Sophie Edwards (Butterfields Ziptrak) and Oliver Bleddyn (Team Brennan) have clinched overall victory at the Harbour City GP on Sunday. Edwards also swept up the pivotal Queen stage of the fourth round of the Hertz ProVelo Super League but for Bleddyn second on the final day of racing behind stage 3 winner William Heffernan was enough to not just claim the GC win but also the top spot on the League Leaderboard.
In the 101km stage for the women Edwards crossed the line ahead of series leader Sophia Sammons (Team Redcat), who kept her top spot on the League ladder, and two seconds later in the split up women's field it was Isla Bradbury (Nstrmo x Attaquer x CCACHE) who claimed third in the drizzly conditions.
"Literally in the first 5k, I rode up to one of my teammates and l was like 'jeez this is just like racing in Belgium' – so technical, bumps in the road, really narrow roads, twisty narrow descents, it was raining – it was crazy," Edwards told broadcasters SBS after following up her Warrnambool Women's Cycling win with victory in New South Wales.
Then in the 125km race for the men at Kangaloon it came down to a small group sprint, with individual rider Heffernan comfortably claiming the uphill victory ahead of Olympic gold medallist Bleddyn while Brayden Bloch (Pinnacle Performance x Royal Bikes) snared third.
"Obviously coming here as an individual you have got to play your cards close to your chest," Heffernan told broadcaster SBS, explaining that it limited the number of moves he could make to win the race. "Getting in that early move and trying to thin the bunch down more and more and then it eventually came back for a sprint and I just backed my sprint in and managed to get the win which was nice."
The tough road race through rolling countryside of the Southern Highlands was on a course described as having sustained climbs with fast descents and it took place over multiple laps of a 25.3km loop. The next round of racing in the six event series is on March 14 and 15, with the Squadron Grafton to Inverell Classic.
Position |
Rider/team |
Time |
|---|---|---|
1 |
Will Heffernan |
3:11:18 |
2 |
Oliver Bleddyn (Team Brennan) |
- |
3 |
Brayden Bloch (Pinnacle Performance x Royal Bikes) |
- |
4 |
Ben Carman (COBRA9 x Leigh Surveyors) |
- |
5 |
Jonas Shelverton (Tasmanian Institute of Sport) |
- |
Position |
Rider/team |
Time |
|---|---|---|
1 |
Sophie Edwards (Butterfields Ziptrak) |
3:01:04 |
2 |
Sophia Sammons (Team Redcat) |
- |
3 |
Isla Bradbury (Nstrmo x Attaquer x CCACHE) |
+2 |
4 |
Tully Schweitzer (Team Redcat) |
+6 |
5 |
Amelie Sanders (Meridian Bikebug) |
+1:21 |
