke, Othman, Saber, Haas and Hatanaka round up the Top-10 ahead of Cam Meyer. A horrible Bay effort from sprinters like Scully, Von Hoff or last year's runner-up Docker. Grieg - Eftel (former Risa) couldn't repeat it's usual Bay magic from the past three years.
Libin Chen
Mohamed Harrif Salleh
Simon Clarke
Lahcen Saber
Kenji Itami
Wouter Wippert
