Neil van der Ploeg (Avanti RacingTeam) recovered from two falls to take a spectacular win in slippery Tasmanian conditions, powering ahead of Steele von Hoff (Garmin-Sharp) to claim the Stan Siejka Launceston Cycling Classic crown.
With Team Sky duo Richie Porte and Chris Froome withdrawing from the race for safety reasons, all eyes turned Caleb Ewan, winner of last year’s race and U23 silver medallist at the World Championships. Yet the Orica-GreenEdge sprinter crashed in the latter stages of the race, opening up the field for van der Ploeg to surge home after two-man breakaway was caught on the final lap.
When asked about the British rider’s decision, race winner van der Ploeg was sympathetic. "It’s completely understandable. Those guys have massive goals with the Tour de France etc, and they are also not the type of riders that like this sort of race. They gave it a crack, and pretty much everyone else pulled out as well."
Yet despite the best attempts of several breakaway groups, no attack was able to able to distance themselves from former national criterium title-holder Wells. Approaching the final straight, she swung around Elvin and powered away to take the win, overcoming residual tiredness from a tough day in the saddle.
"I had to be very careful in the last two laps to flush out some soreness in the legs following all those attacks," Wells admitted after the race.
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