James Whelan goes solo to win stage 1 of men's race at Santos Festival of Cycling

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James Whelan (Team BridgeLane) won stage 1 of the men's racing at the Santos Festival of Cycling, pulling off the solo victory that he had been chasing at the Australian Road National Championships earlier this month. 

The rider, who has reluctantly stepped out of the WorldTour this season, held off the fierce chase by a group of 15 that included newly-crowned Australian Champion Luke Plapp (Team Garmin Australia), Chris Harper (Villawood) and defending champion Luke Durbridge (BikeExchange-Jayco).

Winning the sprint from that chase group was Under 23 rider Matt Dinham, taking the top two steps for Team BridgeLane, while Ben Hill (CCS Cycling) came third, after also sweeping up the King of the Mountain points on the road. 

“It hasn’t quite sunk in yet," Whelan said in the 7 livestream interview straight after his win. 

"Maybe when I’m on the podium it’ll make sense but far out what a race. I had the intention to try and do that but when you actually pull it off it’s a pretty special feeling.”

With Whelan finishing 1 minute and 23 seconds ahead of his rivals on the stage, and time bonuses still to be factored in, he looked to have pulled out an unassailable GC lead on the very first stage, but then the GC results were put out with gaps that were a minute tighter than expected. There was also a note in the decisions of the commissaires panel that rider number 23, Whelan, had received a one minute motor pacing penalty along with a $200 fine. Whelan ahad to chase the peloton early in the stage after bike problems.

The updated overall classification left Whelan with a still solid, but not bullet-proof, lead of 27 seconds from teammate Dinham while Brendan Johnston (Giant Racing), Ben Hill and Luke Durbridge are all lined up at 28, 29 and 32 seconds back. Then there is another group of 11 riders, including Plapp and Harper, at 33 seconds.

How it unfolded

The first stage on the road took in 114km and 1,800 metres of climbing as it wound its ways from Stirling to Lobethal. The breakaway attempts started early after the field left Stirling in the sunshine and building heat. Whelan was soon out the back of the peloton with  bike problems and a bike change, forcing him to chase.

16 riders eventually managed to make it off and out to the front. Helping their cause was the mix of teams in the group, including all the major squads, from BikeExchange-Jayco, Team BridgeLane, Team Garmin Australia, Villawood, Inform TMX MAKE, Olivers and ARA Pro Racing Sunshine Coast. Most, though, had their most likely GC contenders still in the pack behind, with Giant Racing, who had Brendan Johnston in the mix, an exception. 

Working together they built a lead that stretched out to two minutes. At 65 kilometres to go the King of the Mountain points at Cuddle Creek were always going to go to someone from that break, and Hill clipped off the front with a concerted effort, signalling that if anyone wanted to take them from him they faced a challenge. 

When Team Garmin Australia’s Zac Marriage dropped out of the move at around 55 kilometres to go, teammates Richie Porte and Plapp looked intent on getting the peloton moving behind. They poured on the pace and so the splits and attacks just seemed to keep coming. 

Plapp and Rohan Dennis (Villawood) were in a group off the front and then it was Durbridge who shifted into gear, pulling away with company that included Chris Harper (Villawood) and Whelan. Once they went there was no looking back.

The Durbridge group joined the lead riders at 40 kilometres to go and as more riders were trying to scramble to the front of the race, the lead group was approaching the sprint point. Three riders clipped off the front and Johnston, eyeing the bonus seconds for GC, took the prize with Jean-Pierre van der Merwe (Team BridgeLane) second and Durbridge third. 

Having opened a gap with the intermediate sprint, Durbridge looked like he wanted to continue on for a moment but as his companions didn’t keep rolling, he thought better of it. 

By 25km to go there were groups scattered all over the road, with at least four slotted in between the lead bunch and the group that most resembled a peloton. 

Plapp was off and riding in a group of five, so determined in his pursuit that he overshot a sharp left hand bend. Fortunately he found a handy bit of run off space in the gravel.

At 20km to go, Whelan decided it was his time and went with force, just before Plapp started breathing down the neck of the group he’d just left.

“When I heard that Luke Plapp was coming across again I was getting deja vu a little bit,” said Whelan, who was chased down by the 21 year old while solo in the final lap at Road Nationals. 

"Tactically he had to do a lot of work to get to the position he was in and I had my teammates defending all the moves so I was pretty fortunate.”

As the kilometres ticked down, despite the chase force assembled behind, Whelan’s gap remained firm and it was clear he was going to take the stage victory in Lobethal. It was just down to his rivals to try and reduce the gap so overall victory didn’t become out of reach too. 

The group of 15 came over the line 1 minute and 23 seconds back, with Dinham’s second place not only putting him on the podium and in the young riders white jersey but also helping keep the bonus seconds that came with the position away from Whelan’s rivals. 

There were only two more riders finishing within two minutes on the stage, with the bulk of the field coming in around five minutes back, effectively ruling riders like former winners Porte and Dennis out of contention for the overall.