Blair takes revenge and yellow jersey

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A Hollywood scriptwriter couldn't have written better than what transpired at the pointy end of the pack in today's stage two of the Ingkerreke Mountain Bike Enduro in Alice Springs, with Andy Blair snatching the stage win and the leader's yellow jersey in storybook circumstances.

After yesterday's drama of being relegated from equal second to third place following a finish line protest, Blair wheeled out into the MacDonnell Ranges this morning "with something to prove".

Blair went out hard, determined to push yesterday's stage winner Jason English, and the instigator of the protest, Aiden Lefmann, to the brink of dropping off his tail. But with 10 kilometres to go before the Alice Springs Velodrome finish, he had failed to shake the pair and a repeat of yesterday's sprint finish was on the cards.

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This is where Blair's pre-race strategy came to the fore. Saturday prior to the race, Blair had visited the final killer hill of the stage, located not far from the velodrome, knowing it held the key to the 39km stage. Most had judged it unrideable. Not Blair. Knowing it could be a crux of the race, he was determined to break the back of the mini-mountain, attempting three times to conquer it in the saddle, all to no avail.

Fast forward to today's race and Blair's rivals remained steadfast on his hammer. Easing the pace, he decided to conserve energy, his thoughts already working on a line up that hill. Blair knew in all likelihood that English and Lefmann would be forced from their bikes - even elites have to walk sometimes.

"I hit the hill and the adrenaline was going. I knew this was the moment I could break away - if I could ride the hill."

And ride the unrideable he did. Not looking back to see the others unclip, he sped into the velodrome and across the finish line, his feat finding enough time to take the overall leader's jersey from English after stage two.

English crossed the line twenty four seconds in arrears, with Lefmann another 21 seconds further back.

In the women's it was role reversal of yesterday, as Jess Douglas found form to come home in first place ahead of Anna Beck, who struggled with mechanicals and two minor offs. Douglas finished one a half minutes ahead of Beck, with Jo Wall taking third place for the second time in two days of racing.

The result wasn't quite enough for Douglas to take the leader's jersey, however, with the women's going into the afternoon's stage 3 uphill sprint in the same overall placings as yesterday: Beck hitting the hill in the yellow jersey, followed by Douglas and Wall.

"After Jess stormed off I struggled to keep it together," said Beck of her stage 2 ride. "I pushed myself to the edge trying to get Jess and then crashed again. I was sure I'd lost the leader's jersey."

With the longer race done and dusted, Alice Springs turned on a glorious afternoon for the Ingkerreke Commercial Hill Climb, a 300 metre sprint up Anzac Hill overlooking the city centre.

Although only a short spurt, there remained 20- and 10-second time credits for first and second places, potentially enough to change overall standings.

But the story of the men's hill dash was not to be one of the top three open category lads, rather it was about Alice Springs' local flyer, 17-year-old Ryan Standish. Currently second overall in the Junior category he beat all comers across all categories, bolting up Anzac Hill in an astonishing 45 seconds, only three seconds off the course record set by Ben Mather. Standish has good form on the hill - he trains on it regularly, sometimes five ascents in a session.

Aiden Lefmann put in a 48-second pearler to take second overall for the stage, and first in the open men's category, with Andy Blair and Simon Frederiksen one second behind.

In the women's, Anna Beck didn't let her middling day in the desert dent her confidence on the hill, taking first with a 00:01:05 dash, with Anne Antrecht in second (00:01:08) and Jess Douglas in third (00:01:11).

Tomorrow's stage is the longest of the seven-stage enduro, a 77km mixed bag of riding that includes a mountain challenge laid down by local rider, Paul Darvodelsky. He's willing to give any rider who can conquer a particularly rocky climb at roughly kilometre 17, $200 in cash, but only if they ride it without any 'dabs' - a foot or hand touching the ground.

Yesterday's stage one placings revised

The decision to award Andy Blair and Aiden Lefmann equal second placings after a three-way sprint to the finish line was reversed after a protest was lodged by Lefmann.

Lefmann lodged his claim for second place outright, following event organisers’ on-the-spot decision to award equal second placings at the finish line.

With a particularly tight lead into the finish, Blair was forced to miss the chute as a result of their all out sprint. At the time, Blair complained that the finish line chute was too tight for proper and fair racing and that he was simply trying to avoid an accident. Event organisers called it a draw and awarded equal second placing based the initial circumstances and evidence.

Post race, Lefmann requested event directors to review their decision stating that it was the same course for everyone and that if Blair overshot the finish chute it was not his fault. After discussing the matter with witnesses and observing photos of the finish sprint it was decided Lefmann's protest would hold.

"We do not believe that Aiden changed his line and therefore caused Andy to go outside the marked course," said Rapid Ascent event manger Sam Maffett. "We spoke to both competitors to get their views and believe that our decision on the spot was in fact incorrect.

"Based on the arguments, we have decided to award both the same race time, however Andy will not receive the 10-second time credit for second placing. Andy Blair's result for the stage will officially be third, 10 seconds behind Lefmann given his time credit."

Blair accepted the decision but said "perhaps the finish line for this stage needs to be changed for next year".

Rapid Ascent has agreed to review the finish line set-up, saying that it "in hindsight was not ideal in terms of space for open and fair racing, should the pack be tight at the finish, which in this case it clearly was".

Stage 2 Results

Stage 3 Results

General classification after stage 3 / day 2