Dyball lands Virgin Blue Canberra stage win

Ben Dyball took a 1:06 minute lead at the Canberra Tour after winning the opening stage for his Virgin Blue-RBS Morgans squad. Dyball crossed the finish line in the Namadgi National Park ahead of an in-form Will Clarke (Genesys Wealth Advisers) after 60 kilometres of competition.

The men’s event was stopped just a few kilometres into the opening stage, to address issues with the peloton’s compliance with road rules. Once the racing recommenced Andrew Crawley (McDonagh Blake-Witness) and Alex Malone (Bike Bug North Sydney) took a minute lead over the peloton, where Genesys Wealth Advisers patrolled to ensure the margin didn’t get out of hand.

With Clarke the tour’s defending champion, the onus was on Genesys to pull Crawley and Malone’s margin back before the day’s main climb. As the pairing were caught at the climb’s base Cameron Peterson (Virgin Blue-RBS Morgans) initiated an attack which narrowed down the peloton, an effort he managed to sustain in order to finish third overall.

Dyball’s climbing prowess was evident as he repeatedly accelerated at the front of the lead group, narrowing the selection with each surge. Dyball caught Peterson on the climb, and continued his surge to finish 54 seconds ahead of Clarke.

Jacobs takes solo success

The women’s race may have been 20 kilometres shorter than the men’s, but Lisa Jacobs was equally as dominate in victory. Jacobs climbed her way to the finish line some 31 seconds ahead of local rider Bron Ryan (ACTAS-NTID).

Joanne Hogan (Prime Estate) crossed the line in the same time as Ryan, but couldn’t surpass the ACT Academy of Sport rider over the final metres. Hogan, in her final race with Prime Estate, did have some consolation in taking the race’s mountains classification lead.

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