Davison wins 2012 Goulburn to Sydney Classic

Luke Davison (Budget Forklifts) has added to his rapidly expanded palmares with his victory at the 2012 Goulburn to Sydney. The Australian National Road Series leader took out the 170km classic from Scott Law (Illawarra CC) and national Criterium Champion Anthony Giacoppo (Genesys Wealth Advisers).

The race has seen several breakaways but with some of the scene's top sprinters in exceptional form, the race which in 2012 is celebrating its 110-year-anniversary seemed destined to come down to a bunch finish. Drapac's Lachlan Norris who had been ultra-aggressive all day had been away with Search2Retain's Luke Fetch in the dying kilometres however with four left to race, the field was back together.

Through the final roundabout and up the slight incline for the final 200 metres to the finish, Giacoppo got the jump on Davison before the Budget rider edged just ahead. Meantime, Law was going toe-to-toe with Glenn O'Shea (SASI) for Davison's wheel as he got the better of Giacoppo for a clear run to the finish line. Davison celebrated and savoured the moment in front of family in friends in Camden.

"I just looked for the finish line; I don't worry about who's doing what," Davison explained of the run into the finish. "With 200 metres to go, you've just got to go.

"It's great to re-pay the boys for all the hard work they did today."

Davison said that the emphasis placed on the race can make it difficult knowing what to expect.

"I didn't get my hopes up I just did my best," he said. "I think after the finish today it's the first time I really savoured the win and had a really good thought about it."

Today's win was his 11th win in the NRS for the season.

Law, Australian under 23 Criterium Champion is only recently home following his stint in Europe racing for the An Post – Sean Kelly team so the 21-year-old was very happy with is runner-up placing.

"It was a great result today considering I was probably one of the only ones who was by myself," he told Cyclingnews. "Hopefully there's better things to come."

Heading into 2012, Giacoppo loomed as the man to beat when it came to the sprint finishes, thanks mostly to his win at the Australian Criterium Championship and others in Taiwan, Borneo and Kumano. Davison may have the better of him at the moment, but Giacoppo remains pleased with the way the year is panning out.

"I wouldn't say [I'm] marked but it does make it a little bit harder because it put a bit of pressure on," he told Cyclingnews. "People are watching you. I'm still happy with the way things are going and I couldn't ask for much more."

Giacoppo also has no doubt that head-to-head, Davison has slightly more speed.

"Once he gets going and he gets a clear road in front of him he's pretty hard to beat," the West Australian explained. "Starting behind him makes it even harder. I got a bit of a jump on him today but had to come around the outside and doing so probably made myself go slightly further. He put himself in the right spot."

How it unfolded -

The morning fog had just about lifted when racing got underway shortly before 8am in Goulburn and it wasn’t long out of the neutral zone when numerous riders attacked.

The first real threat came via Nicholas D’Ambrosio (Parramatta Race Team), Brock Roberts (John West Cycling) and Alex Malone (Plan B Racing) with the trio gaining 21 seconds on the peloton before being brought back to the bunch.

Suzuki-Trek’s Mitchell Pearson was next to try his luck moving ahead of the peloton on his own before being joined by Rhys Pollock (Drapac Professional Cycling) and three other riders. The bunch got strung out but the group was caught at the 20 kilometre mark.

Pollock was obviously feeling good and once again attacked, this time being joined by Michael Cupitt (Budget Forklifts), Aaron Donnelly (Jayco-HoneyShotz) and Ed White (GPM - Wilson Racing) and with 32kms of racing complete, their gap was out to 38 seconds.

Genesys Wealth Advisers attempted to bridge the gap but the Orange Army was soon shut down at the leaders’ advantage continued to grow. A small crash in the bunch took down Drapac’s Darren Lapthorne and Genesys’ Jai Crawford however both recovered quickly.

Meantime the leading quartet hit the first KOM of the day near Berrima with Pollock crossing the line first, followed by White and Cupitt.

With 80kms of racing done, the gap was out to a maximum of 2:55 and the advantage was maintained as the escape group went through Mittagong at the 88km mark.

The gap started to come down and with Genesys driving the peloton, the bunch was 2:15 in arrears after 100km of racing. The advantage hanging at around 2:00 after briefly sitting at 1:53, the Bargo sprint was taken out by Donnelly, with Cupitt and Pollock next best. The gap continued to come down at 1:39 as the breakaway reached the Tahmoor sprint with Donnelly again first across the line in a repeat of the first result. The next challenge was the first ascent of Razorback and that continued to bring the gap down as riders began to drop off the main bunch. The gap stood at around 1:00 as Pollock took maximum points at the KOM with Cupitt and White claiming the minor points. It was a matter of bad luck for Cupitt as he suffered a rear wheel puncture which forced him to drop back leaving the breakaway with three men,

Moving on to Old Razorback Road for the north ascent of Razorback, the bunch had the leaders in sight with the gap down to 40 seconds and the game was up. After 148 kilometres of racing, the day’s main break was caught.

Drapac continued to put pressure on the race, this time Lachlan Norris attacked as the peloton was on the climb. Norris, who won Saturday’s criterium in Goulburn, was quickly joined by Brodie Talbot (Racing Kangaroos) and Chris Jory (GPM - Wilson Racing) but they too could not gain any decent gap on the field. With their slight advantage over, Drapac’s Darren Lapthorne led the peloton over the top of Old Razorback. Sensing the danger, Search2Retain and Genesys were active at the front of the bunch, sending Nathan Earle (Genesys) and Luke Fetch (Search2Retain) to go with Lapthorne, Norris and Jory as the group of five moved ahead.

A maximum gap of around 300 metres was reached before being caught by a swarming peloton with around 10km to go. But this was not a race that was ready to settle down as it came along the Camden By-Pass.

Fetch and Norris stayed clear until four kilometres to go leaving the race to be decided by a bunch finish.

Pollock, speaking to Cyclingnews following the race reiterated how important it was for the Drapac team to put in a great showing following the untimely death of former teammate and winner of the Goulburn to Sydney, Robbie Williams several weeks ago.

"I was thinking that it would be nice [to win]," the Tour de Taiwan winner said. "I think it’s the way I race and the way the team races and the way Robbie rode as well. I wasn’t holding back to get the easy win, I put it on the line... I left nothing out there.

"His Dad said on the start that it’s more about the camaraderie and giving it everything on the day. If you win it’s a bonus. I think we did that today so that’s all we can do." 

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