Tour of Gippsland opens with a Kiwi podium

Rogers (left) on the Stage 1 podium  ©Shane Goss – licoricegallery.com

Jul 27th, 11. LIke so many stage races this season, the Tour of Gippsland in Australia began with a Kiwi on the podium - thanks to Rico Rogers.

Rogers, who impressed so much at this tour last year he earned a spot in a top Asian team, is racing this tour for a composite team which also includes two other Kiwis, James Brosnahan and Joshua Alridge.  

Today's opening day of the nine stage tour had two stages, a 33km criterium and a 68.2km road race.

In the morning stage, 32 year old Rogers lived up to his billing as one of the top favourites by sprinting to 2nd place.

Although the organisers have pegged him as one to beat based on his recent results in Asia, Rogers is enjoying the lack of pressure.

"I'm riding for a composite team. I'm glad to be doing some racing here, there's no pressure to perform compared to racing in Asia," he told RoadCycling.co.nz

Unfortunately, his morning results were not repeated in the afternoon stage, which incorporated the aptly-named Mt. Misery.

"I had a rough afternoon and got dropped on the hills," he explained.

Also racing in this tour are New Zealand team PureBlack Racing, with a mix of their development team and pro-team riders. Pro-rider Louis Crosby had the reverse fortune of Rogers - he was caught up in a crash at the end of the criterium but, despite a gash from the crash, he finished in the Top 10 of the afternoon's road race.

Australian Steele Von Hoff of Genesys Wealth Advisers is the current leader of the tour. The 23 year old has a 6sec lead over teammate Nathan Haas, with last year's winner, Patrick Shaw - also Genesys - a further 2sec back in third place.

Full Tour of Gippsland results

Also see: Kiwi a favourite to win Aussie series

The 150 rider strong field make their way around  the criterium circuit on Stage 1 of the 2011 Lakes Oil Tour of Gippsland ©Shane Goss – licoricegallery.com

Gippsland Stage 2 - Support for recent Tour de France winner Cadel Evans on the climb up Mt. Misery  ©Shane Goss – licoricegallery.com