our race coverage

October 11-17, 2009

Stage 4 of the Sun Tour was a 138k course taking the riders inland over 2 KOMs before another seaside finish in the city of Barwon Heads. Again, the major turning point of the race occurred at the 2nd KOM which came 26k into today’s stage, and Garmin and Fly V pushed the pace on the 10k climb tearing the group apart. The long, fast descent allowed the opportunity for many of the riders to regroup. Coming off the descent, there were frequent attacks and some groups were able to get slight gaps before being reabsorbed. The occasional tail wind in today’s race pushed the speeds resulting in a faster than projected race time. Two riders, Adam Semple (Jayco) and Darren Lapthorne (Rapha Condor), were able to build up a two minute gap over a chasing group of 40 before the serious pursuit started about 20 k from the finish. The lead group was all back together coming into the finish with Chris Sutton (Garmin) again taking the win over Jonathan Cantwell (Fly V) who sits 5 seconds behind Sutton in the overall. Bissell riders, Ben Jacques-Maynes, Pete Latham, and Paul Mach finished in the lead group and are 9th, 15th, and 17th in the GC, respectively.