Sophie Marr (Praties Cycling Team) and Tynan Shannon (Team Royal Bikes) won Saturday afternoon's stage 3 of the Q Tour, the penultimate stage in the final round of Australia's ProVelo Super League.
Marr's victory has helped consolidate her place at the top of the overall and under-23 points table of the league leaderboard, giving her an even bigger advantage heading toward the crucial final stage of racing. The winner of the U23 women's league will earn a contract with the Liv-AlUla-Jayco Continental team and the men's U23 winner will secure a stagiaire role with Jayco-AlUla.
Lauren Bates (Meridian Blue Cycling p/b 99 Bikes) came second to Marr in the stage 3 Lakeside Roadway road race which played out on a 2.2km-long circuit, while Sophie Edwards (Butterfields Ziptrak Racing) was third in the bunch sprint at the end of the 30-lap (66km) race.
Elliot Schultz (Cobra9 x Leigh Surveyors) was second to Shannon in a two-man sprint at the end of the 40-lap (89.5km) race for the men, while Matthew Lambert (Tandem Co Pro Cycling) was third after leading the next group of eight through the line ten seconds back. The top two riders on the overall and U23 league leaderboard, Jack Ward (Team Brennan p/b TP32) and Zachary Marriage (Butterfields Ziptrak Racing) both finished out of the points in a group 27 seconds back.
Shannon is now leading the overall of the Q Tour with a two-second advantage to Liam Walsh (CCACHE x Bodywrap) and then there are three riders on eight seconds, Scott Bowden (Tasmanian Institute of Sport), Schultz and Marriage, who is the first U23 rider.
Heading into the crucial deciding battle, for both the four-stage tour in Queensland and overall six event series, Ward holds a 33-point advantage over Marriage on the league leaderboard. In the Q Tour Marriage is leading the U23 category by 20 seconds on Will Heath (CCACHE x Bodywrap) and 22 seconds up on third placed Ward.
The GC winner at each tour takes 100 points toward their tally on the ProVelo Super League leaderboard, 80 points for second place and 68 points for third place, with the number of points continuing to drop through to 10 points for 15th place, and one point for 51st place and below. That means the top U23 men's spot is still well and truly up for grabs during Sunday's finale, with a stage win also clinching 20 points and the mountains and points classification also another opportunity to gain points.
The women's overall and U23 series leader is looking in a far more comfortable –although not unbeatable – position. Marr holds an 81-point advantage on Praties teammate Appleton while Butterfields Ziptrak's Anderson has a 138-point deficit to Marr.
Bates is leading the women's Q Tour general classification and U23 standings with Marr in second, 11 seconds back, and Anderson third at 15 seconds.
The final stage of racing in the tour and series will be a 111.7km-long race through the Moreton Bay Hinterlands for the men and a 90.3km-long stage for the women.
You can find the Q Tour stage 1 results here the stage 2 results here and the event preview here. Also see the highlights videos of stage 3 from ProVelo below.
