2017 Mitchelton Bay Cycling Classic, Australia (Criterium)
January 1 - 3, 2017
Mitchelton Bay Cycling Classic podium history | Teams Invited | 2016 edition
Stage 1 | Stage 2 | Stage 3
Tuesday, January 3: 3rd and final stage, Williamstown Criterium, 60 minutes
Caleb Ewan wins the third stage
The Race: Here's the report from stage winner Caleb Ewan's Orica-Scott team:
Three-time overall champion Caleb Ewan has waited until the final day of the 2017 Mitchelton Bay Cycling Classic to raise his hands in victory. Ewan sprinted to victory ahead of Brenton Jones (JLT Condor) and Mathew Gibson (Condor) in Williamstown, having crashed out of contention on day one in Geelong and supporting teammate Michael Hepburn to victory in Portarlington yesterday.
Using his experience, Ewan launched his sprint before the final corner to get the jump on his rivals and lead them down the finish straight. “Yesterday I had a bit of a hit out and today, to win the sprint, gives me confidence for the races to come,” Ewan said. My success here has been down to hitting out pretty early. I start my sprint from more than 300m, I don’t know why it catches people out because I have done it the last few years, but as long as I keep doing that and getting to that final corner first I am pretty positive.”
Earlier in the race a breakaway of two riders, Nathan Haas (Dimension Data) and Sam Spokes (Total Rush) rode away from the peloton but JLT Condor, in support of race leader Ian Bibby, kept control of the pair before it was brought back together with 10 minutes remaining.
With five laps to go, ORICA-SCOTT hit the front with Damien Howson taking the first turn before leaving Hepburn and Mitch Docker as the final lead out for Ewan.
ORICA-SCOTT wrap up the first race on 2017 with two stage victories and now turn their attention to the Australian Championships in Ballarat, with the criterium tomorrow evening, time trial on Thursday and road race on Sunday.
Complete Results:
40 starters, 20 abandons, 20 classified finishers
| 1 | Caleb EWAN (Orica Scott) | 1hr 0min 0sec |
| 2 | Brenton JONES (Condor JLT) | s.t. |
| 3 | Mathew GIBSON (Condor) | s.t. |
| 4 | Ian BIBBY (Condor JLT) | @ 4sec |
| 5 | Anthony GIACOPPO (IsoWhey Sports SwissWellness) | s.t. |
| 6 | Samuel SPOKES (Total Rush) | s.t. |
| 7 | Ed CLANCY (Condor JLT) | @ 6sec |
| 8 | Mitch DOCKER (Orica Scott) | s.t. |
| 9 | Alex FRAME (Condor JLT) | @ 10sec |
| 10 | Ali SLATER (Condor JLT) | @ 14sec |
| 11 | Benjamin HILL (GTR) | @ 16sec |
| 12 | Jake MAGEE (Total Rush) | s.t. |
| 13 | Michael HEPBURN (Orica Scott) | @ 19sec |
| 14 | Joel WALSH (Team 7 Eleven RBP Continental) | @ 21sec |
| 15 | Neil VAN DER PLOEG (IsoWhey Sports SwissWellness) | @ 31sec |
| 16 | Koen DE KORT (GTR) | s.t. |
| 17 | Jon MOULD (Condor JLT) | s.t. |
| 18 | Edmund BRADBURY (Condor) | @ 46sec |
| 19 | James GULLEN (Condor) | @ 48sec |
| 20 | Nathan HAAS (VTWO Team) | @ 54sec |
Final GC after stage 3:
| 1 | Ian BIBBY (Condor JLT) | 29 points |
| 2 | Mathew GIBSON (Condor) | 24 |
| 3 | Caleb EWAN (Orica Scott) | 18 |
| 4 | Brenton JONES (Condor JLT) | 17 |
| 5 | Anthony GIACOPPO (IsoWhey Sports SwissWellness) | 16 |
| 6 | Samuel SPOKES (Total Rush) | 14 |
| 7 | Michael HEPBURN (Orica Scott) | 12 |
| 8 | Jesse KERRISON (IsoWhey Sports SwissWellness) | 10 |
| 9 | Cameron BAYLY (IsoWhey Sports SwissWellness) | 9 |
| 10 | Patrick LANE (VTWO Team) | 5 |
| 11 | Ed CLANCY (Condor JLT) | 4 |
| 12 | Mitch DOCKER (Orica Scott) | 3 |
| 13 | Ali SLATER (Condor JLT) | 3 |
| 14 | Benjamin HILL (GTR) | 3 |
| 15 | Alistair DONOHOE (GTR) | 3 |
| 16 | Alex FRAME (Condor JLT) | 2 |
| 17 | Nathan HAAS (VTWO Team) | 1 |
| 18 | Scott SUNDERLAND (IsoWhey Sports SwissWellness) | 1 |
Final Sprint Ace Competition results:
| 1 | Cameron BAYLY (IsoWhey Sports SwissWellness) | 16 points |
| 2 | Benjamin HILL (GTR) | 8 |
| 3 | Michael HEPBURN (Orica Scott) | 4 |
| 4 | Caleb EWAN (Orica Scott) | 3 |
| 5 | Alex FRAME (Condor JLT) | 3 |
| 6 | Nathan HAAS (VTWO Team) | 3 |
| 7 | Jesse KERRISON (IsoWhey Sports SwissWellness) | 3 |
| 8 | Damian HOWSON (Orica Scott) | 3 |
| 9 | Samuel SPOKES (Total Rush) | 2 |
| 10 | Robbie HUCKER (VTWO Team) | 2 |
| 10 | Michael FREIBERG (GTR) | 2 |
| 12 | Mitch DOCKER (Orica Scott) | 2 |
| 13 | Luke DURBRIDGE (Orica Scott) | 2 |
| 14 | Jon MOULD (Condor JLT) | 1 |
Final Team Classification:
| 1 | Condor JLT | 52 points |
| 2 | IsoWhey Sports SwissWellness | 35 |
| 3 | Orica Scott | 33 |
| 4 | Condor | 24 |
| 5 | Total Rush | 14 |
| 6 | GTR | 6 |
| 7 | VTWO Team | 6 |
Monday, January 2: 2nd stage, Portarlington Criterium, 60 minutes
Michael Hepburn wins stage 2
The Race: Stage winner Michael Hepburn's Orica-Scott team sent me this report:
Rio Olympic silver medallist Michael Hepburn has given ORICA-SCOTT a double on day two of the Mitchelton Bay Cycling Classic, backing up Amanda Spratt’s win with a solo victory of this own in the men’s race.
Hepburn looked ominous at the head of the peloton in the opening 15 minutes of racing but it was teammate Caleb Ewan, having bounced back from yesterday’s crash, who made the main move of the day alongside Robbie Hucker (VTWO Team).
With 15 minutes left to ride and no support up front from Hucker, ORICA-SCOTT made the call to bring the race back together in pursuit of victory. Former Australian champion Luke Durbridge softened the peloton up with attacks but it was Hepburn who went over the top of his efforts to force the winning move of four riders with three laps remaining.
As he crossed the finish line to receive two laps to go, Hepburn surprised his breakaway counterparts and went on solo to take the win. “The plan today was quite open,” Hepburn said. “The opportunity was there for a few guys to go up the road and be aggressive and I’m thankful that I had the form and legs to go on with it.”
“I was away with (Ian) Bibby and (Jesse) Kerrison, so the leader’s jersey and Jesse, who is a pretty fast finisher, so I wanted to go to the line by myself. I threw a couple of attacks in and couldn’t get rid of them but then I decided to attack through the start/finish line, which you don’t normally do here, but just tried to catch them off guard and I was lucky I got a gap and could go on with it.”
The victory was the first for the men’s team in 2017, but Hepburn said the team didn’t have a point to prove from yesterday and that the focus was still on the races to come. “Crashes are just something that happen,” Hepburn explained. “We can’t fault anyone from yesterday, we put ourselves in the situation to get a result in the end and one small moment like that can cost you the race.”
“We’re here to get some hard racing in and to prepare for the nationals coming up. Every race we do here is another stepping stone to that.”
Complete Results:
46 starters, 24 abandons, 22 classified finishers
| 1 | Michael HEPBURN (Orica Scott) | 1hr 0min 23sec |
| 2 | Ian BIBBY (Condor JLT) | @ 6sec |
| 3 | Mathew GIBSON (Condor) | s.t. |
| 4 | Brenton JONES (Condor JLT) | @ 8sec |
| 5 | Caleb EWAN (Orica Scott) | s.t. |
| 6 | Samuel SPOKES (Total Rush) | s.t. |
| 7 | Anthony GIACOPPO (IsoWhey Sports SwissWellness) | s.t. |
| 8 | Benjamin HILL (GTR) | @ 9sec |
| 9 | Cameron BAYLY (IsoWhey Sports SwissWellness) | s.t. |
| 10 | Nathan HAAS (VTWO Team) | s.t. |
| 11 | Alex FRAME (Condor JLT) | s.t. |
| 12 | Ali SLATER (Condor JLT) | s.t. |
| 13 | Robbie HUCKER (VTWO Team) | s.t. |
| 14 | Luke DURBRIDGE (Orica Scott) | @ 22sec |
| 15 | Jesse KERRISON (IsoWhey Sports SwissWellness) | @ 24sec |
| 16 | Koen DE KORT (GTR) | @ 28sec |
| 17 | Sam CROME (IsoWhey Sports SwissWellness) | @ 30sec |
| 18 | James CUMMINGS (GTR) | @ 35sec |
| 19 | Damian HOWSON (Orica Scott) | @ 37sec |
| 20 | Mitch DOCKER (Orica Scott) | s.t. |
| 21 | Ed CLANCY (Condor JLT) | @ 50sec |
| 22 | Zakkari DEMPSTER (Total Rush) | s.t. |
GC after Stage 2:
| 1 | Ian BIBBY (Condor JLT) | 22 points |
| 2 | Mathew GIBSON (Condor) | 16 |
| 3 | Michael HEPBURN (Orica Scott) | 12 |
| 4 | Anthony GIACOPPO (IsoWhey Sports SwissWellness) | 10 |
| 5 | Jesse KERRISON (IsoWhey Sports SwissWellness) | 10 |
| 6 | Samuel SPOKES (Total Rush) | 9 |
| 7 | Cameron BAYLY (IsoWhey Sports SwissWellness) | 9 |
| 8 | Brenton JONES (Condor JLT) | 7 |
| 9 | Caleb EWAN (Orica Scott) | 6 |
| 10 | Patrick LANE (VTWO Team) | 5 |
| 11 | Benjamin HILL (GTR) | 3 |
| 12 | Alistair DONOHOE (GTR) | 3 |
| 13 | Ali SLATER (Condor JLT) | 2 |
| 14 | Nathan HAAS (VTWO Team) | 1 |
| 15 | Scott SUNDERLAND (IsoWhey Sports SwissWellness) | 1 |
Sunday, January 1: 1st Stage, Ritchie Blvd - Geelong Criterium, 60 minutes
Ian Bibby takes the first stage
The Race: A crash in the last corner sent several riders to the pavement, among them 2013, 2015 & 2106 overall winner Caleb Ewan. Ewan was able to remount and finish 17th. Ian Bibby stayed upright during the carnage and won the stage. He is the GC leader going into Monday's stage.
Complete Results:
48 starters, 17 classified finishers, 31 abandons
| 1 | Ian BIBBY (Condor JLT) | 58min 31sec |
| 2 | Jesse KERRISON (IsoWhey Sports-SwissWellness) | s.t. |
| 3 | Mathew GIBSON (Condor JLT) | @ 2sec |
| 4 | Cameron BAYLY (IsoWhey Sports-SwissWellness) | @ 4sec |
| 5 | Anthony GIACOPPO (IsoWhey Sports-SwissWellness) | s.t. |
| 6 | Patrick LANE (VTWO) | s.t. |
| 7 | Samuel SPOKES (Total Rush) | s.t. |
| 8 | Alistair DONOHOE (GTR) | s.t. |
| 9 | Ali SLATER (Condor JLT) | @ 9sec |
| 10 | Scott SUNDERLAND (IsoWhey Sports-SwissWellness) | @ 12sec |
| 11 | Ed CLANCY (Condor JLT) | @ 14sec |
| 12 | Matt ROBERTSON (Maker Flanders) | @16sec |
| 13 | Robbie HUCKER (VTWO) | s.t. |
| 14 | Robert MCCARTHY (Condor) | @ 19sec |
| 15 | Nathan HAAS (VTWO) | @ 28sec |
| 16 | Brenton JONES (Condor JLT) | @ 39sec |
| 17 | Caleb EWAN (Orica Scott) | @ 51sec |
GC after Stage 1:
| 1 | Ian BIBBY (Condor JLT) | 12 points |
| 2 | Jesse KERRISON (IsoWhey Sports-SwissWellness) | 10 |
| 3 | Mathew GIBSON (Condor JLT) | 8 |
| 4 | Cameron BAYLY (IsoWhey Sports-SwissWellness) | 7 |
| 5 | Anthony GIACOPPO (IsoWhey Sports-SwissWellness) | 6 |
| 6 | Patrick LANE (VTWO) | 5 |
| 7 | Samuel SPOKES (Total Rush) | 4 |
| 8 | Alistair DONOHOE (GTR) | 3 |
| 9 | Ali SLATER (Condor JLT) | 2 |
| 10 | Scott SUNDERLAND (IsoWhey Sports-SwissWellness) | 1 |
Geelong is in southwest Australia, near Melbourne.
Stage 1 map
- Orica Scott
- IsoWhey Sports SwissWellness
- Condor JLT
- VTWO
- Maker Flanders
- Total Rush
- NSWIS
- 7-Eleven
- GTR