Lapthorne solos to the win in Casterton

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Darren Lapthorne (Drapac) put on a dominant display in the fourth stage at the Tour of the Great South Coast from when he attacked from a select group in the closing kilometres and crossed the line solo to win the stage into Casterton. The stage win moved Lapthorne into the overall lead as Anthony Giacoppo (Genesys) lost ground over the final climb of the day. Drapac were clearly the strongest team on the day with teammate Robbie Hucker winning the sprint for second with Lachlan Norris and Gordon McCauley finishing inside the top ten.

The attacks began immediately after the flag was dropped for the fourth stage at the Tour of the Great South Coast. Riders would tackle a lumpy 94.2km route from Heywood to Casterton with categorised climbs and five intermediate sprints.

Stage 2 winner Luke Davison (Budget Forklifts) attacked within the opening kilometers but was quickly absorbed back into the 134-rider peloton.

Previous Tour of Gippsland KOM classification winner Ben Hill (RBS Morgans-ATS Pro Cycling) made his intentions clear when he took maximum points over the first two classified KOMs. It made for an aggressive start as both climbs came within the first 10 kilometres with riders hoping to use the short pinches to form a breakaway group.

With the wind and weather playing a factor in the stage and an always attentive peloton, the bunch was all together as they made their way to the third KOM of the day just outside the town of Digby. The rain began to fall shortly before the third KOM for the stage and whilst it was merely a light shower, it didn’t dampen Hill’s motivation as he again took the KOM ahead of Matthew Clarke (John West Cycling) and Darren Lapthorne (Drapac).

The final climbs of the day, with around 30km still to race, signalled the moment for the race to finally break apart. Hill took his seventh KOM and strengthened his 14 point lead over Lapthorne for the coming days while the peloton split into several smaller groups.

The fourth intermediate sprint with 77km covered at Henty-Paschendale Road saw a small group off the front as Shaw won ahead of the day’s KOM leader Hill and  Lapthorne. Cameron Peterson (RBS Morgans-ATS Pro Cycling) and a number of others joined Hill and co as they enetered the final KOM with a relatively flat 20km run to the finish.

A regrouping occurred before the once again spliting as front group hit the lower sections of the final KOM at Paschendale after 73.6km. Lapthorne put his superior climbing ability on show as he accelerated away from the peloton and took the maximum points over the Cat 2 climb. Tour of Toowoomba and Tour of North West overall winner Mark O'Brien (Budget Forklifts) took second place with Campbell Flakemore (Genesys Wealth Advisers) in third.

Lapthorne’s move instigated a powerful six-rider break which quickly gapped the peloton. The group maintain their slim margin to the finish where Lapthorne jumped group for a solo victory. The win saw him move into the overall lead ahead of Anthony Giacoppo (Genesys) who came in 26 seconds down as scattered groups continued to cross the line.

"At the last 10kms, there was a group of about 50 riders and everyone was getting quite tired but I still
felt good," he said

"I ended up with a group of six and at 3kms, I was still feeling strong so I went by myself."

Recent Drapac signing, Robbie Hucker took the sprint for second place ahead of third-place Jack Beckinsale who is riding for Croydon Cyclewoks this week instead of his usual Jayco-Honey Shotz squad. The development team for Eclipe Pro Cycling never intended to race the Tour of the Great South Coast but with a number of its riders slated for the UCI 2.1-ranked Tour of China, the week in Victoria serves as preparation for the next stop on the Asia Tour calender.

Beckinsale will be joined by recent Tour of Gippsland stage winner and Jayco-Honey Shotz teammates Jordan Kerby and David Edwards, RBS Morgans' Ben Hill and Nic Dougall and Budget Forklifts' Luke Davison.

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