Tough, tight day in Hills
January 22 2008
It
was a tough but finally fruitful day for the riders of Team UniSA-Australia as they battled hot temperatures and tightly controlled
race tactics, to this time bring Allan Davis to a third place
finish.
In a similar turn of events to yesterday’s stage a group of three
riders (Offredo of Francaise Des Jeux, Poulhies of Ag2R-La Mondiale
and Crosbie of Bouygues Telecom) broke away early and held the
peloton at bay for most of the race.
The lead stretched to almost four minutes after the first lap of the
leafy hillside circuit and unfortunately for the UniSA team there
was no Richie Porte in the breakaway group today.
By the second loop of the circuit the gap had only slightly
decreased, to around three and a half mins, with the breakaway trio
maintaining a solid riding tempo to keep the peloton at bay.
A series of attacks, including a quick burst by UniSA-Australia’s
Matt Wilson on the second to last lap, failed to make a serious
impression on the race.
Once again the peloton drew them in and the stage was set for
another mass sprint to the finish.
Wilson said the day was very tight but that was par for the course
in racing at this calibre.
“It was very controlled. It was frustrating for the team but that’s
to be expected in this kind of cycling…the big races are
controlled.”
“There’s nothing you can do, you just have to wait for an
opportunity, pick one and go for it.”
Team Manager Dave Sanders echoed Wilson’s comments and recognised
the team’s efforts to again work Davis into a successful final
sprint position.
“The day was hard to read. There was no point going out early, but
they had to set up the sprint. We have an excellent sprinter in
Allan (Davis) and it’s a credit to the guys in the team to again set
him up for the finish.”
“It was a frustrating day but it will happen for us eventually.”
Yesterday’s team hero Richie Porte sat back in the peloton and tried
to focus on recovering from his huge effort.