Pollock comes up trumps in Ballarat

Rhys Pollock (Drapac) upstaged several big names, including current Australian road champion Jack Bobridge (Garmin-Cervelo) to claim the biggest win of his career. The Drapac rider won a gusty breakaway victory on the opening stage of the Jayco Herald Sun Tour in Ballarat.

The win on the 174.6 kilometre stage from Whittlesea tops Pollock's previous best, the 2010 Melbourne to Warrnambool Classic and secured the 31-year-old the first yellow leader's jersey of the five-stage event.

Despite a lack of expected winds throughout the day, the weather conditions while chilly at around 10 degrees, may just be enough to have already created the group of riders that will most likely contend the remaining four stages for general classification honours given the peloton lost around 10 minutes to the lead riders.

Pollock found himself in a group of six with around 30 kilometres to the finish. The selection had whittled back from an initial 15 which ran the gauntlet for the majority of the race. With three kilometres left to race, Pollock took the initiative and was never challenged, cruising to the finish line with his arms raised.

"It's unbelievable," said a stunned Pollock following his win. "I just can't believe it. I attacked because I thought, well, I'm not going to win the sprint. Drapac Professional Cycling Team was relying on me; I had eight minutes to the bunch. I didn't have the confidence so I just thought, ‘attack', and I did.

"I tried [to attack] a few times and I was really suffering but somehow I just got the gap and when you get the gap that close to the finish line and everyone starts hesitating, it's just a dream come true for me to win a stage of the Sun Tour," he continued. "Now I've got the leaders jersey as well, I'm just so happy."

For Pollock, it was a case of making the best of the situation he found himself in given the Drapac plan had been to get two riders in the breakaway which went not far from the departure town of Whittlesea.

"They didn't really want me up there because I'm not really our GC guy but it's just the way it happened," he explained. Pollock recently signed on for his fourth year at Drapac. 

A total of seven riders were forced to abandon during today's opening stage with the biggest casualty, Saxo Bank SunGard's Richie Porte who pulled out after just over 100 kilometres of racing having been dropped twice from the main group throughout the day. The Tasmanian is still recovering from surgery last Tuesday on a deviated septum.

How it unfolded:

The icy morning air didn't stop the Whittlesea community from showing their support at the day's departure, with a big crowd on hand to cheer on the peloton in the 59th edition of the race.

A breakaway of 15 riders formed within the first 10 kilometres containing Jack Bobridge (Garmin-Cervelo), Jonas Aen Jorgensen (Saxo Bank – SunGard), Jens Debusschere (Omega Pharma-Lotto), Jonny Clarke (UnitedHealthcare), Mitch Docker, Koen de Kort (Skil – Shimano), Mal Rudolph (Jayco-AIS), Pat Shaw, Nathan Haas (Genesys), Nic Hamilton (Jelly Belly p/b Kenda), Joe Lewis (Australian National Team), Tim Gudsell (Pure Black) , Reinardt JanseVan Rensburg (MTN - Qhubeka), Bernard Sulzberger (V Australia) and Rhys Pollock (Drapac). The gap would steadily increase to around seven minutes before Katusha moved to the head of the main group in an attempt to rescue the situation.

Haas continued his recent aggressive form, taking out the day's first sprint at Riddles Creek just after the 54 kilometre-mark, with Bobridge second and Shaw third giving some indication that the Genesys squad was not just making up the numbers in the high quality field. Haas, 22, again showed that he was there to be counted by claiming second in the first KOM at Woodend, 24 kilometres down the road, behind Sulzberger with Canadian Hamilton putting his hand up for third.

As the peloton started to eat away at the group's lead after 125 kilometres, Jack Bobridge mounted the first of many raids on his fellow escapees with Pollock deciding to chase.

Hitting the second KOM in the spa town of Daylesford, Pollock took the spoils from Bobridge while from the next group on the road, Haas continued his run and took the remaining bonuses. Bobridge and Pollock gained an advantage of around half a minute before the Australian Road Champion got some encouragement from his team car, with the event being run without direct communication from the caravane.

"He stirred me up a bit and I went a bit deep there for the next 20km, but you never know if you never try," Bobridge explained post-race.

"I gave it a nudge and it didn't work out, Rhys ended up taking the stage [and] he deserved it, a good move at the end there."

Bobridge pushed to a 200 metre lead before sitting up and letting Pollock, Haas, Jorgensen, Debusschere and Van Rensburg work with him – for a while gaining an advantage of 1:13 over a group of four riders which sat 3:48 ahead of the next.

The second sprint point loomed at Creswick (150.6km) and Haas was again the man to contend with, taking six points and the position of virtual race leader. Pollock was next with Jorgensen also getting in on the action.

"I was super nervous coming out of the sprint at Creswick that I was going to get dropped," the Drapac rider explained as mind games began to play a part in the way the race was being won. "I felt like I was going to start cramping but I just tried to keep riding tempo and bluff the other guys a little bit."

While Haas would not be able to hold on to what would have been a remarkable race lead, he was able to net second on GC, 15 seconds back from Pollock, along with the Sprint Classification, Young Rider Classification. His team Genesys, also claimed the lead in the Teams Classification in a great day for the orange train.

With 10 kilometres left before the finish in Ballarat, Bobridge again tried his luck before Pollock did the same for a small gap. At three kilometres out, Pollock decided it was now or never, earning the praise of his co-conspirator.

"It was a good move, also he didn't miss his turn all day ... he did his fair share," said Bobridge. "For him to pull the win off, good on him."

Pollock said that it was time to enjoy the day's spoils although was uncertain of how to maintain his position on Thursday's second stage to Geelong.

"We came here to try and win a stage and to win a stage and get the yellow jersey; we'll just do what we can now," he said.

Full results