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Cantwell takes criterium win at Sun Tour opener
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It was a pair of Australian sprinters battling for opening honors at the Jayco Herald Sun Tour Sunday in the former gold-mining town of Ballarat, with Fly V Australia’s Jonathan Cantwell edging out Garmin-Slipstream’s Chris Sutton in a bike throw to the line.
Cantwell got the better of Sutton after the Garmin rider opened his sprint 200 meters from the line out of a group of 18 riders that separated from the peloton halfway through the 60-minute “preface” criterium, which does not count towards the overall classification.
Though not quite a photo finish, Cantwell’s winning margin was no more than an inch, both men said.
Several breakaway attempts and a solo move by 19-year-old Michael Matthews (Jayco AIS) marked the early half of the race.
However as the peloton ramped up the speed to bring the move back, the fast pace, combined with the fact that the stage didn’t count towards GC, saw the peloton split into several groups. Matthews was brought back with 12 laps remaining, and soon after a group of 18 riders formed at the front.
In the group of 18 were Garmin’s Svein Tuft, Ricardo Van Der Velde and Sutton; Fly V’s Phil Zajicek, Bernie Sulzberger and Cantwell; Bissell’s Ben Jacques-Maynes; Stuart Shaw and Gene Bates (Drapac-Porsche); Richard Lang (Budget Forklifts); David Tanner (Rock Racing); and Richie Porte (Jayco Australian National.)
The group opened up as much as a 52-second gap over the peloton but managed to remain intact until the last 200 meters.
“I had great support in that group with Phil Zajicek and Bernie Sulzberger with me,” Cantwell said. “Garmin-Slipstream had three as well. Those guys rode solid on the front, to establish the break, and then to cover moves. I couldn’t have asked for anything else.”
The 2.2 km course, laid out on a slope in the town’s downtown area, offered up several tight turns, with the final right-hander coming a full 600 meters from the line. That distance, combined with the uphill incline and reasonable crosswinds, almost guaranteed that someone would start their finishing sprint too early. Sunday that man was Sutton.
“It was real close, but I knew I’d been beaten at the line. I hit out too early,” Sutton said. “I went with my uncle’s motto, “when in doubt, hit it out.’ Every lap I was testing gears as I came around, trying to figure out what would be best for the uphill sprint. I sort of balked at one point, but I didn’t want to get swamped, so I went straight to the right-hand barrier, but from 200 meters out into a block headwind.”
Cantwell said that whether or not it was going to be a bunch sprint or out of a breakaway, he’s known where he wanted to start his sprint even before the race began.
“I said to my guys before the race even started that it was going to be such a tough sprint,” Cantwell said. “We had an exact plan of where we wanted to start the sprint. We figured out our markings on the final straight. I knew Sutton was going to go, he is such a strong bike rider, and he’s in great form at the moment. He went, and I came off his wheel with 100 meters to go, so I had a good run at him. But it took everything I had to come over him, and I only beat him by an inch.”
Sutton said throughout the race he was never sure whether or not Fly V would be riding for Sulzberger, the national criterium champion, or Cantwell.
“Jono was always riding behind Bernie,” Sutton said. “But that doesn’t necessarily mean Bernie is necessarily working for Jono Cantwell.”
However Sulzberger, who recently won the overall at the Tour of Tasmania while Cantwell took three stages, said the team was always sure which rider it was riding for.
“Jono is a faster sprinter than I am,” Sulzberger said. “He’s got more of a kick.”
Cantwell said the team has used that dynamic all season long to confuse its opponents, and benefit from having options.
“Bernie’s the national criterium champion, so he’s always one that people look out for,” Cantwell said. “Every tour varies between him and I, it just depends on the course structure, if it’s hilly, how many corners there are, and who’s feeling the best. We just take it race by race. Sometimes I’ll work for him. At Superweek I raced 18 days straight for him, and in the tours he pays me back, like today. In the sprints I think I am the leading sprinter for the team, but he’s such a gifted, strong, talented rider. He have so many cards up our sleeve, we can play anything.”
Sutton said he’s got his eye on winning the overall, as his father Gary Sutton and his uncle Shane Sutton both have. Shane Sutton won the race in 1983, and Gary Sutton won the race in 1984, the year Chris Sutton was born.
“I’ve got good form,” Sutton said. “I’m going to try to ride for general.”
With no summit finishes, a short 10km time trial and several stages run along rolling windy terrain, most riders are predicting that the general classification at this year’s Sun Tour will be determined out of a breakaway. And while Sunday’s stage in Ballarat was warm and sunny, the forecast for the following stages is wet and cold.
NOTES
Australian national road champion Peter Macdonald (Drapac-Porsche) crashed and was seen nursing what appeared to be a broken collarbone. His participation in Monday’s stage, which starts and finishes in Ballarat, is in doubt.
