It was a mixed day for local cyclists as the Tour of Tasmania's men's stage one took off from George Town to Kayena.
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Team CCACHE x Par Kup's Liam White had a 29th birthday to remember as he crossed the line in 2:50:51 hours, marginally ahead of Cycling Development Foundation's Mitchell McGovern and teammate William Heffernan.
The opening 24 kilometres of the 106km stage was the first sprint sector which was taken out by Criterion BEx Racing's Ren Bao Tsen with individual riders Jack Marshall and Matthew Sherwin right behind.
![Tour of Tasmania turns from Auburn Road into Rowella Road on its way to the finish of stage one. Picture by Phillip Biggs Tour of Tasmania turns from Auburn Road into Rowella Road on its way to the finish of stage one. Picture by Phillip Biggs](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/196462108/055661dc-fd5c-49ed-acb5-b0ce58a74357.jpg/r0_0_5000_3333_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
Approaching Beauty Point, a breakaway trio of Marshall, Tsen and CCACHE x Par Kup's Tali Lane-Walsh formed and would finish the second sprint sector in that order.
The three riders would gain a distance of more than three and a half minutes with the chasing peloton happy to give them space up until around 20km remaining.
Holwell presented as the main climb of the day at the halfway mark and it quickly spread the peloton out.
Around 40 riders would make it over the mountain together behind the breakaway, with Lane-Walsh taking out maximum points in that section, while Marshall and Tsen rounded out the podium.
As the race closed in on Kayena, White used his strong sprinting ability to close down on the leading pack before ensuring his front wheel crossed the line first.
For the heavily Tasmanian-influenced Team Bridgelane, Zac Marriage (fourth) was first across the line, beating out ARA Skip Capital's James Derrick, who finished fifth.
It was a good day for Tasmania's Tom Cheesman, who came home sixth for UTAS/Fair Brothers Development Team, while teammates Lachie Oliver (12th) and Tom Clayton (24th) also performed well.
Burnie's Alex Eaves had a solid day to finish ninth, ahead of brother Will in 21st.
Bridgelane's James Panizza (28th) and Matthew Greenwood (30th) claimed top-30 placings, while Commonwealth Games mountain biker Sam Fox finished 50th.
It was a tough day for Launceston rider and Team Bridgelane member Sam McKee, who was unable to finish the stage.
The Tour of Tasmania's men's second stage is a 71.5km ride from Longford to Poatina on Friday, with it also marking the start of the women's event.
Stage one result
- Liam White 2:50:51
- Mitchell McGovern +0
- William Heffernan +0
- Zac Marriage +0
- James Derrick +0
General classification
- Liam White 2:52:04
- Mitchell McGovern +2
- Ren Bao Tsen +4
- Max Hobson +6
- James Derrick +7
Young rider classification
- Mitchell McGovern 2:52:06
- Ren Bao Tsen +2
- Finn Walsh +6
- Oliver Simms +6
- William Heffernan +7
Teams general classification
- ARA Skip Capital 8:36:36
- UTAS/Fair Brothers Development Team +3
- Team BridgeLane +4
- Cycling Development Foundation +6
- Criterion BEx Racing +9