Nathan Haas sprints to victory and into the yellow jersey in Ballarat

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An elated Nathan Haas (Garmin Sharp) pipped Matt Goss (Orica-GreenEdge) and a fast finishing Jonathan Cantwell (Drapac) to victory on Stage 1 of the Jayco Herald Sun Tour and doing so, is back in yellow at the race he won in 2011. Despite planning to lead out Steele von Hoff for the win, who had claimed the national criterium championships on the same road a month ago, Haas continued his fine run of form with a fast finish on the slight uphill of Sturt St which also saw him claim precious bonus seconds.

"This is the race where it all started for me and to come back to the race and be back in yellow…today is actually a bigger day for me than taking yellow. It's my first win as a professional with Garmin Sharp," Haas said after the race.

"I didn't quite believe that I actually won. I went over the line double checking that there was no one there and the tears came pretty quick after that."

"He (von Hoff) was going to take my wheel through that final section but one of the great things about Steel is that he thinks about the bigger picture in the sprints and obviously he saw the door open for me and dint get on which left a gap for me and I went."

Haas described that the day's Cat 1 was the decisive factor in causing a split in the field and helped him to the win.

"The steep climb, we noticed that GreenEdge were trying to control it and we really felt the wind getting up and I think Avanti had done some recon so I noticed that they were also moving up and we knew that it was going to be smack down.

"It turned into a group of 20 and we rode it for a while but it wasn't meant to be and I think peoples legs were pretty tired after that."
Haas will look to keep the jersey until the conclusion of the race on Sunday and has a strong team to help him do so. "With a prologue were everyone is within a second of each other going down to 80th its an imperative to get that time on the line if you want to stay in the jersey or even if you want to take control for the gc of the race," he said.

How it unfolded
The early pace was set by UnitedHealthcare as the riders headed out of the portside town of Geelong which hosted the 2010 road world championships. A three man group formed which contained Thomas Hamilton (Jayco Australian U23 team), Nathan Elliot (African Wildlife Safaris) and Alberto Bettiol (Cannondale).

The group's lead went out to a touch of three minutes as Garmin were controlling the chase back in the main bunch. Bettoil claimed maximum points at the intermediate sprint point which also gave him the most aggressive prize for the day.

The race kicked into life on the cat 1 climb of the day as the breakaway's lead had been cut down to 1:20 at the base of the climb and it was Hamilton who put the hammer down to crest the ascent first which would land him the KOM jersey.

Bettiol was 10 seconds behind Hamilton and Elliot was 10 seconds off Bettiol when he came over and with no descent, the flat windy roads didn't give Elliot an opportunity to catch the now leading duo.

Garmin and Avanti had decided to make the climb a little bit harder for the bunch and caused an 18 man selection that soon caught the leaders on the road.

The large group contained Jonathan Cantwell (Aus) Drapac Pro Cycling, Thomas Moses (GBr) Rapha Condor JLT, Jack Bauer (NZl) Garmin Sharp, Neil Van Der Ploeg (Aus) Avanti Cycling Team, John Anderson (Aus) Drapac Pro Cycling, Nathan Haas (Aus) Garmin Sharp, Steele von Hoff (Aus) Garmin Sharp, Jack Haig (Aus) Avanti Cycling Team, Mark O'Brien (Aus) Avanti Cycling Team, Robert Power (Aus) Jayco Australian U23, Lachlan Norris (Aus) Drapac Pro Cycling, Mitch Docker (Aus) Orica-GreenEdge, Matthew Goss (Aus) Orica-GreenEdge, William Clarke (Aus) Drapac Pro Cycling, Simon Gerrans (Aus) Orica-GreenEdge, Alberto Bettiol (Ita) Cannondale Pro Cycling and Thomas Hamilton (Aus) Jayco Australian U23.

The group swelled to a size of 50 riders as Garmin and Orica-GreenEdge came to the front to set it up their sprinters. In the final 4km Will Clarke (Drapac) and Pat Lane (Synergy Baku) tried their luck with an escape but it was all brought back together for Haas to take the stage honours, the points jersey and coveted yellow jersey. 

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