Haas he done it, yes he Haas

Sunday, 16 of October, 2011

After Wednesday's opening stage of the 2011 Jayco Herald Sun Tour in Ballarat in which he finished third Nathan Haas said that his aims for the Tour were to win the white jersey of the best under-23 rider and to finish in the top five overall.

Today, he rode away with the yellow, the green, the white and the blue.

It has been a formidable coming of age in cycling for the Genesys Wealth Advisers rider. He began the year as a member of the support race cast in the Jayco Bay Cycling Classics and now ends it as the winner of the 59th Jayco Herald Sun Tour.

In between Haas has grown as a cyclist - winning three domestic tours including this month's Tour of Tasmania, but even in his own mind today's result was beyond expectations.

"It was a dream, I never dreamt of," Haas said.

"I even went to bed last night trying to convince myself that there was nothing on today. I never thought I would be in this position - it's a really beautiful feeling.

"I didn't have time to think about emotions along the way. I just tried to stay as cool as possible."

The 22-year-old who was born in Queensland, lives in the ACT, studies in Sydney and rides for a Tasmanian team, began today's fifth and final stage with a comfortable ten second buffer - but it was over a formidable adversary in the form of Garmin-Cervelo's Australian road race champion and world track 4000m record holder, Jack Bobridge.

Not only were the individual credentials vastly different but so too were the experience and credentials lists of their respective support squads.

In the end it seemed to matter little, with Haas revealing that a gracious Bobridge had very honourably conceded the Tour to him mid-stage. The runner-up subsequently perhaps revealed why he did so.

"We did everything we could to put him under pressure, but he just put pressure back on us," Bobridge said.

Certainly there seemed little doubt after the way the first sprint panned out that Haas would remain in yellow.

As it...

Course Overview

Wednesday, 23 of March, 2011

The 59th Jayco Herald Sun Tour will navigate some of the most picturesque, and at times challenging, parts of Victoria, visiting iconic tourist destinations such as the goldfields, Great Ocean Rd, Bellarine Peninsula, Mornington Peninsula and finishing in marvellous Melbourne.

Wednesday is the opening stage and a rolling course from Whittlesea to Ballarat will not only travel through the stunning central highlands and goldfields area but sap the legs with long rolling roads and likely strong winds at times. A fast finish into Ballarat will see the sprinter's teams work hard to bring any breaks back for the dead flat sprinter's finish at Lake Wendouree.

Thursday does not get any easier. The road from Ballarat to Geelong is full of surprises and the Brisbane ranges will test the riders before a long descent towards Geelong and the sea. The sprinter's teams will again work hard but a technical run towards Geelong might favour the opportunist.

Friday sees the riders take on the stunning terrain of the Great Ocean Rd. An early climb and scorching descent to Lorne precedes a rolling and often windy ride back to Anglesea before heading into the Bellarine Peninsula and a gradual uphill run to the finish. We may see the strong man come to the fore today.

Saturday is the queen stage of the tour and the general classification will turn on its head today. A ferry ride from Queenscliff takes the riders to the start at Sorrento. A long flat ride along the beach to Dromana will warm up the riders before a first tough ascent of Arthurs Seat. 3k at 10% makes a tough climb and with a yellow jersey to claim, the stakes will be high. The riders will explore the stunning terrain of the Mornington Peninsula two more times up the mountain with the 3rd time finishing on top. It will be 'winner takes all' today and the climbers will come out to play.

Sunday brings the Tour home to Melbourne and Little Italy in Lygon St. A fast and furious circuit race may well decide the Tour as it did in 2006 when Simon Gerrans took the Tour on the final sprint of the final stage. ...

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