Cyclesport Victoria

In a remarkable display of dominance, Tasmanian Will Clarke (Genysis Wealth Advisers) took out all three stages and overall General Classification in the 2010 Great Doherty Tour of the Southern Grampians.  

In both road stages, Clarke attacked at the opportune time, and soloed to victory, leaving the rest of his field in his wake.  Team-mate Ben Grenda rode strongly to finish second and make it 1-2 for the Genysis Wealth Advisers, who also secured the victory in the Teams Classification by a remarkable 26 minutes.   Clarke and Grenda also dominated the KOM prizes taking 1st and 2nd in that competition as well.  

In third place, an in-form Pat Shaw (Virgin Blue – RBS Morgans) edged out Tour of the Southern Grampians most consistent placegetter Shaun McCarthy (Great Doherty). 

It was a close fought race in the Women’s division, with Lisa Jacobs (VIS) taking the yellow jersey, winning a three way sprint with Jo Hogan (Prime Estate) and Kendelle Hodges (RACE). However, bonus sprint points in the criterium allowed Hogan to steal the yellow from Jacobs in Stage 2. 

Following the moves in Stage 3, Hogan finished fourth in the stage and managed to hang onto the yellow and take the overall win by a mere 18 seconds over Jacobs, with Hodges finished third for the second year running.  Finishing equal on points Hogan took the KOM title on a countback based on her win in the final KOM on Sunday morning.

In B Grade, a close battle was waged between the top 6.  After nearly 250km and 7 hours of racing less than a minute separated the top 6 riders.  By the end the two up and coming juniors Brent Nelson and Ciaran Conaughton took 1st and 2nd respectively.  Guy Green rode an impressive race to finish 1st Master and only 85 seconds behind the winner.

In C Grade, the three riders Matthew Heath, Tom Paton and Rick Sanders each took 1 stage each, however Matthew Heath prevailed by 27 sec largely attributable to the 50 sec he gained in time bonuses in the criterium on Saturday afternoon.

In D Grade, Tom Barry (MTBA) demonstrated himself as a rising star, leading from start to finish and taking the overall GC ahead of father and son combination Matt and Doug Reynolds (4th) and Adam Versteege who took 3rd on a count back due to his win on the final stage.