AFTER a tough eight stages of competition, young Victorian Kelland O’Brien has claimed victory in the eighth Tour of the Great South Coast bicycle race.
The 21 year old took the honours despite a fall on the final criterium stage at Portland.
However, by then he had done enough to claim the win, along with the king of the mountain and sprint honours.
He finished ahead of Raphael Freienstein in the general classification, with Sam Welsford rounding out the podium.
The result adds to the young rider’s impressive resume in the sport.
The multiple world junior champion joined Welsford, Alex Porter and Leigh Howard to win last year’s Commonwealth Games gold medal, before beating their own world record team pursuit time with a 3:41.012 ride at this year’s world championships.
This latest result was O’Brien’s first National Road Series victory, which showcased his versatility on the road as well as the track.
The tour began in Mount Gambier a week ago, with five stages from the Blue Lake city, down to Port MacDonnell then up to Naracoorte for the first time.
From there it headed across the border with a tough Casterton to Heywood road course, another testing road course at Cape Bridgewater, before the final criterium around the Portland foreshore.
O’Brien fell and injured his left hand on the final stage with two laps to go.
“I got straight back up but I’m pretty sore,” he said after the race.
“I did not expect to win the tour when I arrived, but I brought some good form home from Europe.
“Now I will have a rest and continue preparations for the next Olympic Games.”
Teammate Welsford, who finished third in the final stage, claimed the criterium championship, but it was former mountain bike champ Tristian Ward who took the honours in Sunday’s finale.
Ward burst from the pack with almost 1km to ride and defied all challengers, leading home Melbourne-based German rider Raphael Freienstein and Welsford.
“I do not pack the punch sprint of some of these guys, but my long sprint is alright, so I decided to take off and hoped to hang on,” Ward said.
“It was a great way to get my first stage win on this tour.”
South Australian youngster Jarrad Drizners won the rising star award and took over as leader of the Australian NRS.
Conor Murtagh won the most aggressive rider award on the final stage after he burst clear and led for five laps until overhauled on the final lap.
Young Victorian Patrick Burt won the overall most aggressive rider of the tour.
Probably one of the biggest shocks of the tour was the defeat of the world champion time trial team in stage five at Naracoorte.
It was the first time the tour had run a team time trial and the Pro Racing Sunshine Coast team of Welsford, O’Brien, Howard and Porter – with support from Cameron Scott, were expected to dominate.
However, it was the InForm team which upstaged the world champions, with a five-second victory.
The team included Drizners and set up his rising star performance, trailing Jensen Plowright before the team trial, but jumping to a 15-second advantage.
For much of the tour Welsford held the lead in the general classification, which did not change in the tough stage six from Casterton to Heywood.
In an impressive effort Sydney’s Jesse Coyle decided on a solo effort at Merino with about 40km to ride.
His winning margin came down to around one minute, after he had stretched it to 1:32 at one point.
Welsford still held the GC lead by seven seconds heading to Cape Bridgewater.
The penultimate stage belonged Victorian Conor Murtagh, who claimed the win, but it was O’Brien who set up his tour victory on the day.
O’Brien relished the challenge of the hills, sprints and strong winds around the 121.4km Cape Bridgewater circuit.
He gained a 31-second lead over Welsford and only needed to safely finish the final criterium to be on the top step of the podium.
“I really enjoyed the challenge even though it was hard riding the hills with the wind blowing like it did,” O’Brien said.
“But my team was around me and I stayed up the front and picked up a couple of cheap bonus points.
“When the break came about 10km out there were some strong riders, so I just had to hang on.
“It was a good day for me, but credit to Sam (Welsford).
“He has been awesome.
“It does not really matter who wins so long as we are all doing well as a team.”
O’Brien’s advantage almost came unstuck, but in the end he celebrated with his team after 541km of racing over a tough six days in the longest bicycle tour race in Australia.
