Cantwell flies to victory with Sulzberger

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The 2009 Caterpillar Underground Tour of Tasmania kicked off with a unique departure spot, with riders emerging from the hull of the Spirit of Tasmania passenger ferry and into a sunny spring day for the East Devonport criterium.

Fly V Australia's Jonathan Cantwell added to his tally in the Scody Cup series by taking the win in the opening stage over teammate Bernard Sulzberger and David Tanner (Jayco VIS) in the fast finish.

"Fresh" from winning Sunday's Launceston to New Norfolk inaugural classic amid terrible conditions, Sulzberger was keen to amass plenty of points in the BOC Sprint Championship. He had tallied an unbeatable lead for the opening stage with three intermediate sprints still to run.

The bonuses that came with the sprints, plus his second placing in the stage, meant that Sulzberger took control of the overall tour lead as well, two seconds ahead of Cantwell.

The Fly V Australia team – arguably the strongest in depth and quality in this tour – were at the head or close to on every lap and whilst not exactly controlling every movement, did have a large say in proceedings.

Cantwell's win continues his sensational form since returning from America and was his 23rd for the year.

He is now only one of 10 riders to have won five or more stages in the 14 year history of the series, but still well behind Canberra rider Robert McLachlan, who leads with a record 19.

New Zealand rider Daniel Barry provided the hard luck story of the day, missing a start in the morning stage when he crashed into a car during his warm up session.

Barry's racing bike was completely cut in half in the accident and although he escaped any serious injury to himself, did not have a spare machine to get to the start line.