Tour of Gippsland: Drizners Dominates Stage One, Turnbull Takes Third Overall
In an eventful three-stage Tour of Gippsland, InForm TM Insight MAKE yet again demonstrated cycling prowess, with an incredible teams’ classification win that sees our overall lead increase with just one tour remaining.
On top of taking out the teams’ classification, Carter Turnbull finished the tour in third and took out the young riders’ classification, Jarrad Drizners claimed the sprint classification while finishing fourth overall, and Rudy Porter and Raphael Freienstein finished the tour in seventh and eighth respectively.
A strong stage one saw Jarrad Drizners cross the line in first after dominating the sprint classification, while an ecstatic Raphael Freienstein celebrated for him as he crossed the line in fifth.
Due to some dangerous weather, stage two was stopped by race officials just over the halfway point with Carter Turnbull up the road in a small break away group, earning him the third spot on the podium for the stage.
After the somewhat lackluster end to stage two, the boys were hungry for stage three, with Drizners just beaten to the line by Matt Rice for second, and Freienstein again finishing in fifth.
The team’s ability to share the load resulted in an impressive team win, with Turnbull, Drizners, an ever-consistent Porter and Freienstein all finishing within the top eight.
Heading into the final event on the 2019 NRS calendar - the Tour of Tasmania - with the leading team and the individual leader, Jarrad Drizners, InForm TM Insight MAKE is in a powerful and exciting position.
Here, Carter Turnbull breaks down the tour stage-by-stage.
Stage 1 – Churchill Circuit
Circuit: 14 laps x 6 km – 85.1km (including 1.1km)
“Stage one went exactly to plan with Jarrad picking up maximum time bonuses and the stage win, as well as the whole team finishing in the front group.”
Stage 2 – Newborough Circuit
Circuit: 12 laps x 8.7 km – 104.4km
“Stage two was looking extremely promising with myself in the early break and most of the others sitting comfortably in the bunch. As the race started to get going extreme wind and rain came in which caused the race officials to stop just over half way through. A rather disappointing result as the whole team felt to be in a strong position to win the stage and maintain the tour lead. However, with the early finish I ended up third on the stage and third overall.”
Stage 3 - Warragul
Circuit: 40 laps x 1.2 km – 48km
“With a few intermediate sprints in the final stage criterium we had a couple of cards to play as Jarrad and myself could still win overall on the bonuses available. In the end it wasn’t to be as I finished equal time in second but from count back, I was third, and Jarrad finishing second on the stage bumped him up to fourth. Rudy and Raph also managed to grab time throughout the tour to finish seventh and eighth respectively, with the team winning the overall teams’ classification.”