Tour of the Murray River: Kerrison wins final stage to secure overall victory

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 A dramatic finale to the Tour of the Murray River saw Jesse Kerrison (Budget Forklifts) claim victory on stage seven and seal overall victory after race leader Brenton Jones (Avanti) suffered a mechanical in the final 300m and was unable to contest the vital final sprint with bonus seconds on offer.

Jones rolled over the line 11 seconds behind the main bunch and Kerrison which handed the BudgetForklifts rider the overall win by three seconds ahead of Raphael Freinstein (CharterMason Giant) and 11 seconds ahead of Jones

"I'm ecstatic," said Kerrison of his stage win and Tour victory double. "It's my first overall top five let alone on the podium, so to win the Tour is just crazy.

"I had good form coming into the Tour, but the longer the Tour went on, I started to think it wouldn't happen," added Kerrison, who also won stage two.

"Brenton had a bit of a mishap around the last corner, I think his chain might have skipped which put him back three or four wheels. It's heart breaking for him and it sucks it had to go down that way, but that's just racing."

Jones had led the race since claiming victory on stage one. He also won the sprint on stage three into Quambatook but his advantage over Kerrison ahead of the final stage had been reduced to five seconds.

"I've had the yellow jersey all week and to lose it on the final sprint is disappointing, but to be a champion, it's not all about winning and that's what I'm taking away from this," said Jones, who was the overall winner at the Bay Criterium Series in January.

"I was following the boys in the sprint and my chain came off. I drifted off into the gutter trying to put it back on and managed to avoid crashing before just trying to get to the finish.

"Unfortunately for me, Jesse won the stage which was enough for him to take the Tour so it's a bit unlucky."

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