Sam Crome (Avanti Isowhey Sport) won the 2016 Lakes Oil-Fulton Hogan Tour of the Great South Coast after leading from stage 2 on the first day of the five day tour, Ben Hill (Lakes Oil) was second at 11 seconds with Pat Shaw (Avanti Isowhey Sport) third.
The 2016 Subaru National Road Series made a welcome return after a three month break with the five day, seven stage Lakes Oil-Fulton Hogan Tour of the Great South Coast run in South Australia and Victoria. Pat Lane started the Tour of the Great South Coast wearing the series leaders jersey after winning the opening Grafton to Inverell round.
Wednesday’s first day of racing featured two stages, the first a 36km criterium around Mount Gambier’s Vansittart Park followed by a 65km road race around the Blue Lake circuit in the afternoon. Jesse Kerrison (State of Matter / MAAP) wearing the U23 national criterium champion jersey won the stage 1 bunch sprint finish from Scott Sunderland (Inform Racing) and Pat Shaw. The afternoons Blue Lake stage saw riders face a much tougher test with rain and hail adding to the tough circuit, a break of 20 riders was clear by the halfway point of the stage and Sam Crome, Ryan Cavanagh (State of Matter / MAAP) and Nathan Elliot (Lakes Oil) attacked out of the break with two laps remaining with Crome eventually winning the spring finish from Cavanagh with Nathan Elliot third at 6 seconds. Sam Crome would wear the leaders jersey into day 2 with a 15 second lead over Ryan Cavanagh and 19 seconds on team mate Pat Shaw.
It was just absolutely brutal out there today. It was a real hard man’s race and I’m just stoked to get the win – Sam Crome.
Day 2 saw the riders take on a 137.6km road race starting and finishing in Port MacDonnell. With strong crosswinds throughout the mostly flat stage it was a group of four riders Alex Porter, Cyrus Monk, Sam Lane and Nicholas Kergozou that stayed away for most of the race with Alex Porter taking the sprint ahead of Monk with Lane third two seconds back. Sam Crome finished in the peloton 4 minutes and 36 seconds behind but retained the overall lead by 12 seconds over Ryan Cavanagh with Ben Hill moving into third place.
Friday again featured two short stages, the first was a 39km criterium around the Penola Primary School and was won by Harry Carpenter (SASI/Callidus Cycling Team) from James Fouche (Mobius Future Racing) with the general classification positions unchanged.
The afternoons stage was a 64km road race from Penola in South Australia crossing into Victoria and finishing in Casterton. With 5 kilometres remaining in the stage Jake Klajnblat (JML Racing) attacked the break that had formed earlier in the stage, Klajnblat’s attack saw Liam Nolan (SASI/Callidus Cycling Team) respond and the two held off the previous breakaway riders to contest the sprint with Klajnblat winning from Nolan, Nicholas Reddish (Oliver’s Real Food Racing) was third at 6 seconds.
Sam Crome retained the overall lead despite being caught out in a crash that unfortunately also saw the end of second place Ryan Cavanagh race who was taken to hospital as a result of the crash. Ben Hill now sat in second place at 18 seconds with Pat Shaw moving back up to third place at 21 seconds.
I attacked just after five k to go. I knew there was a downhill run so if I could get an advantage with that [with] the young SASI fellow [that] came with me, I said to commit and we will go for a sprint and we held it off. Took a few risks downhill and that was that – Jake Klajnblat.
Saturday’s stage 6 was run over four laps of a 29km circuit around Cape Bridgewater for a total stage distance of 121.4km. An early break was brought back by the peloton setting up a bunch finish of 40 riders, Nicholas Kergozou led home a Mobius Future Racing and New Zealand 1-2 with young 17 year old team mate Robert Stannard finishing second, Sam Phipps (GPM Stulz) was third.
Sam Crome had all but wrapped up the general classification finishing safely in the bunch to hold an 11 second lead over Ben Hill into the final criterium stage with teammate Pat Shaw third at 18 seconds. Avanti Isowhey Sport team won the teams classification.
We did it. pic.twitter.com/D01waM27oG
— Mobius Future Racing (@mobiusfutureRT) August 13, 2016
The 2016 Tour of the Great South Coast closed with Robert Stannard taking a stunning second win for Mobius Future Racing from Scott Sunderland, with Harry Carpenter third.
Sam Crome now leads the overall 2016 Subaru National Road Series with 15 points, second is Patrick Shaw with 13 points and round one winner Patrick Lane is third with 8 points.
Results of the 2016 Tour of the Great South Coast
| Place | Rider (Team) | Result |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sam CROME (Avanti Isowhey Sport) | 12h04:34 |
| 2 | Benjamin HILL (Lakes Oil) | +11 |
| 3 | Patrick SHAW (Avanti Isowhey Sport) | +18 |
| 4 | Angus LYONS (Jayco/John West VIS) | +20 |
| 5 | Nathan ELLIOTT (Lakes Oil) | +31 |
| 6 | Mathew ROSS (Pat’s Veg Cycling) | +34 |
| 7 | Timothy SELLAR (Satalyst Verve Racing) | +39 |
| 8 | Cameron BAYLY (Inform Racing) | +44 |
| 9 | Robert STANNARD (mobius Future Racing) | +45 |
| 10 | Tom KAESLER (SASI/Callidus Cycling Team) | +45 |
Team Results of the 2016 Tour of the Great South Coast
| Place | Team | Result |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Avanti Isowhey Sport | 36h16:55 |
| 2 | mobius Future Racing | +5:18 |
| 3 | Pat’s Veg Cycling | +5:47 |
| 4 | State of Matter / MAAP | +10:01 |
| 5 | Lakes Oil | +10:49 |
| 6 | JML Racing | +15:40 |
| 7 | Oliver’s Real Food Racing | +15:49 |
| 8 | Satalyst Verve Racing | +16:38 |
| 9 | SASI/Callidus Cycling Team | +18:35 |
| 10 | SwissWellness Cycling Team | +19:36 |
| 11 | Jayco/John West VIS | +25:33 |
| 12 | Inform Racing | +33:20 |
| 13 | GPM Stulz | +38:52 |
| 14 | Anchor Point South Coast | +1h15:56 |
The next round of the men’s and women’s 2016 Subaru National Road Series is the Sam Miranda Tour of the King Valley on the 19 to 21 August.
Race report by TBL – The Bike Lane
Main image via @SammyCrome twitter