Herald Sun Tour: Kerby races to opening lead

Jordan Kerby (Suzuki Bontrager) upstaged a big name field to claim dual honours in the 2013 Jayco Herald Sun Tour Prologue in Williamstown on Thursday evening. Kerby will head into Stage 1 wearing the leader's yellow jersey having set the fastest time on the 4.8km out and back course, while he is also leading the under 23 classification.

New Zealander Joseph Cooper (Huon Salmon-Genesys Wealth Advisors), 14th starter for the day kept the hot seat warm with his time of 5:26.48. It proved to be a long wait for the confirmation of the Prologue podium with the first rider to get underway, David Kelly (Total Rush) rounding out the place-getters in third.

"It's an honour," Kerby said of his status as race leader in the 60th edition of the Sun Tour. "There're so many big names. It's going to be a big task trying to keep the jersey but we'll always do what we can."

Kerby was 40th man out of the start house, setting a time of 0:05:25.01 and was forced to wait for 68 riders to race the course to be certain of victory. The 20-year-old was so nervous that he decided to go for a ride, rather than sit out the wait.

"With all the big names in the field, I didn't think I could hold on," Kerby told Cyclingnews. When it was pointed out that the time trial wasn't necessarily the strength of those 'big names' Kerby showed reasonable rationale for someone of his age and experience.

"But they're professionals!" he laughed.

The young Queenslander explained that a strong tailwind on the out lap was a potential issue perhaps forcing riders into a comfortable position, too early.

"I went out conservative and came back as hard as I could," Kerby said.

Wearing yellow will put a bit of pressure on the domestic outfit on Friday with temperatures expected to peak at 44 degrees Celsius in the early afternoon.

"We're going to have to work tomorrow," Kerby said. "Oh well, it's a tough life... I'm very surprised and I'm very happy. The first race of 2013 couldn't have gone better."

Kerby's victory was really not surprising considering some of his results in 2012. In April, he won the Tour of Thailand Prologue before a handful of stage wins in the Australian National Road Series. Late last year, it was announced that the former junior track world champion would ride with UCI Continental outfit, Christina Watches-Onfone.

"I do want to try and get a couple of good results because when I go to Europe I think I'll be a bit of a workhorse for some of the stronger, older guys in the team," Kerby told Cyclingnews.

Defending champion Nathan Haas clocked a time of 0:05:32.35, rounding out a trio of results for the Australian National Team inside the top 10 with Simon Gerrans (0:05:31.54, 8th) and Simon Clarke (0:05:31.69, 9th).

The ability of Kerby to still be in the overall lead after tomorrow's stage is questionable, given both the slim margin and his relative inexperience however he believes that the weather conditions expected for the first stage give him some hope.

"I think the main problem tomorrow might be the heat," Kerby admitted. "If it's 42 degrees, people just get mentally 'it's too hot' kind of thing. And if it's really windy too, it could split up. Tomorrow it's very important to stay up front."

 

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Full Results
1Jordan Kerby (Aus) Suzuki - Bontrager0:05:25.01
2Joseph Cooper (NZl) Huon Salmon-Genesys Wealth Advisers0:00:01.47
3David Kelly (Aus) Hyster / Rush Racing0:00:03.68
4Adam Phelan (Aus) Degani Bakery Café World Tour Academy Team0:00:05.08
5Luke Davison (Aus) SASI Cycling / Feelgood Fitness0:00:05.10
6Anthony Giacoppo (Aus) Huon Salmon-Genesys Wealth Advisers0:00:05.57
7Aaron Donnelly (Aus) Huon Salmon-Genesys Wealth Advisers0:00:06.01
8Simon Gerrans (Aus) Jayco Australia National Team0:00:06.53
9Simon Clarke (Aus) Jayco Australia National Team0:00:06.68
10Nathan Haas (Aus) Jayco Australia National Team0:00:07.34
11Campbell Flakemore (Aus) Degani Bakery Café World Tour Academy Team0:00:10.89
12Mike Northey (NZl) Grays Online New Zealand National Team0:00:10.98
13Jack Beckinsale (Aus) Degani Bakery Café World Tour Academy Team0:00:11.08
14Greg Henderson (NZl) Grays Online New Zealand National Team0:00:11.36
15Thomas Palmer (Aus) Drapac Cycling0:00:11.39
16Damien Howson (Aus) Degani Bakery Café World Tour Academy Team0:00:13.41
17Bradley Linfield (Aus) Degani Bakery Café World Tour Academy Team0:00:13.65
18James Oram (NZl) Grays Online New Zealand National Team0:00:13.66
19Ben Grenda (Aus) Team Polygon Australia0:00:14.64
20Westley Gough (NZl) Grays Online New Zealand National Team0:00:14.90
21Alex Edmonson (Aus) SASI Cycling / Feelgood Fitness0:00:15.78
22Darren Lapthorne (Aus) Drapac Cycling0:00:16.28
23Calvin Watson (Aus) Jayco VIS Apollo0:00:16.57
24Jack Anderson (Aus) Team Budget Forklifts0:00:17.53
25Josh Atkins (NZl) Grays Online New Zealand National Team0:00:17.81
26Wil Walker (Aus) Drapac Cycling0:00:18.87
27Simon Yates (GBr) Great Britain National Team0:00:19.37
28Lachlan Norris (Aus) Jayco VIS Apollo0:00:19.61
29Joseph Lewis (Aus) GPM Data #30:00:20.22
30Nathan Earle (Aus) Huon Salmon-Genesys Wealth Advisers0:00:20.73
31Graham Briggs (GBr) Great Britain National Team0:00:20.87
32Stuart O'Grady (Aus) Jayco Australia National Team0:00:21.81
33Mitchell Lovelock-Fay (Aus) Suzuki - Bontrager0:00:22.13
34Edward White (Aus) GPM Data #30:00:22.54
35Scott Law (Aus) GPM Data #30:00:23.00
36Jay McCarthy (Aus) Jayco Australia National Team0:00:23.06
37Tom Scully (NZl) Grays Online New Zealand National Team0:00:23.19
38Josh Taylor (Aus) GPM Data #30:00:23.55
39Jai Crawford (Aus) Huon Salmon-Genesys Wealth Advisers0:00:25.25
40Sam Witmitz (Aus) SASI Cycling / Feelgood Fitness0:00:25.33
41Sam Horgan (NZl) Team Budget Forklifts0:00:25.38
42Robert John McCartney (Aus) SASI Cycling / Feelgood Fitness0:00:25.51
43Alistair Slater (GBr) Great Britain National Team0:00:25.57
44Kristian House (GBr) Rapha Condor JLT0:00:25.78
45Neil Van Der Ploeg (Aus) Search2retain / health.com.au0:00:25.83
46Dean Windsor (Aus) Suzuki - Bontrager0:00:25.87
47Brendan Johnston (Aus) Suzuki - Bontrager0:00:26.26
48Sam Spokes (Aus) Jayco VIS Apollo0:00:26.39
49Robbie Hucker (Aus) Drapac Cycling0:00:26.45
50Alex Clements (Aus) Degani Bakery Café World Tour Academy Team0:00:26.48
51Richard Handley (GBr) Rapha Condor JLT0:00:26.49
52Jake McMahon (Aus) Team Polygon Australia0:00:27.02
53Rhys Pollock (Aus) Drapac Cycling0:00:27.16
54Michael Cuming (GBr) Rapha Condor JLT0:00:28.12
55Jason Spencer (Aus) Hyster / Rush Racing0:00:28.25
56Tom Leaper (Aus) Hyster / Rush Racing0:00:28.30
57Andrew Roe (Aus) SASI Cycling / Feelgood Fitness0:00:28.45
58Cameron Bayly (Aus) Search2retain / health.com.au0:00:28.82
59Oliver Kent Spark (Aus) Target Trek Racing Team0:00:29.57
60Thomas Hamilton (Aus) Jayco VIS Apollo0:00:29.95
61Brock Roberts (Aus) Target Trek Racing Team0:00:29.98
62Richard Lang (GBr) Great Britain National Team0:00:30.00
63Marc Williams (Aus) Team Budget Forklifts0:00:30.18
64Dan McConnell (Aus) Suzuki - Bontrager0:00:30.84
65Karl Evans (Aus) Team Budget Forklifts0:00:30.86
66Nathan Elliott (Aus) Target Trek Racing Team0:00:30.94
67Mark O'Brien (Aus) SASI Cycling / Feelgood Fitness0:00:31.60
68Alexander Malone (Aus) Satalyst Giant Racing Team0:00:31.68
69Pat Shaw (Aus) Huon Salmon-Genesys Wealth Advisers0:00:32.43
70Aaron Buggle (Irl) Rapha Condor JLT0:00:32.49
71Cal Britten (Aus) Search2retain / health.com.au0:00:32.66
72Alexander Smythe (Aus) Satalyst Giant Racing Team0:00:32.73
73Geoff Straub (Aus) Satalyst Giant Racing Team0:00:32.86
74Christopher Latham (GBr) Great Britain National Team0:00:33.43
75Stuart Shaw (Aus) Suzuki - Bontrager0:00:33.87
76Peter Smith (Aus) Satalyst Giant Racing Team0:00:33.92
77Oliver Martin (Aus) Team Polygon Australia0:00:34.04
78Nick Woods (Aus) Pro Team Down Under0:00:34.23
79Dylan Hately (Aus) Target Trek Racing Team0:00:34.26
80Michael Crosbie (Aus) Hyster / Rush Racing0:00:34.45
81Thomas Donald (Aus) Search2retain / health.com.au0:00:34.78
82Matthew Goss (Aus) Jayco Australia National Team0:00:34.90
83Chris Jory (Aus) GPM Data #30:00:35.37
84Julian Dean (NZl) Jayco VIS Apollo0:00:35.92
85Luke Grivell-Mellor (GBr) Rapha Condor JLT0:00:36.20
86Stuart Smith (Aus) Search2retain / health.com.au0:00:36.84
87Patrick Lane (Aus) Jayco VIS Apollo0:00:37.30
88Jay Bourke (Aus) Target Trek Racing Team0:00:37.45
89Samuel Lowe (GBr) Great Britain National Team0:00:38.15
90Bernard Sulzberger (Aus) Drapac Cycling0:00:38.22
91Sam Rutherford (Aus) GPM Data #30:00:38.35
92Edward Laverack (GBr) Rapha Condor JLT0:00:39.22
93Jasper Ockeloen (Ned) Pro Team Down Under0:00:40.12
94Mathew Marshall (NZl) Pro Team Down Under0:00:41.21
95Ian Richards (Aus) Pro Team Down Under0:00:41.61
96Sam McCallum (Aus) Team Polygon Australia0:00:42.41
97Henry Morley (Aus) Satalyst Giant Racing Team0:00:43.13
98Jayden Copp (Aus) Pro Team Down Under0:00:43.57
99Aaron Slavik (Aus) Satalyst Giant Racing Team0:00:43.61
100Shannon Johnson (Aus) Hyster / Rush Racing0:00:44.24
101Jack Matthews (Aus) Team Polygon Australia0:00:44.42
102Shaun McCarthy (Aus) Team Budget Forklifts0:00:45.52
103Joel Stearnes (Aus) Team Polygon Australia0:00:46.37
104Rowan Dever (Aus) Target Trek Racing Team0:00:47.42
105Ryan MacAnally (Aus) Hyster / Rush Racing0:00:48.90
106Michael Cupitt (Aus) Team Budget Forklifts0:00:49.37
107Rico Rogers (NZl) Search2retain / health.com.au0:00:53.20
108Sean Whitfield (Aus) Pro Team Down Under0:00:55.61

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As a sports journalist and producer since 1997, Jane has covered Olympic and Commonwealth Games, rugby league, motorsport, cricket, surfing, triathlon, rugby union, and golf for print, radio, television and online. However her enduring passion has been cycling.

 

Jane is a former Australian Editor of Cyclingnews from 2011 to 2013 and continues to freelance within the cycling industry.


 

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