Giacoppo puts first win on the board after Murwillumbah sprint

Image 1 of 20

Women's NRS

Miranda Griffiths (Holden Women) has won the opening stage of the women's Battle of the Border in Murwillumbah. The St. Kilda cyclist outsprinted defending National Road Series Champion Ruth Corset (Pensar SPM Racing) after the two riders featured in the stage-long breakaway with Suzuki Bontrager's Emily Roper.

Queensland 18-year-old Roper went back to the field after around 60km of racing on one of the major climbs of the day, leaving Griffiths and Corset to fight it out.

Katrin Garfoot (Pensar SPM Racing) off the back of her overall victory at the Mersey Valley Tour last week, led in the field for third place across the finish line.

"Ruth and I worked really well together all the way to the finish and we were milking the time gap," explained Griffiths, 31, with the peloton clearly happy to let the pair fight it out for the win.

Corset explained that leg cramps hampered the back end of her race.

"I was completely wrecked, [and] Miranda hesitated so I went early, but she was too strong."

The women's Battle of the Border continues Saturday.

The men's second stage was set to begin following the women's race, with Jack Haig (Huon Salmon - Genesys Wealth Advisers) leader on general classification.

Men's NRS

Anthony Giacoppo (Huon Salmon-Genesys Wealth Advisers) opened his winning account for the 2013 Subaru National Road Series with a fine win of Stage 2 into Murwillumbah at Battle on the Border. Giacoppo bested Neil Van Der Ploeg (search2retain-health) and sprint classification leader Jesse Kerrison for his first NRS win of the year at the end of the 137km stage.

Battle on the Border yellow jersey wearer and yesterday's stage Mount Warning stage winner Jack Haig (Huon Salmon-Genesys) finished safely in the 40-odd rider bunch to retain his lead in the general classification. Second-place overall and teammate of Haig, Jai Crawford finished on the same time as the day's winner Giacoppo along with third-overall Eric Sheppard (search2retain-health) to leave the GC essentially unchanged ahead of tomorrow's double-header time trial and afternoon criterium.

The day was aggressive from start to finish but the only significant move came from former Australian road champion Darren Lapthorne and Darcy Ellerm-Norton (Pro Team Downunder) who clipped away on the second KoM of the day at the 54km mark. The duo worked well together to establish more than a minute lead over the relentless bunch with Lapthorne eventually leaving Ellerm-Norton to fly the flag alone. Ellerm-Norton was eventually reeled in with 34km remaining as a bunch sprint became inevitable.

Giacoppo's win marked a return to the top step for the rider who won the Scody Cup last year along with numerous victories throughout the year. The rider from Western Australia's city of Perth admitted that he hasn't enjoyed the same level of success in the early part of the year - as he did in 2012 and that getting the win at Battle on the Border, after missing out on his home tour at the Woodside Tour de Perth was a relief.

"We rode all day [on the front] so we weren't really concentrating on going for the sprint," Giacoppo told Cyclingnews. "We said we would just sort of float off the back of others and see where we end up.

"I was on the right-hand side of the bunch and Drapac hit out and they had Van Der Ploeg behind them so I just waited and waited. Once I got a little bit of a gap I hopped out and went for it. I went with about 350-400 to go but it was quite a fast sprint, in the 53, 11 and when you are spinning that you are definitely moving.

"It's good to finally have some legs. The first part of the season has certainly not been as good a start as last year. I was due to get some good legs soon and now they've come. Hopefully they stick around for a while," Giacoppo added.

Second-place Van Der Ploeg was relatively pleased with the day's result considering he maybe burned a bit too much energy in the early part of the race - which essentially ended the day for approximately 40 riders who were dispatched on the day's toughest climb that came within the opening 25km.

"We had the plan to make that [the opening 25 kilometres really hard] so I did a few attacks before the climb and between the second one I did another solo attack which in hindsight was really, really dumb," Van Der Ploeg told Cyclingnews. "I had to turn myself inside out to stay with the group. I thought I was doomed but I managed to claw my way back on the descent.

The search2retain-health squad was more concerned with maintaining Sheppard's position in the general classification but once it seemed like a bunch sprint would occur, the team switch their tact.

"In the last 10 k we had to switch to sprint mode once we realised that was going to be the outcome. The sprint was chaotic. There's quite a few good sprinters in the NRS so there's lots of guys fighting for wheels. I was just in that jostle for position and the finish snuck up on me a little bit. Giacoppo went early and did a really long sprint and the road was pretty much blocked after that. I was itching to get out but Giacoppo was just too strong. I'm Sort of happy with second but at the same time I'll be really happy when I get a win."

Local lad and sprint classification leader Kerrison said many of the riders were unfamiliar with the finish but he used his local knowledge to good use in the sprint. It may not have netted the win but it kept him in the green jersey.

"I was in perfect position until about 400 to go and then Drapac came by and I got swamped. I couldn't really get out until about 80 to go and by that time Giacoppo and Van Der Ploag were already up the road. I'm stoked because it is my first NRS podium and I've kept the sprinter's jersey.

Both the men's and women's fields will face a double-header stage tomorrow with the day split between a morning time trial and an afternoon criterium.

Results