Haig too good on Mount Warning

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Huon Salmon - Genesys Wealth Advisers revealed their intentions for domination of the Battle on the Border, claiming the top two places on the podium on the opening stage, with youngster Jack Haig claiming the win from teammate Jai Crawford.

Haig, with his mountain biking background and solid climbing skill, finished with a 22-second advantage over noted climber Crawford with the weekend's Tour of the South West winner Eric Sheppard (search2retain p/b health.com.au) a further seven seconds in arrears.

With around 20km remaining in the stage, 14 riders edged clear of the peloton including a dangerous trio from Huon Genesys: Haig, Crawford and Anthony Giacoppo.

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"Small groups tried to get away but nothing really stuck," Haig explained following his win.

"I went up the road in a break with teammates Jai Crawford and Anthony Giacoppo – AJ did a fair bit of work along with the Satalyst-Giant lads and Budget to keep the bunch away."

The 4.4km decisive climb strung the lead group out and Haig made a decision to move to the front.

"The last 1.8 kms was really quite steep, I got on the front because I’m not that good at attacking – I went as hard as I could and tried to ride them off my wheel and it managed to work," he said.

How it unfolded:

After a lengthy neutral zone of 14km, former Australian Under23 Criterium Champion Ben Grenda (Polygon) hit out off the front as the race approached the 30km mark. The 23-year-old got out to a lead of around 30 seconds when a photo moto crashed into the bunch, bringing at least five riders down and forcing the race to be neutralised.

When the race resumed at 37.5kms, Grenda was able to maintain his 20 second advantage but with the first KOM of the day looming at Hogans Road Hill and the actual race reduced to 70km, the bunch was not going to let the Launceston rider go far and he was reeled in.

Darcy Ellerm-Norton (Team Downunder), Kritian Juel (Budget Forklifts), Craig Evers (Racing Kangaroos) and Saxon Irvine (Downer EDi Mining) led the way over the climb.

As the race continued over the out-and-back part of the course, a group of seven riders got away from the bunch, under the watch of the Huon-Genesys train, no doubt eager to launch the likes of Jai Crawford up the final climbs of the day and stake a claim on GC.

A solid breakaway of nearly 20 riders had emerged with 30km of racing remaining, the lumpy back end of the course aiding their advantage.

Anthony Giacoppo (Huon-Genesys), Matt Marshall (Satalyst-Giant), Nicholas Woods (Team Downunder), and Cameron Bayly (search2retain-health) snapped up the points on the second KOM, as the break's lead blew out of 45 seconds.

Bayly's luck soon run out, suffering a puncture and dropping out of the break at the race closed in on 10kms to go and the hill-top finish on Mount Warning.

Haig remained optimistic about his chances of holding on to the lead for the remainder of the tour.

"The rest of the tour is shaping up quite well – I know there is a time trial and I like to think that is one of my strong suits," he said. "So for me it’s about not losing time and then hopefully picking some up in the TT, and really I just look forward to racing, the scenery is beautiful; I’d love to move here."

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