Dennis wins Tour of Geelong

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 South Australia’s Rohan Dennis (Team Jayco Skins) secured victory at the GMHBA Tour of Geelong, surviving in the rain on the final 45km criterium stage to beat Patrick Shaw (Virgin Blue RBS Morgan) by 1:33 with Cameron Jennings (Team Budget Forklifts) 42 seconds further back in third place.

The criterium, over 25 laps of a 1.8km slippery circuit, doubled as the Victorian Open championship and was won by the Joel Pearson (Genesys) from Dale Scarfe (McDonagh Blake – Witness), with Malaysia’s Harrif Saleh third. Dennis finished 40th, safely in the pack.

Dennis was named in the Australian U23 national squad for the world road championships next month and is considered a rising star of Australian cycling.

“It’s the first tour win of my career and hopefully there’s many more to come. This Geelong Tour was good and tough. The course was excellent but really challenging,” he said.

Dennis, who won the national Under 23 time trial championship at Buninyong in January, won two of the tour’s six stages – the opening 48km criterium at North Shore on Wednesday and the 20km time trial at Portarlington on Friday. The time he gained against the clock was decisive.

He fought an intense battle with Rhys Pollock (Drapac) over the first four days but was stronger than his more senior rival over the tough, twisting climbs in the 143km road race at Anakie on Saturday.

The 111-man field was confronted by extreme weather throughout the event, with rain, wind and slippery roads creating hazardous conditions for the competitors.

Jenny McPherson notched her second straight Victorian criterium championship in the 36km women’s event.