For the second day in a row, Andrew L'Esperance got the better of Leandre Bouchard in a two-up sprint for the stage win. The Canadian retains his second place on GC with compatriot Bouchard holding onto the race lead with one stage to come.
"Leandre was very strong and marked me very closely. I did try to get away, but inside the 5km mark it was going to come down to a sprint," L'Esperance said, adding he is still dreaming of taking the win tomorrow. "I tried to put pressure on him [Bouchard], but no chance. I'm now 1:30min back, so tomorrow is going to be exciting. It will be every man for themselves and we'll see what happens."
For Bouchard, who is racing his first mountain bike stage race, explained that he was aiming to conserve ahead of the challenging final day time trial to Port Douglas.
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"Today my goal was always to keep my lead - I knew, as long as I can stay with him I knew the time gap would remain the same," Bouchard said. "It's going to be interesting to see how we both react tomorrow after seven brutal stages. But I'm still feeling very well – Andrew seems still fresh, but I'm feeling good also. So I think I should be good for tomorrow, it'll be a short race, no tactics, so it will be all or nothing."
Hiroyuki Okamoto rode into third place overall but is well over two hours in arrears to the leading duo. The Japanese rider will take a ten-minute lead into the final stage over Ben May as he aims to make the podium.
Hayley Smith will start the stage tomorrow aiming to make it to Port Douglas and secure the women's GC victory.
You can read more at Cyclingnews.com
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