Once again the Tour of Bright delivered a heady mix of young talent with the carrot of some big names to chase, and it was a pair of 19-year-olds that charged across the rain-soaked line of stage 1 to claim the opening victory of the Australian tour at the top of Tawonga Gap.
Talia Appleton (BridgeLane) went on the charge to claim the women’s A grade victory on the summit. Clearly not too fatigued by her long solo effort in the pre-race criterium, she leapt out of the lead at around 1.5km to go and never looked back. In the men’s A it was then the duo of Luke Plapp (Jayco-AlUla) and Jack Ward (BridgeLane) who raced through the bends and rain toward the peak of the popular high country climb.
For more detail on the opening criterium and Saturday’s two stages, read on.
House parties and pub overflow in lively return of pre-tour criterium
The patchy wet conditions, with the heat of the late spring day quickly evaporating as thunderstorms swept…
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