The Perth Olympian recorded a second and first-placed finish from the two stages to lead the general classification standings after day one, with 115km and 91.6km road races to come over the weekend. 

Kicking off the tour with a 1.6km individual time trial at Wodonga Tafe Motorsports Training Facility, Baker clocked 2:03.57 on a wet track to finish one spot and less than a second behind winner Ashlee Ankudinoff. 

Victorian Ruby Roseman-Gannon was the next best of the TIS riders, finishing six seconds off the pace in eighth, while Launceston’s Lauren Perry (12th) and Devonport’s Anya Louw (25th) also impressed.

Baker then pipped Ankudinoff in a criterium around the same course, sprinting clear of a 44-rider bunch in the home stretch with Roseman-Gannon (4th), Louw (18th) and Perry (29th) all two seconds off the pace.

The team is just one second behind Specialized Women’s Racing in the teams classification.

Conor Leahy was the pick of the TIS men’s riders in the time trial, finishing six seconds back from Jensen Plowright’s 1:52.01 lap.

The effort was enough for 25th place, while Zack Gilmore (39th), Josh Duffy (45th) and Jake Oliver (108th) were all at least eight seconds off the pace.

Gilmore finished 15^th in the men’s criterium, crossing the line in the same bunch as winner and tour leader Sam Welsford, with Oliver next back in 92^nd.