Stage two of the Jayco Herald Sun Tour saw the peloton ride from Sovereign Hill to Geelong. The WorldTour teams in the race were again denied victory by their smaller counterparts when South African Team MTN-Qhubeka lead out Reinardt janse van Rensburg perfectly on the slightly uphill drag to the finish, nabbing the biggest win of his career.
Janse van Rensburg, who recently finished seventeenth at the under 23 world road race championships, recovered well after spending the previous day in the successful breakaway en route to sixth on the opening stage.
“The finish was perfect for me. My teammates put me in the right position with 500 metres to go. This is my first win out of Africa, so I’m very happy,” he said.
“After the second KOM I knew it was going to be a bunch sprint. But the last few [kilometres] were quite steep which suited me. My teammates took me from 40th to 10th - it was perfect. The past couple of weeks we’ve been riding so well together, 100 percent commitment.”
Baden Cooke (Saxo Bank SunGard) finished second, saying afterwards that the absence of a banner at 500 metres to go caused him to miss-time his effort. It was his third runner-up slot this month, a considerable source of frustration to the Australian.
Stage one winner Rhys Pollock (Drapac) held on to the leader’s jersey, although he had a tough day in the saddle and looked set to lose it on more than one occasion.
A 140.6 kilometre journey lay ahead for the riders at the start of the day with two KOM primes and two sprint primes. Adam Hansen (Omega Pharma-Lotto) was the first to make a move up the first climb after seven kilometres of racing. His attack split the peloton into three groups but after taking the first KOM prime, he was soon brought back.
James Williamson (Pure Black Racing) and Darren Lapthorne (Drapac) surged ahead before the first sprint prime to finish first and second respectively. They were soon brought back into the fold when the break of the day finally escaped. Tim Gudsell (Pure Black Racing) & Chris Jongewaard (Budget Frklfts) gained a maximum advantage of six minutes with Gudsell being the virtual leader on the road.
After 80km’s of racing, SaxoBank-SunGard was intent on bringing it back for a sprint and halved the advantage to the two men who were ahead. Not wanting to catch them too soon, they were left dangling off the front of the peloton with sixteen kilometres left to race. Eventually they were reeled in at the five kilometres to go mark with Project 1t4i (formerly Skil-Shimano) and Genesys Wealth Advisers keen to set things up for their sprinters.
However, it was the 22 year old Janse van Rensburg who got the perfect pull from team captain Dennis van Niekerk to finish ahead of Baden Cooke (SaxoBank-SunGard) and take the stage honours.
Despite not feeling up to speed on the previous day, Janse van Rensburg is the only rider to finish in the top ten on both days.
“Yesterday I was a bit jet-lagged. But I was feeling super today,” he said.
“It is the end of the season for the European based riders so they are probably not going so well, but they are world class athletes.
“I’m feeling strong on the climbs. I’m not a climber, I’m actually a sprinter but if I can stay with them on the climbs I might have a chance.”
Stage one winner Pollock (Drapac) retains the overall lead despite losing contact with the peloton on a number of occasions. He praised his team for unselfishly looking after him.
“This is a bit of a surprise. Our intention wasn’t to keep the lead. We had a few teams trying to intimidate us into doing the work but we stuck to our guns,” he said.
“Darren (Lapthorne) and Adam (Phelan) stayed with me and brought me back when I dropped back, although we never got behind by more than 200 metres. And Stuart Shaw was doing a great job up the front.
“When we got to the last 50 kilometres, we decided to have a go to keep the jersey,” Pollock said.
“I am not really sure that we can keep it though – we will see how we go. I have got some fantastic teammates who have shown today they can stay with me and bring me back.
“We will see what happens. It is just great for the team. Our team director will be sitting in the car sticking his chest out, I am sure.”