Giacoppo cleans up at the Tour of the Great South Coast
Anthony Giacoppo from Genesys Wealth Advisers has taken out the Budget Forklifts Tour of the Great South Coast, the fifth event in the Subaru National Road Series, in what has been a very successful tour for the team.
Giacoppo came in third place in the final stage behind teammate Campbell Flakemore, first, and Ben hill (RBS Morgans), second — sealing his narrow hold on the leader’s jersey.
Giacoppo came in third place in the final stage behind teammate Campbell Flakemore, first, and Ben hill (RBS Morgans), second — sealing his narrow hold on the leader’s jersey.
The 26-year-old finished five seconds ahead of Drapac’s Darren Lapthorne on GC, with Neil van der Ploeg (Search2Retain) in third position for the tour.
“I’m glad to come out with the win. It’s a good payment for all the boys in the team, they rode so hard for me all week and it’s good to be able to repay them.
“I was a little bit nervous, I didn’t really sleep. But I knew I had to give it my best and that my team would do what they could to help me and I managed to pull through for them,” said Giacoppo.
The West Australian also claimed the Subaru National Road Series leader’s jersey, after William Walker (Drapac) retired from the tour after one day of racing.
The win is Giacoppo’s first and he admitted it was a weight off his shoulders after losing his lead on general classification in dramatic fashion in the Tour of Gippsland earlier this month.
“It was a relief mainly because the guys have done everything to help me and I would have felt like a let-down if I couldn’t pay them back.
“Some days you have an off day and the team does everything for you and you don’t come through with the result, like last tour on that day when I lost it,” explained Giacoppo. “I was pretty dark at myself and kind of went in to my own little hole - but the guys also help you push through in those harder times, especially on the road when you’re struggling and someone is saying ‘c’mon mate you’re almost there’- they just lift you that little bit.”
The final stage in the tour saw riders contest six laps of a 15km circuit around the Camperdown region, totalling 94km.
One major hill climb halfway through the course saw many riders come undone, splitting the field early. After just 7km Cameron Peterson (RBS Morgans), James Cooper and Roman van Uden (Pure Black Racing) formed a break from the main peloton and managed to gain a one minute gap working the steep climbs and subsequent descents well together.
With no real threats to the general classification, Genesys sat back while Drapac worked the front for several laps and maintained the speed of the chase. Budget Forklifts’ Peter Herzig managed to jump off the front and tried in vain to close the gap solo.
For 66-kilometres the breakaway trio soaked up all bonus sprint and king of the mountain points until the peloton put the pedal down on the second last lap.
Peterson was the last to be caught at the 73-kilometre mark and from there the racing began. The fifth King of the Mountain section split the field for the last time when tired legs began to take their toll.
The final climb saw the pace set by Lapthorne with Ben Hill and Campbell Flakemore hot on his heels, however the Drapac rider was too strong and shook his competitors on the final descent.
Desperate to chase down his rival, Giacoppo locked on to his teammates wheel and the pair just managed to catch Lapthorne on the finishing straight.
Lapthorne was disappointed to have been caught in the dying moments of the race, but credited his competitor saying Giacoppo showed his class on the day.
“I’m very disappointed, to lose [the tour] by five seconds,” admitted Lapthorne. “I honestly thought I could take out this tour today. I gave it my best shot and we couldn’t have done anything else as a team but Anthony was just something else so full credit to him and his team.
“I got away but the problem was Anthony caught me with about 100 meters to go. It was just a tough run into the finish from the top of the hill, maybe just a bit too long [for me],” said Lapthorne.
In contrast, 20-year-old domestique Campbell Flakemore was surprised to have found himself on top of the podium.
“I thought I was leading out AJ but I got the gap [and] I didn’t know if I’d won and if he would have enough time to win the tour. I thought I might have mucked it up a bit but obviously it all worked out. It couldn’t have worked out any better.
“In the criteriums I can’t win obviously because I’m not a sprinter but I don’t mind working for the team and on a stage like this where it’s hilly, I’m usually on the front,” Flakemore said.
Neil van der Ploeg retained his lead on the sprinter’s jersey and Cameron Peterson was awarded the stage nine’s aggressor.
The Genesys Wealth riders took out the overall teams classification, 47 seconds over Drapac, second, and 1 minute 34 seconds over SASI for third.
Brenton Jones (Genesys) took out the criterium jersey in his first tour for the team and said winning the overall teams classification was proof of the strength within the squad.
“Drapac put up a strong performance but on the last day we were the strongest team which was great to be a part of.
“It does mean a lot, I think the boys are really enjoying being on top and coming away from the tour being the leading team on GC just shows how we are and teamwork wins races,” Jones said.
The next event on the Subaru National Road Series is the Tour of the Murray River on September 2-9.
“I’m glad to come out with the win. It’s a good payment for all the boys in the team, they rode so hard for me all week and it’s good to be able to repay them.
“I was a little bit nervous, I didn’t really sleep. But I knew I had to give it my best and that my team would do what they could to help me and I managed to pull through for them,” said Giacoppo.
The West Australian also claimed the Subaru National Road Series leader’s jersey, after William Walker (Drapac) retired from the tour after one day of racing.
The win is Giacoppo’s first and he admitted it was a weight off his shoulders after losing his lead on general classification in dramatic fashion in the Tour of Gippsland earlier this month.
“It was a relief mainly because the guys have done everything to help me and I would have felt like a let-down if I couldn’t pay them back.
“Some days you have an off day and the team does everything for you and you don’t come through with the result, like last tour on that day when I lost it,” explained Giacoppo. “I was pretty dark at myself and kind of went in to my own little hole - but the guys also help you push through in those harder times, especially on the road when you’re struggling and someone is saying ‘c’mon mate you’re almost there’- they just lift you that little bit.”
The final stage in the tour saw riders contest six laps of a 15km circuit around the Camperdown region, totalling 94km.
One major hill climb halfway through the course saw many riders come undone, splitting the field early. After just 7km Cameron Peterson (RBS Morgans), James Cooper and Roman van Uden (Pure Black Racing) formed a break from the main peloton and managed to gain a one minute gap working the steep climbs and subsequent descents well together.
With no real threats to the general classification, Genesys sat back while Drapac worked the front for several laps and maintained the speed of the chase. Budget Forklifts’ Peter Herzig managed to jump off the front and tried in vain to close the gap solo.
For 66-kilometres the breakaway trio soaked up all bonus sprint and king of the mountain points until the peloton put the pedal down on the second last lap.
Peterson was the last to be caught at the 73-kilometre mark and from there the racing began. The fifth King of the Mountain section split the field for the last time when tired legs began to take their toll.
The final climb saw the pace set by Lapthorne with Ben Hill and Campbell Flakemore hot on his heels, however the Drapac rider was too strong and shook his competitors on the final descent.
Desperate to chase down his rival, Giacoppo locked on to his teammates wheel and the pair just managed to catch Lapthorne on the finishing straight.
Lapthorne was disappointed to have been caught in the dying moments of the race, but credited his competitor saying Giacoppo showed his class on the day.
“I’m very disappointed, to lose [the tour] by five seconds,” admitted Lapthorne. “I honestly thought I could take out this tour today. I gave it my best shot and we couldn’t have done anything else as a team but Anthony was just something else so full credit to him and his team.
“I got away but the problem was Anthony caught me with about 100 meters to go. It was just a tough run into the finish from the top of the hill, maybe just a bit too long [for me],” said Lapthorne.
In contrast, 20-year-old domestique Campbell Flakemore was surprised to have found himself on top of the podium.
“I thought I was leading out AJ but I got the gap [and] I didn’t know if I’d won and if he would have enough time to win the tour. I thought I might have mucked it up a bit but obviously it all worked out. It couldn’t have worked out any better.
“In the criteriums I can’t win obviously because I’m not a sprinter but I don’t mind working for the team and on a stage like this where it’s hilly, I’m usually on the front,” Flakemore said.
Neil van der Ploeg retained his lead on the sprinter’s jersey and Cameron Peterson was awarded the stage nine’s aggressor.
The Genesys Wealth riders took out the overall teams classification, 47 seconds over Drapac, second, and 1 minute 34 seconds over SASI for third.
Brenton Jones (Genesys) took out the criterium jersey in his first tour for the team and said winning the overall teams classification was proof of the strength within the squad.
“Drapac put up a strong performance but on the last day we were the strongest team which was great to be a part of.
“It does mean a lot, I think the boys are really enjoying being on top and coming away from the tour being the leading team on GC just shows how we are and teamwork wins races,” Jones said.
The next event on the Subaru National Road Series is the Tour of the Murray River on September 2-9.
