Double up wins for Port to Port leaders
Stage two of the 2016 Port to Port MTB race visited the Hunter Valley today, and riders centred in on Lindeman's winery for the 9am start, in clear, crisp and somewhat blustery conditions.
Stage two of the 2016 Port to Port MTB race visited the Hunter Valley today, and riders centred in on Lindeman’s winery for the 9am start, in clear, crisp and somewhat blustery conditions. with the cafe doing a fine trade of coffees and bananas, there was little left for riders to do except warm up on the country roads, keep an eye on their nearest rivals on GC, and find a place in the sun while we waited for the gun to go and the racing to get underway.
With 49km to race with a profile punctuated by a major climb, plenty of riders were content to work into the stage today. But that’s not quite what happened at the front of the race. A few Trek red power rangers took off, Reece Tucknott and Michael Potter were clearly keen to get over the climb. Race leader Tristan Ward was in the break as was Kyle Ward and Rohan Adams.
The climb tends to go on longer than you think, and a second group formed, split, formed, and eventually split as riders were dagged off the bike – myself included. At the very top the orute turns from country dirt road to singletrack.
Having raced the inaugural event in 2014, this was where stage 2 got pretty ugly, as we tore into somewhat moist, muddy, singletrack. What a difference the weather and conditions make!
The riding was a blast, with plenty of off-camber corners, chutes, ruts, small logs and rocks to negotiate as the trails climbed and descended along the slope, before putting us back onto a firetrail that carried on along the top of the ridge.
A few mad bombers caught me from behind – which isn’t an uncommon occurrence. All was well, save for a tear to my tyre at the top of Down the Rabbit Hole – the long descent that rewards the long climb that starts the day. Without enough sealant in my tyre to seal the cut right on the tyre bead, I had to put a tube in, and cursed my decision to only pack a tiny mini pump.
BUt as I was over on the side of the trail, on the inside of the descent’s sharpest and loosest corners, I was quietly delighted by the amount of people who asked if I needed anything, if I was ok, passed on their commiserations… and it was also great to see what fun everyone was having! Samara Sheppard came past as the leading elite woman, with Imogen Smith next and then Em Parkes – the same order as the general classification was.
The rest of the descent was taken cautiously – as you do when you have a tube in and you’re so used to running low pressures with tubeless! That was a bit of a shame, as pretty much right from where I paused, the firetrail really has one rideable line, and the plant life changes, making a tunnel of green for the rest of the descent.
Briony Mattocks made short work of the road section working in a small group.You get dumped into farm land, and small bunches were soon forming on the dirt and country roads, to battle the ferocious wind that had built up. We traced roads through the valleys, but at some point it was inevitable that we would have to point skyward again for the final climb that interrupted the route profile.
Cresting the 2nd to last climb, the wind was stronger again, pushing riders across the road on the descent to Briar’s Ridge Winery – where one final hill stood out like a horrible, black scar up the slope. Many riders came to a near standstill, and it was here where Tristan Ward lost Michael Potter in the last few hundred meters of the stage. A short descent down the back side to cross the line netted the win for Ward, as Potter finished 2nd with Reece Tucknott in 3rd. Kyle Ward was 4th and a couple of minutes back Paul van der Ploeg was 5th.
Samara Sheppard was all class winning again today, and Imogen Smith and Em Parkes were in a close battle for second for much of the race, but Smith was able to move away from Parkes on the final climbs. Bec Locke came in 4th with Jessica Simpson in 5th.
