The Herald Sun Tour peloton got a surprise on stage 2 when they had to ride over gravel roads after roadworks forced organisers to take a diversion. The riders were originally scheduled to head along Foxhow road over Lake Corangamite, en route from Warrnambool to Ballarat, but that became untenable due to some roadworks being brought forward ahead of schedule.
The new route included a seven-kilometre sector of dirt and gravel road. Coming halfway through the 208.9-kilometre stage, the sector was neutralised by commissaire Greg Griffiths when both the breakaway and peloton was on the gravel, the main issue being that the dirt surface was too soft for the riders to navigate safely.
At the finish of the stage in Buninyong, which was won by Mads Pedersen (Trek-Segafredo) in a bunch sprint, opinions were mixed as to whether the right call had been made. For race director John Trevorrow, "it was the right decision" but not necessarily the one he wanted.
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"It wasn't planned. We never planned to put the gravel in, but because of the roadworks, it was forced upon us. So that is what happened, a deviation because of roadworks," Trevorrow told Cyclingnews.
"I thought it was the right decision. It was disappointing, of course. We don't want to neutralise a bike race but that sometimes happens. Even in Milan-San Remo a few years ago things like that [happen]. That is bike racing, as they say."
Griffiths provided an explanation about his decision to CyclingTips post-stage.
You can read more at Cyclingnews.com
via Cyclingnews Latest News http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/disagreement-after-herald-sun-tour-neutralises-gravel-sector
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