TASMANIAN rider Wes Sulzberger (Drapac Pro Cycling) battled wind, rain and hail to clinch the Tour of Tasmania’s second stage yesterday, holding on as his initial four-man breakaway was whittled down to just two riders for the final sprint.
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Sulzberger outpaced 18-year-old Ben O’Connor (Satalyst Giant) on the ride into New Norfolk at the end of a challenging 119.9-kilometre course from the banks of Lake Pedder at Strathgordon.
Ahead of his home-town stage today, Launceston-born Sulzberger was pleased with the victory, alongside a fifth-place finish for brother Bernard (Drapac Pro Cycling).
‘‘I was actually hoping to go up the road tomorrow because my mum and dad and sister and mother-in-law will be there watching,’’ the former Orica-GreenEDGE cyclist commented post-race.
‘‘So a day early, but I’m really happy with the win.’’
Sulzberger joined the breakaway of O’Connor, Jordan Davies (St George Merida) and Darcy Ellerm-Norton (Subaru Albion) just after the 23km mark, as the group worked together to form an imposing three-minute time gap.
‘‘There were a lot of attacks early on, and then a group of three riders established and I decided to go across and see if it stuck,’’ Sulzberger said. ‘‘There were just four of us, and we were in for the long haul.’’
While Davies and Ellerm-Norton dropped back to the peloton on the descent into New Norfolk, Sulzberger and O’Connor held off the chasing pack to finish almost a minute ahead of the third-placed Raphael Freinstein (Charter-Mason).
‘‘I thought once we hit over 2 minutes, and if we could keep increasing the gap, then hopefully I could come away at the end with at least 1.50, and with the time bonuses I could be in the leader’s jersey,’’ Sulzberger said.
The final 48-second time gap wasn’t enough to force a change in the yellow jersey, with Ben Dyball (Avanti Racing) retaining the lead going into stage 3.
After two trying stages in arduous Tasmanian conditions, the riders will turn their attention to a 93km road race from Launceston to Grindelwald today.