Irish cycling team Aqua Blue Sport won stage 1 at the Herald Sun Tour. And the relief at bouncing back after a costly mistake in Australia was palpable. It was the team’s first victory of the new season. Above, Lasse Norman Hansen and US champion Larry Warbasse celebrate the win (Photos by Zac Williams and Con Chronis)
Aqua Blue Sport man of the moment Lasse Norman Hansen has said he was relieved to win at the Herald Sun Tour after a costly mistake in the TT.
The 25-year-old Dane was 3rd in the prologue TT yesterday. He was just seven tenths of a second off stage winner Ed Clancy (JLT Condor).
Hansen said he made a mistake in the test, overshooting a corner.
That error would have proven very costly over such a short course and surely cost him the stage win and yellow jersey.
Advertisement
However, he made up for his error with victory on the 161km stage 1 today. And because the race split and he was one of just nine men sprinting for victory, he took the race lead.
“We knew there was going to be a lot of crosswinds,” he said of today’s stage.
“And we knew we had to stay close to the Trek-Segafredo boys. We did that with the whole team. Everyone did a really great job.
“In the end it split down to a 20 men group and Larry and I made the selection after that,” he said of team mate and US champion Larry Warbasse.
Related News
“With about 10 km to go it split yet again. And I was able to jump across from the second group to the first.
“From there it was pretty much like an old-fashioned track race; attacking left and right,” added the 2012 Olympic omnium champion.
“And it ended up in a 10 man bunch sprint. I kicked a bit early and brought good speed into the climb.
“It was a little bit uphill to the finish line and I managed to get a jump on Steele (von Hoff).
A team performance
“I’m really stoked to win the stage but it was definitely a team performance today.
“They all made this possible. And I’m super happy to have been able to finish it off for the team.”
Hansen now leads the race, with three stages remaining, by nine seconds from Cameron Meyer (Mitchelton-Scott). And in third place is Steele von Hoff (Bennelong SwissWellness).
Hansen took victory today from Von Hoff and Meyer, with Koen De Kort (Trek-Segafredo) next.
Topics
