Harbour City GP | Southern Highlands Queens Stage Race Highlights

SBS Women's League

A cold morning greeted the riders in Kangaloon, with a thick blanket of fog and heavy rain on the forecast creating a tense energy on the startline. 

Odette Lynch (Butterfields Ziptrak Racing) wore the race leaders yellow jersey into stage three, but with four laps of a challenging 25km circuit around Kangaloon her Butterfields team wanted to keep their options open ahead of a challenging day. 

The day was punctuated by a strong early move by NSTRMO x Attaquer x CCACHE's Isla Bradbury who launched at the end of the first lap and throughout the next 50km extended her lead to a maximum advantage of 3 minutes and 30 seconds. With the race riding away from the main field, Sophia Sammons (Team Redcat) set about closing the gap and minimising the threat that Bradbury might pose to the overall win. 

Sammons was closely marked by Butterfields' Sophie Edwards who knew she was a good chance should she arrive at the line in the front group. Bradbury began to tire and Sammons, now joined by team-mate Tully Schweitzer, turned the screws alongside Edwards. The trio reeled in Bradbury with 10 kilometres remaining. 

It was a thrilling finish with the overall win on the line as well as the stage, and Edwards delivered under pressure to secure both the stage and the overall title after a difficult day in the saddle. With the win, Edwards has now narrowed the gap to Sophia Sammons in the League's overall standings to only 5 points ahead of next week's Mt Mitchell to Inverell classic. 

Let's Go Motorhomes Men's League

 The men's race set off under cloudy skies but with mostly dry roads the scene was set for an aggressive opening. There was an open battle for the days early breakaway, with most teams looking to book a ticket for the bunch up the road. 

In the end it was Lucas Stevenson (VIS p/b K.O.M.P), Ollie Sims (Cobra9 x Leigh Surveyors) and Finlay Walsh (CCACHE X BODYWRAP) who managed to extend their advantage to around a minute. Behind, the main field split and a group of 13 riders set off in pursuit of the leaders. After catching the leading three, the front selection pushed ahead to pull the gap out to over three minutes to the main peloton. 

Notably absent from the front group which now looked set to take the stage and the overall were the top three overall at the start of the day, Pat Eddy (Team Brennan_), Oscar Gallagher and Kurt Eather (CCACHE X BODYWRAP). 

There was a flurry of activity at the front of the lead group, but in the end they stayed together to sprint out the Harbour City GP. Rounding the final bend and launching early was Will Heffernan (Randwick Botany CC) who had Olympic gold medallist Oliver Bleddyn locked on the wheel. Bleddyn didn't have the legs to come around a storming Heffernan who took an emphatic win in Kangaloon. 

With the bonus seconds earned throughout the stage, Bleddyn stepped into the overall lead and with an enormous haul of points will take the League leaders jersey into next week's Squadron Energy Grafton to Inverell.

Harbour City GP | Stage 3 Southern Highlands Queens Stage Results

SBS Womens League Results 
🥇 Sophie Edwards – Butterfields Ziptrak Racing 
🥈 Sophia Sammons – Team Redcat 
🥉 Isla Bradbury – Nstrmo x Attaquer x CCACHE 

Let’s Go Motorhomes Men’s League Results
🥇 Will Heffernan (Randwick Botany Cycling Club) 
🥈 Oliver Bleddyn (Team Brennan) 
🥉 Brayden Bloch (Pinnacle Performance x Royal Bikes)