Connor Wright (Falcons Pedal Mafia) claimed victory in the men's event on the pivotal stage 3 summit finish of the Tour of Tasmania, the second round of the 2026 ProVelo SuperLeague, however there was no winner in the women's race which was cancelled after a mass pile up at under 25km to go.
The crash, which included stage 2 winner and race leader Sophia Sammons (Team Redcat) rippled through the peloton after a fall near the front of the bunch. With little time to react and avoid the incident there was soon a massive pile of bikes and riders spread across the road. A neutralisation was quickly put in place and then, as riders were assessed and medical resources fully utilised, a cancellation was put in place.
The men's race, held after the women's, went ahead. Initially a break of seven, sparked by individual rider William Heffernan, went out and carved a solid gap in the 73.6km road race from Poatina but it was pulled back in on the final climb and then a select group of nine battled it out toward the top.
The 17-year-old Wright then sprinted to victory on the stage ahead of race leader Oliver Bleddyn (Team Brennan) while Ronan Tease (Pinnacle Performance x Royal Bikes) came third.
"I knew from yesterday my legs were climbing pretty well so I had faith and the boys had faith in me as well and really protected me into the climb as far up as they could," said Wright in a ProVelo Super League Instagram post. "We had a guy in the break as well so I mean they all had trust in me and it's just super motivating to have a team behind me that's 100% backing me. I think confidence goes a long way in races like this."
Wright, a mountain biker who is turning heads on the road, had entered the stage in fourth overall, 23 seconds back from race leader and climbed to second overall with a 19 second gap to Bleddyn after taking the win bonus on stage 3.
"I knew the GC was in close contention but I didn't quite have the legs to go early in the end so I just held on for the last 100 [metres] and went for the sprint and super happy to take away the [stage] win."
It was Cameron Ivory (Launceston Mountain Bike Club) and Ruby Taylor (Team Redcat) who claimed the first stage, a 600m zig zagging and climbing time trial, then in the stage 2 road race Sammons and Bleddyn took the top step and overall lead. Sunday's fourth and final stage is a criterium in Launceston.
After the stage 3 crash, however, there are bound to be some from among the women's field who aren't lining up on Sunday and others nursing injuries. Race leader Sammons was among the injured, requiring stitches to her chin after the accident.
After the Tour of Tasmania concludes the next round of the top-tier domestic race series will be the Melbourne to Warrnambool and Warrnambool Women's Cycling Classic, which was delayed two weeks. The men's event will now run on February 28 and the women's on March 1.
Position |
Rider/team |
Time |
1 |
Connor Wright (Falcons Pedal Mafia) |
1:53:48 |
2 |
Oliver Bleddyn (Team Brennan) |
- |
3 |
Ronan Teese (Pinnacle Performance x Royal Bikes) |
- |
4 |
Oliver Sims (COBRA9 x Leigh Surveyors) |
- |
5 |
Levi Hone (Team Brennan) |
- |
