The added pressure that comes with being the current pin-up boy of the Australian domestic cycling scene suits Anthony Giacoppo just fine. The West Australian is thriving on the fact that he has a target on his back after a stunning list of credentials, which includes holding the yellow jersey after today’s opening day of the Jayco Tour of the Murray River.
He is also the leader of both the Subaru National Road Series and SCODY Cup; the reigning Australian criterium champion and fresh from a triumph in the Budget Forklifts Tour of the Great South Coast.
“Being in the Genesys team, you get that anyway,” he said of opposition riders being desperate to beat him.
“They’re not too keen to see you succeed but it makes succeeding even better.”
Giacoppo is in the midst of his first professional season after working as an assistant manager at a Perth bike store up until last year. He has been the standout for Genesys Wealth Advisers in the SCODY Cup, saying his exceptional form was making him hungrier as the series progresses.
While he couldn’t manage a podium finish in this morning’s Yarrawonga criterium in Moira Shire, he bounced back in this afternoon’s 77.8km Yarrawonga to Cobram road race.
The 26-year-old was part of a 16-member breakaway, which was steered by his teammate Campbell Flakemore, who he likened to a motorbike rider due to his speed in the latter stages of the race.
The leading group established a 32-second gap with five kilometres to go, which was reduced to 21 seconds by the three-kilometre mark.
It was enough for them to hold off the peloton and with another Genesys rider in Joel Pearson in the breakaway, Giacoppo was well-positioned to grab stage honours and subsequently the GC lead.
“Like I always say, it’s good to be in front,” he said.
“At the start of the day, I was just getting into the rhythm and trying to find the race legs.”
He is itching for the next seven days, which will feature nine criteriums in the remaining 12 stages.
Other jersey winners in the road race were Patrick Shaw (Beechworth Bakery King of the Mountains), Josh Taylor (Tourism Victoria Most Aggressive) and Miles Scotson (Euston Club Resort Rising Star).
The tour-opening Action Bike and Ski Criterium was taken out by Team Budget Forklifts’ Luke Davison.
Like Giacoppo, Davison has been a podium regular in this year’s SCODY Cup, continuing the trend with a victory ahead of teammate Ryan Macanally in the 36km waterfront criterium earlier today.
It marked his seventh stage win in this year’s SCODY Cup.
“It’s always great to start off the tour like that,” he said.
“The first one’s always the hardest.
“We had most of our teammates up there and they did the job.”
The Sydney rider did not want to get too far ahead of himself when asked about his approach for the remainder of the eight-day tour.
“I’ll just take it step by step,” he said.
In front of a strong crowd, Davison also grabbed the Campolina Criterium and Jayco tour leader jerseys after the first stage.
Macanally was the Euston Club rising star while the Tourism Victoria most aggressive was Louis Crosby (Pure Black Racing).
GPM Wilson Racing’s Taylor was the Tasco Inland sprint leader, with the 21-year-old’s race marred by being caught up in a crash as the field approached the last lap.
Malcolm Rudolph (Drapac), Brenton Jones (Genesys) and London Olympic Games silver medallist Glenn O’Shea (SASI) were also involved but competed in the road race.
Charter Mason Drapac’s Shannon Johnson is believed to have suffered a broken collarbone in the incident.
Moira Shire hosted both of today’s stages, which welcomed 15 teams.
Tomorrow’s action starts with a 25.5km Numurkah criterium, followed by a road race to Nathalia.
Giacoppo holds a four-second GC lead over Team Budget Forklifts’ Blair Windsor, who finished second in the road race.
Race Results
Tour of the Murray River (2012) - Stage 2
1. Anthony GIACOPPO (GEN) 1h43:28
2. Blair WINDSOR (BFL) +0
3. Jacob KAUFFMANN (CHM) +0
4. Miles SCOTSON (SAS) +0
5. James MCCOY (PBR) +0
6. Edward WHITE (GWR) +0
7. Joseph COOPER (PBR) +0
8. Amir RUSLI (DPC) +0
9. James HEPBURN (RMA) +0
10. Chris BEECK (PLB) +0
11. Campbell FLAKEMORE (GEN) +0
12. Joel PEARSON (GEN) +0
13. Fraser NORTHEY (SAS) +8
14. Dean SANFILIPPO (JWC) +20
15. Alex WOHLER (TDU) +20
16. Alexander SMYTH (PLB) +20
17. Louis CROSBY (PBR) +20
18. Kane WALKER (GEN) +20
19. Luke PARKER (PAR) +20
20. Patrick SHAW (GEN) +20
21. Joshua TAYLOR (GWR) +20
22. Malcolm RUDOLPH (DPC) +20
23. Bradeley HALL (PLB) +20
24. Aaron DONNELLY (JHS) +20
25. Luke DAVISON (BFL) +20
26. Alex CARVER (GEN) +20
27. Stuart SHAW (DPC) +20
28. James RENDALL (SHC) +20
29. Edward BISSAKER (JHS) +20
30. George TANSLEY (SAS) +20
31. Jarryd JONES (MOI) +20
32. Blake HOSE (GEN) +20
33. Brenton JONES (GEN) +20
34. Jayden COPP (TDU) +20
35. Luke OCKERBY (BFL) +20
36. William DRAFFEN (TDU) +20
37. Samuel WITMITZ (BFL) +20
38. Wade EDWARDS (SHC) +20
39. Tyler SPURRELL (SHC) +20
40. Oliver KENT-SPARK (JWC) +20
41. Stephen COUSINS (MOI) +20
42. Alistair CRAMERI (SHC) +20
43. Alex EDMONDSON (JHS) +20
44. Ryan MACANALLY (BFL) +20
45. Evan HULL (PAR) +20
46. Cameron PETERSON (RMA) +20
47. Daniel NELSON (MOI) +20
48. Thomas PATTON (PAR) +20
49. Conor MURTAGH (CHM) +20
50. James BOAL (JWC) +20
51. Caleb JONES (GWR) +20
52. Jack CUMMINGS (PAR) +20
53. Shaun MCCARTHY (BFL) +20
54. Peter THOMPSON (DPC) +20
55. Joshua HARRISON (SAS) +20
56. Henry MORLEY (PLB) +20
57. Roman VAN UDEN (PBR) +20
58. Taylor GUNMAN (PBR) +20
59. Gordon MCCAULEY (DPC) +20
60. Peter LOFT (BFL) +20
61. Harry CARPENTER (SAS) +20
62. Jay BOURKE (MOI) +20
63. Douglas FREEBURN (TDU) +20
64. Glenn O’SHEA (SAS) +20
65. Nicholas D’AMBROSIO (PAR) +20
66. Steven DEL GALLO (JWC) +30
67. James BUTLER (JWC) +49
68. Jake MAGEE (GWR) +2:17
69. Andrew CRAWLEY (GWR) +2:44
70. Liam DOVE (PLB) +3:24
dns Shannon JOHNSON (CHM)
Average speed of the winner: 45.1 km/h
Number of starters: 70
General Classification after Stage 2
1. 1 Anthony GIACOPPO (GEN) 2h29:15
2. 21 Blair WINDSOR (BFL) +4
3. 31 Miles SCOTSON (SAS) +10
4. 58 Jacob KAUFFMANN (CHM) +10
5. 2 Joel PEARSON (GEN) +11
6. 44 Edward WHITE (GWR) +12
7. 38 James MCCOY (PBR) +14
8. 6 Campbell FLAKEMORE (GEN) +15
9. 17 Amir RUSLI (DPC) +16
10. 36 Joseph COOPER (PBR) +16
11. 79 Chris BEECK (PLB) +16
12. 85 James HEPBURN (RMA) +16
13. 43 Joshua TAYLOR (GWR) +19
14. 34 Fraser NORTHEY (SAS) +23
15. 3 Patrick SHAW (GEN) +24
16. 23 Luke DAVISON (BFL) +26
17. 25 Ryan MACANALLY (BFL) +26
18. 5 Alex CARVER (GEN) +27
19. 14 Stuart SHAW (DPC) +29
20. 64 Alex WOHLER (TDU) +32
21. 22 Samuel WITMITZ (BFL) +32
22. 16 Malcolm RUDOLPH (DPC) +32
23. 45 Caleb JONES (GWR) +32
24. 24 Peter LOFT (BFL) +33
25. 91 Edward BISSAKER (JHS) +34
26. 78 Alexander SMYTH (PLB) +35
27. 73 Luke PARKER (PAR) +35
28. 30 Joshua HARRISON (SAS) +35
29. 40 Louis CROSBY (PBR) +36
30. 77 Bradeley HALL (PLB) +36
31. 4 Kane WALKER (GEN) +36
32. 53 Dean SANFILIPPO (JWC) +36
33. 33 George TANSLEY (SAS) +36
34. 72 Evan HULL (PAR) +36
35. 104 James RENDALL (SHC) +36
36. 90 Alex EDMONDSON (JHS) +36
37. 74 Thomas PATTON (PAR) +36
38. 92 Aaron DONNELLY (JHS) +36
39. 103 Wade EDWARDS (SHC) +36
40. 95 Jarryd JONES (MOI) +36
41. 50 James BOAL (JWC) +36
42. 32 Harry CARPENTER (SAS) +36
43. 7 Blake HOSE (GEN) +36
44. 102 Alistair CRAMERI (SHC) +36
45. 80 Henry MORLEY (PLB) +36
46. 66 William DRAFFEN (TDU) +36
47. 65 Jayden COPP (TDU) +36
48. 99 Stephen COUSINS (MOI) +36
49. 39 Roman VAN UDEN (PBR) +36
50. 52 Oliver KENT-SPARK (JWC) +36
51. 12 Gordon MCCAULEY (DPC) +36
52. 37 Taylor GUNMAN (PBR) +36
53. 105 Tyler SPURRELL (SHC) +36
54. 8 Brenton JONES (GEN) +36
55. 57 Conor MURTAGH (CHM) +36
56. 97 Daniel NELSON (MOI) +36
57. 67 Douglas FREEBURN (TDU) +36
58. 71 Jack CUMMINGS (PAR) +36
59. 20 Shaun MCCARTHY (BFL) +36
60. 84 Cameron PETERSON (RMA) +36
61. 96 Jay BOURKE (MOI) +36
62. 15 Peter THOMPSON (DPC) +36
63. 29 Glenn O’SHEA (SAS) +36
64. 26 Luke OCKERBY (BFL) +46
65. 54 Steven DEL GALLO (JWC) +46
66. 51 James BUTLER (JWC) +1:05
67. 47 Andrew CRAWLEY (GWR) +3:00
68. 81 Liam DOVE (PLB) +3:40
69. 70 Nicholas D’AMBROSIO (PAR) +3:40
70. 46 Jake MAGEE (GWR) +4:05
dnf 59 Shannon JOHNSON (CHM)
