Law takes out dramatic final stage in Perth

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Scott Law has taken his GPM-Data#3 team's first Subaru National Road Series stage win of 2013 on the final day at the Woodside Tour de Perth. Law won the sprint from a reduced peloton that splintered on the final testing laps around Bold Park to win from a 22-man group. Neil Van Der Ploeg (search2retain-health) put his sprinting legs to use for the stage to finish in second while Satalyst-Giant put another rider on the podium in as many days as Alex Smyth sprinted to third. Joe Cooper (Huon Salmon-Genesys) finished in the lead group to claim the first overall tour win of the 2013 season.

"I am absolutely thrilled," said Law. "The GPM-Data#3 boys rode amazingly. They put me in the right spot every time I needed - and I held on for a good win.

"I don't really like hills that much - no matter how long or short they are. When we hit the climb the first time I felt I had pretty good legs, so I just tried to hang in there. It was a great win,"

Cooper's overall victory was in part sealed after the results of Rottnest Island time trial, where he blitzed the field under soggy conditions to take the win and race lead. With the strength of his Huon Salmon-Genesys teammates Cooper was able to retain his near-minute advantage over Van Der Ploeg while Cooper's teammate, who was part of Stage 1's winning breakaway performed well over the four-day race to round out the podium with another orange jersey.

"I feel proud to get my first NRS tour win," said Cooper at the finish. "It's a big achievement for me. It's been a calendar year since I've won a tour, so it's good to be back in the winner's circle."

"We still had two really hard days to defend and get as much as we could out of the tour," he added.

"It's an awesome feeling to be part of a team where we're putting everything on the line for one another - it's something I haven't experienced before in any other team."

Yesterday's stage winner Nathan Earle was crushing the field on the finishing climb around Bold Park and consolidated his lead in the King of the Mountains classification by taking maximum points on each of the three categorised ascents.

Sam Horgan (Budget Forklifts) had started the day in second-place in the Programmed sprint classification but with Van Der Ploeg more concerned with the overall, he craftily went about picking up enough points over the 13 intermediate sprints to take the points jersey back home.

Perth puts on a show for Woodside Tour de Perth

Bold Park, Perry Lakes was the backdrop for the final day of racing at the Woodside Tour de Perth but this would be no parade around the beach-side location. Cooper had a seemingly unattainable lead in the general classification but there was still plenty to race for, and up for that matter.

The 8.1km circuit would do little to split the field in the opening laps of the 13-lap race but with the final three taking a slightly different approach through the park, many riders would be doing everything possible just to survive.

The standout feature of the would include a 600m climb that reached gradients hovering over 15% and according to race organiser Craig Smith-Gander "the last three laps will form a selection," adding "there's potential for the race to be won and lost in the last three laps of the race."

A patient wait for the final laps

It was a near-perfect day in Perth for the final stage of the Woodside Tour with 114 riders taking to the start line for the 112km circuit race. The relatively flat course was the last chance for riders who struggled in the hills yesterday to get a result before making the trip back home.

From the gun small groups were active off the front but nothing was allowed too much time. With Cooper holding nearly one minute over second-place all he had to do was follow his attentive Huon Salmon-Genesys teammates and also watch for any dangerous moves that formed.

The first big move of the day included the winner of yesterday's stage to the top of Zig Zag, Nathan Earle (Huon Salmon-Genesys), Ed Bissaker, Stephen Hall (Bianchi-Lotto-Arbitrage), Shaun McCarthy, Michael Cupitt (Budget Forklifts), Sam Rutherford (GPM-Data#3) and Michael Phelan (Parramatta) but the field didn't allow them too much time away from the main field.

With eight laps to go it was all back together as Rutherford had another dig off the front. He was joined by Peter English (Satalyst-Giant) and despite not posing a threat to Cooper, they were brought back into the fold.

A little while later it was Rutherford again who took off in search of a result. Stage 1 winner Jack Anderson, who started the day in fifth-overall at 1:12 from Cooper made the selection but he was cleverly marked by Aaron Donnelly (Huon Salmon-Genesy) while Henry Morely ensured Satalyst-Giant was represented at the front.

Coming into the final three laps the quartet had a 30-second lead as they neared the first ascent through the park. The bunch was reeling them in as they came towards the first of three climbs and were engulfed into the field. Earle took maximum points and thus secured the KoM jersey while a number of the tour's strongmen took the minor points; Anderson, Donnelly and Neil Van Der Ploeg (search2retain-health).

The climb lived up to expectation and the next time around saw a lead group of approximately 40 riders. None of the general classification contenders had missed out so it would likely come down to a small bunch kick after the third and final time up the punchy hill.

Earle easily took the KoM on the penultimate lap and the bunch had been reduced once again to less than 30 riders and only one lap to go. On the final time up the Park climb it was again Earle who took maximum points from the thinned out bunch that included less than 20 riders.

Coming into the finish it was Law who bested Van Der Ploeg and Smyth for the win. The victory marked the first in the NRS for Law and also helped put the team back on the map after an up and down few days.

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