THE ROAR of motorbikes and supercars at the Phillip Island GP circuit gave way to three days of cycling for the AusCycling national road series Tour of Gippsland.
Over one hundred and fifty entrants across four categories lined up in the under-19 and elite categories for men and women.
International riders competed against world and national medallists for the prestigious Australia’s National Road Series championship crown.
Team Bridgelane director sportif and former Tour of Gippsland winner Pat Shaw said this year’s field was the strongest lineup she has seen all year.
“This was the best women’s field we’ve seen in the national road series,” said Shaw.
“Especially the depth of the under-19s, there is a lot of great talent around.”
“Emily Watts who won last year has come back with a good team led by Katelyn Nicholson who was second on the general classification last year and joined the team off the back of that result.”
“Katelyn comes into the race as the national road series leader and a strong time triallist.”
Melbourne’s Lucy Stewart returned for Team ARA/Skip Capital fresh off signing for the feeder team to Australia’s only World Tour team, Liv AlUla Jayco.
Elite men’s cyclist Teram Bridgelane was looking to Phillip Island to confirm his stranglehold on the series.
Teammates Alastair Christie-Johnston and USA-born Graeme Frislie were tied on equal points at the top of the table with teammate Bentley Niquet-Olden sitting third.
Pat Shaw believes events like the Tour of Gippsland are important for identifying talent.
“It’s not that long ago that we were looking at a young Felicity Wilson-Haffenden racing around in the U19 criterium at Rhyll.”
“Felicity then joined Inform and came on with us, the rest is history,” said Shaw.
“World champion, Australian champion and now Felicity’s signed with WorldTour team Lidl-Trek.
“I’m really happy to see so many girls coming to the Tour of Gippsland to try and prove themselves.
“It’s an amazing Tour, it’s an amazing part of Australia but also it’s a really versatile area to run a bike race.”
The NRS leaderboard can be found at nationalroadseries.com/riders-ranking
2024 Tour of Gippsland results (Day 1)
U19 Men Stage 1 Road Race
1. Jameson Key (Van D’am) 1h39:26, 2. Jonas Shelverton (Bridgelane), 3. Alexander Hewes (Avia-rudyco), Average speed of the winner 43.0km/h, Number of starters: 28
Lap 6 Climb, Christian Tuminello (Cobra 9)
Lap 6 Sprint: Christian Tuminello (Cobra 9)
Lap 12 Climb: Christian Tuminello (Cobra 9)
Lap 12 Sprint: Christian Tuminello (Cobra 9)
U19 Women Stage 1 Road Race
1. Emma Ochoa (99 bikes) 1h46:15 , 2. Ava Wilson (Butterfields), 3. Ava Schmidtke (Butterfields), Average speed of the winner: 35.2km/h, Number of starters: 13
Lap 6 Climb: Emma Ochoa (99 bikes)
Lap 6 Sprint: Ava Wilson (Butterfields)
Lap 8 Climb: Maddie Wasserbaech (Butterfields)
Lap 8 Sprint: Ava Wilson (Butterfields)