Yeti Gu has recorded their second stage victory at the 2011 Terra Australis. The team of Roger Cull and Rodney Hart won an enthralling stage from Bright to Beechworth. Yeti Gu sat just off the back of the Torq team of Mark Fenner and Jo Wall for much of the middle section of the race and attacked in the final kilometres to notch up the closest stage win of the event.
The Terra Australis is its third year and Jo Wall came within 15 seconds of being the first female GC stage winner. Fenner and Wall set a steady pace up Mount Porepunkah and eventually caught the breakaway Yeti Gu pair before the summit of the climb. Fenner and Wall then spent the next 20km attacking on the short climbs but were unable to shake the Yeti Gu pair and hit the bitumen section together.
The teams worked together for a while before Fenner was left to do the grunt work on behalf of all of them. After the second feed station the teams had a tough hike up to a ridgeline and then through a number of private properties. Fenner and Wall got to the final gate behind the Yeti Gu team. Race rules stipulate that the last person is to shut the gate which was Fenner. While he was latching the gate Wall tried to stay with the Yeti Gu team who attacked. Fenner worked hard to get back on Wall’s wheel but they were unable to bridge the 15 second gap and finished a gallant second. “I was absolutely gutted for Joey. She rode a mighty, mighty stage. In the end we could not peg the old guys back. I desperately wanted to win the stage for Jo” said Fenner.
The Yeti Gu team have had a very successful week and managed to claw back 6:23 on the overall GC leaders, Andrew Hall and Jason McAvoy. “We came here with no expectations so to win a stage was amazing, to win two is special” said Cull. They now trail the Onya Bike Superstore team (McAvoy and Hall) by 15:19 which is seemingly a winning lead.
The real interest is in third place in GC. The third place on the podium is wide open with only 3:05 separating teams third through to sixth. The technical stage should provide for some great racing.
The course started with a testing climb almost immediately after the start up Mount Porepunkah. For many of the riders the hurt of stage 5 became more pronounced as the gradient of the road increased. Don and Andy Everest, brothers from Mt Isa had a trying day. “My legs would just not get going. My energy levels were good but I had absolutely nothing in the legs. I reckon we dropped 10 minutes real quickly and just could not get it back” said Andy Everest.
The race has now reached Beechworth and only the final stage stands in the way of the competitors enjoying the party at the Bridge Road Brewery tomorrow night. Saturday’s 64km final stage will take in a selection of the singletrack around Beechworth before finishing right in the heart of town at the old Railway Station.
Riders are expected to start arriving from midday.
For full results including GC stage and category winners as well as overall standings please visit the event website.