Welcome here in Australia at this beautiful summer day here in january!
Short look at the profile and last years result and then it’s already about to start!
Race Profile
We have a pretty short race with just 130km to go here. The profile itself isn't too hard but the slightly hilly sections in the middle give a chance for some groups to try there luck. The past has shown that the probability for a sprint at the end is higher than a group or single escapist reaching the goal first.
Result 2022
1
Alex Wohler
Amaysim Cervelo
3h07'48
2
Peter Varga
Team Popo4Ever
s.t.
3
Gasper Katrasnik
Cedevita
s.t.
4
Jiankun Liu
Voyagin - Bird
s.t.
5
Jonas Ahlstrand
Volcanica - Fox
s.t.
6
Nick Van der Lijke
EA Vesuvio
s.t.
7
Elias Afewerki
Project: Africa
s.t.
8
Clement Venturini
Binance
s.t.
9
Fabio Jakobsen
Zara - Irizar
s.t.
10
Matti Manninen
Los Pollos Hermanos
s.t.
RACE START
The race starts on time and right after the end of neutralisation the first attacks start. Ahmad, Downey, Stoenchev and Croes go first and soon are followed by Quinn, Orosco, Cabanas, Rivera, Stroll and Diaz Suarez. They try to create gap to the field but besides a few seconds nothing came out of it yet. Trying for the first 8 km but then they are catched by the peloton again.
Not much time to relax. Attacks starting again with Rivera, Croes, Orosco, Downey, Montenegro, Louvel, Diaz Suarez followed also by Quinn, Ahmad, Cabanas to break free and it finally seemed to work!
After that a second group has formed with Sleen, Uhiriwe, Firdaus, Bakke Christophersen and Rodriguez follows the 1st one.
After around 30km the 2 Groups unite at the front to build one consisting 15 riders. They have build a lead of 2:51 now ahead of the peloton. At the field the teams Minions, Assa Abloy and Moser-Sygic mostly controlling the pace.
DK Zalgiris and Puma-SAP joins the other teams to control the gap to the leaders. Gap is now arround 2 minutes.
After around 80 km we are in the more hilly sections with the only part you could describe as a climb. Firdaus has some problem following the pace of the rest of the group. But soon can rejoin them. The gap is still at 2:09.
Moser, Puma-SAP, Minions and Assa Abloy slowly close the gap. Only 30 km to go and the gap has come down to 1 minute.
We are now only 20 km away from the finish. The group is still in front but the peloton controls the speed and the gam which has come down to 0:44. Most work is now done by Puma and Minions. The pace they are setting leads to some problems at the end of the peloton. Rider like Welten, Bennett and Siric having troubles of following the field. Could already be a sign they wont be able to fight for the podium?
With now only 13 km to go the group ahead only has 24 seconds and stopped working together. Quinn attacks frequently and trying to create gap himself. So far it didnt work out and the field keeps chasing.
10 km before the finish the escapees were catched and we have a big field again. With then 8.4km to go Culey attacks and tries finishing solo. But not even 2km he is back the field.
5 km to go and some big names try their luck in an attack. Konychev and Cosnefroy try to create a gap. Puma-SAP doing now most of the work and so they chase these two with the work of Steimle & Rutsch.
A bit under 3 km and Puma was able to get the field back together and now preparing everything for the final mass sprint! Steimle is leading the pace for his captain Kanter.
Steimle goes out of the lead and leaves the rest to Kanter. The final sprint can begin and Van der Lijke, Dainese, Bonifazio and Kanter are well positioned!
Van der Lijke, is the first to start the sprint and it seems he could suprise the other contenders. He creates a little gap to the rest lead by Kanter!
Almost there! Still Van der Lijke in the Lead but he seems to loose some speed now. Can he still keeps the position? After him following Kanter then Dainese. Afewerki has put himself in a good position ahead of Bonifazio, Philipsen and Abdul Halil!
He won! Van der Lijke could keep the position with the gap he created at the start of the sprint!
He is followed by Kanter who couldnt reach him anymore. Then there is Afewerki who could snatch the last place on the podium and finish 3rd. In the end he could surpass Dainese who finishes 4th.
The Top 10 are then completed by Bonifazio, Philipsen, Abdul Halil, Halvorsen, Bol and Perera. Only at position 17 we can find Gaviria.
See the full result below for all positions. Congratulations to the winner and the guys on the podium!
