The 2013 National Road Series (NRS) season rolled out yesterday on Rottnest Island, with the debut of the Tour de Perth.
The four stage race is split between Rottnest and the mainland, with the island stages racing similar roads.
The sunshine and blue skies of stage one were nowhere to be seen on stage two, as the riders faced a wet day in the saddle.
The individual time trial was a brief 20km route differing slightly from stage one, as the race took the riders around the southern rather than northern side of Lake Herschel and Baghdad on a clockwise route.
137 riders finished stage one and on the start line this morning another rider was absent with Thomas Unicomb (Woodside) not starting the jaunt around the island. Perhaps missing riders were busying themself with the local flora and fauna.
With 136 riders set to roll down the start ramp, Cameron Bayly (search2retain-health) got the stage underway posting a time of 28:02.
This proved to be quite some way off the money and he soon lost his lead to Michael Culpitt (Budget Forklifts), who shaved almost a minute and a half of Bayly’s time.
Culpitt hardly had time to warm himself in the hot seat after his cold ride before Pat Shaw (Huon Salmon-Genesys Wealth Advisers) came in a handful of seconds quicker. Shaw was barely off his bike before Rhys Gillett (African Wildlife Safaris Cycling Team) dethroned him by three seconds.
The hot seat was becoming a revolving door as Jacob Kauffmann (Budget Forklifts) became the next rider to briefly post the fastest time, just shy of 26 minutes, and the rider to take his place at the top of the leader board did so with the first sub-26 minute ride.
The top ten all finished in a time under 26 minutes.
Aaron Donnelly (Huon Salmon-Genesys Wealth Advisers) came in with a time of 25:33, showing little regard for the wet roads. As the bad weather continued to slow the riders, Donnelly’s time was looking good for a podium finish.
The rain wasn’t stopping Harry Carpenter (Euride Racing) though as he went a little closer to the 25 minute mark with a time 11 seconds quicker than Donnelly.
Carpenter was looking good to hold onto his lead with persistent rain ensuring conditions weren’t looking any better for the last ten riders.
The race for the general classification begun to heat up as the top 20 riders from yesterday went out on the course.
Anthony Giacoppo (Huon Salmon-Genesys Wealth Advisers) posted a time of 25:43, just behind teammate Donnelly, to slot into third overall. This meant the top three on the stage were also the top three overall, with Carpenter sitting pretty in yellow.
With just one national ITT champion in the peloton, Joe Cooper (Huon Salmon-Genesys Wealth Advisers) was always going to be a favourite for today, even in the less than ideal conditions.
Cooper rolled over the line in fourth place on stage one with the same time as stage victor Jack Anderson (Budget-Forklifts), suggesting the New Zealand national champion would be a favoutire for the overall after today due to his time trialling prowess.
Cooper blitzed the field with the only time under 25 minutes to take the stage win and slot into first on the GC.
The Genesys rider had only a short wait for Anderson to roll in with a time over a minute slower before he could celebrate the victory.
Sam Horgan (Budget-Forklifts) finished behind Anderson for a second consecutive stage but it was Neil Van Der Ploeg’s (search2retain-health) time that was the closest to Cooper.
Van Der Ploeg’s brother Paul squeezed into the top ten to make it a successful day for the family.
Van Der Ploeg’s ride was good enough for him to move up from third to second overall, just 51 seconds behind Cooper.
Genesys teammate Jack Haig is just eight seconds off Van Der Ploeg after finishing sixth on the stage and completes the top three overall.
The early leading trio of Carpenter, Donnelly and Giacoppo were all bumped one position down by Cooper’s ride but their rides were good enough for a spot in the top ten on general classification.
After Cooper on GC, rounding out the top ten overall with just 32 seconds between them, are Neil Van Der Ploeg, Jack Haig, Harry Carpenter in fourth, stage one winner Jack Anderson, Aaron Donnelly, Sam Horgan, Anthony Giacoppo, Nathan Earle (Huon Salmon-Genesys Wealth Advisers) and Paul Van Der Ploeg (Satalyst Giant Racing Team).
Genesys are in the strongest position with five of their riders in the top ten and wouldn’t like to lose the overall from here.
Budget-Forklifts are in the mix with Anderson and Horgan in top ten but the depth of Genesys appears it may only be challenged by Drapac later in the series.
The race moves onto the mainland for stage three, with a 140km route around Kalamunda. With category climbs throughout the race, Cooper will be challenged to defend his yellow jersey.
The strength and depth of Genesys was well and truly on show today and the team is well placed for overall victory with Sunday’s stage a relatively flat race around Bold Park.
Stage three should decide the overall in what is likely to be the most animated of the four stages.
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