The Mt Buffalo finale of the Tour of Bright delivered two vastly different outcomes across the Women's A and Men's A races, going from a scorching solo win to a group sprint finish.
The mountain bikers ruled stage 3, with local Kathryn McInerney (Trek-Shimano Australia) putting more than one minute into her rivals in Women's A while Jack Ward (BridgeLane) claimed his second summit victory of the tour in a sprint from a just over a dozen riders. It was an uncharacteristically large group that charged toward the line with Ward as headwinds and wet weather encouraged the riders to stick together till later on the climb that Luke Plapp (Jayco-AlUla) – probably only half jokingly – refers to as the 'greatest mountain in the world'.
There were, however, no changes to the top spots on the general classification on the 63.9km stage as men's race leader Plapp was firmly ensconced in the lead group and carrying an extremely healthy margin on the overall. Still he did lose 11 seconds of his lead of 1:59 to Ward when he finished 13th because a part of the lead group mistakenly took the vehicle deviation on the right rather than heading to the finish line on the left. That meant they had to swing back around to cross the line.
Women's leader Alli Anderson (ARA Skip Capital) had started the day with a five second lead on Talia Appleton (BridgeLane) and added another five seconds to her GC margin as she claimed third on the stage behind Lauren Bates (ARA Skip Capital) while Appleton crossed the line of the 63.9km stage in fourth.
In Men's A it was Zac Marriage (BridgeLane) who came over the line in second, with the BridgeLane team's top two placings on the stage delivering a powerful farewell to the men's squad that has for so long been a vital link in the development pathway for Australian riders. Another promising young rider, Nate Hadden (ARA Skip Capital), came third on the stage.
"I knew Buffalo was a pretty fast climb and you kind of sit in the wheel and just conserve energy so I just tried to make sure I was at the front, just staying with the big boys basically," the 19-year old Ward told Cyclingnews as he piled on the warm layers for the ride down shortly after claiming victory on stage 3. "I was pretty confident once it was a headwind that it was going to come down to a sprint so I just tried to get in a good position."
It was a tactic that certainly worked, with the young rider leaving little doubt about his climbing prowess after taking a second summit victory in as many days.
"I didn't think I'd have this good legs," said Ward, and that was perhaps a surprise to his rivals as well.
Strava records safe
Last year's Tour of Bright may have delivered a Strava record breaking day on the mountain with Plapp and Sarah Gigante both setting a new mark on the revered Victorian climb, however there was no threat of that today. The combination of rain and headwinds kept times at bay, still that didn't mean the efforts, or the mountain, weren't intense.
Riders started out at Pioneer Park in Bright, to take on the crowning stage of a race that may have a Victorian Road Series ranking but has a field, depth of history, the terrain and the community to deliver a level of prestige that defies categorisation.
Whether riders were using the event as a building block toward the Australian summer of racing in January, as a last chance to get some notice that may help them secure a team for 2025 or as an opportunity to test themselves against some top WorldTour competitors, there was every reason to lay it all out there on the final day of racing.
Women's A set off an hour before Men's A, which fortunately for them meant avoiding a downpour that made the first day of summer in Australia feel anything but summery. There was an early break of five, with the Korean Samyang Women team once again part of it, but the move that stuck was the later one by McInerney. She had local knowledge to her advantage but road racing is an unfamiliar occurrence for the fat tyre focussed rider, who joked that the Tour of Bright was her once a year road race outing.
It was on the lower slopes of the 21km 4.8% average gradient Mt Buffalo climb – around Eurobin Falls – that the rider went, not necessarily expecting to go solo but when she did she certainly enjoyed it. The road side was packed with friends excitedly shouting out support as they realised the rider who last year came third was actually out front this time. Still, the times didn't give her confidence that she would stay away alone in the windy conditions - 'I didn't even get a single PB' she quipped.
"At the top I had no idea, I was looking back every two seconds thinking it was only moments before they would catch me," McInerny told Cyclingnews after the presentations at the Bright Brewery.
Though ultimately she had to wait more than a minute for her nearest rival to cross the line, Bates at 1:04, as back in the peloton the chase hadn't really gathered steam, which played into Anderson's hands.
"I'm not a pure climber so I was quite worried that I was going to get absolutely destroyed today," Anderson told Cyclingnews. "The headwind up the climb was a saving grace because you got such a good sit in the wheel and my teammates Sophie Marr and Lauren Bates, they helped me so much conserving energy."
The 21-year-old used that energy at the top to double her five second time gap to Appleton and settle the GC fight.
In Men's A, which set off about an hour after the top women's category, the conditions also leaned toward staying together, perhaps even a little more so as they were struck by an added downpour near the top of the climb. Attack after attack went, but none could make any substantial inroads and it was surprising to see what could comfortably be called a reduced peloton, rather than a leading group, hold firm well up the slopes of the rugged mountain.
Though ultimately the attacks and attrition combined to pull the race down to a lead group of around a dozen, and Ward claimed the stage victory from this group and Plapp the GC for a second year running.
"It was a great week, Jack was so impressive this weekend and it's awesome to see how well he is going and to have such a big bunch of young guys at the finish," said the 23-year-old Plaap in an Instagram interview put out by the Tour of Bright.
The oldest rider on the stage podium was the 21-year-old Marriage in second, with 19-year-olds Ward and Hadden on the other two steps. "Max Goold is also flying as well," added Plapp of the 17-year-old ARA Skip Capital rider who was often on the attack and ended the stage in fourth.
