Giacoppo prevails after breakaway to win in Cobram

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Anthony Giacoppo survived an almost-stage-long breakaway to take out the second stage of the Tour of the Murray River. The Genesys rider finished ahead of Blair Windsor (Budget Forklifts) and Jacob Kauffmann (Charter Mason - Drapac Development Team) to move into the general classification lead from Stage 1 winner, Luke Davison (Budget Forklifts).

Giacoppo said that being part of the Genesys outfit, which dominated the 2011 series, means that his competition is extra-keen to finish in front of him. It was just what happened earlier in the day when sprint-rival Luke Davison (Budget Forklifts) took out the opening stage.

"Like I always say, it’s good to be in front," Giacoppo said. "At the start of the day, I was just getting into the rhythm and trying to find the race legs."

The 77.8km stage from Yarrawonga to Cobram on the Victoria, New South Wales border is one of four road stages of the Tour and any time gained could prove crucial to the final overall standings.

A group of eight riders moved away from the field 12kms into the Sunday afternoon stage with the advantage soon moving out to 16 seconds. The number of riders in the break also ballooned with a maximum of 16 clear.

Josh Taylor (GPM Wilson Racing) and Pat Shaw (Genesys Wealth Advisers) were key aggressors in the breakaway, dominating the race for bonus points at the three intermediate sprint points and the one KOM of the day.

With 15km remaining in the stage, the lead group hit their maximum advantage of 40 seconds on the peloton. That gap would fall somewhat with the bunch chasing hard but only another 20 seconds could be made up at the end of the stage.

Heading into Monday's third stage, a 25.5km criterium in Numurkah, Giacoppo holds a four-second lead on Blair Windsor (Team Budget Forklifts) with a further six seconds back to Miles Scotson (SASI) and Jacob Kauffmann (Charter Mason - Drapac Development Team).

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