Durbridge and Team Dominate Opening Stage
WAIS-AIS athlete Luke Durbridge and Team Jayco Skins dominated the opening stage of the Thuringen Rundfahrt in Germany winning the 23.7km team time trial by almost a minute.
The team covered the rolling circuit out and back from Bleicherode, south of Hannover, in a time of 27:42 at an average speed of 51.3 km/hr. Their time was 58 seconds faster than second placed German team LKT Brandenburg with American outfit Trek Livestrong third, also at 58 seconds.
“The team was leading by 20 seconds at the halfway mark and then brought it home really well,” said Jayco Skins Team Director, James Victor.
Michael Matthews, 19, Rohan Dennis, 20, Aaron Donnelly, 19, Luke Durbridge, 19, Richard Lang, 21, and Michael Hepburn, 19, lined up for the stage determined to perform well.
“It was the first European win for Dennis, Durbridge, Hepburn, Donnelly and Lang so it’s fair to say they were pretty pleased to score such a dominant win,” said Victor.
Dennis won the U23 time trial ahead of Durbridge and Matthews at this year’s Australian Open Road Championships whilst both Dennis and Hepburn were members of the Australian quartet that won gold in the teams pursuit at this year’s Track World Championships.
“Dennis, Durbridge, Hepburn and Matthews were the four to complete the distance together while Donnelly and Lang played their roles well given the credentials and speed of their team mates,” said Victor.
Under teams time trial regulations the four riders who finished together will all be awarded a 20 second margin over the four LKT Brandenburg riders and a 30 second margin over the finishing quartet from Trek Livestrong.
Matthews, who led the team across the line, will wear the leader’s yellow jersey into the 148 kilometre second stage from Bleicherode to Wasungen. Overall Dennis, Durbridge and Hepburn fill second to fourth places respectively.
The four Team Jayco Skins riders also sit in the same order in the Best Young Rider Classification and the team has a one minute lead in the teams classification.
The Team Jayco Skins riders in the Thuringen Rundfahrt are Michael Matthews, Rohan Dennis, Aaron Donnelly, Luke Durbridge, Richard Lang and Michael Hepburn.
– Cycling Australia