Tour of the Murray River: Ayden Toovey wins stage 5

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Ayden Toovey (Subaru NSWIS) claimed a maiden Subaru National Road Series stage victory in Echuca as he soloed to victory over Darcy Woolley (African Wildlife Safaris Cycling Team) at the Tour of the Murray River in Echuca.

On a wet day that again saw wind pelter the peloton, 18-year-old Toovey made his way into the 10-man breakaway that doubled in size from the initial five-man break that formed after 40km of racing in the 91km stage.

"This is my first NRS win and it's really good to get it under my belt," said Toovey who attacked his breakaway companions with three kilometes left to race. "I had a teammate in the break today in Nathan Bradshaw and he helped me out a lot to keep me at the front."

Toovey proved too fast on the day for Woolley who earned second place while Tom Kaesler (SASI) rounded out the podium in third place.

"My teammate Nathan got in the first break and I was lucky enough to get in the group that bridged across.

"With three kilometre to go, we all started looking at each other, a few guys got up the road and we worked well together until the final few hundred metres before we sprinted to the line."

Despite crashing inside the final few kilometres, Brenton Jones (Avanti Racing) retained his 12 second overall lead over Jesse Kerrison (Budget Forklifts) who also crashed. Kerrison crossed the line with the main field, seven seconds ahead of Jones who required a bike change after the fall.

However Jones was awarded the same time as the main group, as the incident happened within the official 'safety zone.'

"To crash inside the three kilometre mark was disappointing, but if that's the worst that can happen then bring it on," said Jones. "It was a little bit slippery and my back wheel just slid out underneath me, there was nothing I could do, that's racing."

The race continued tomorrow with a 104km stage from Nathalia to Cobram.

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