Luke Davison made it two wins from two(Image credit: Mark Gunter)
Luke Davison takes stage one(Image credit: Mark Gunter)
Luke Davison (Budget Forklifts) pulls on the yellow leader's jersey after Stage 1 of the 2012 Tour of Gippsland(Image credit: Mark Gunter)
The peloton speeds along the Phillip Island Grand Prix circuit(Image credit: Mark Gunter)
The peloton make their way around the Phillip Island GP track(Image credit: Mark Gunter)
The Scody Cup, with two stages often raced in a day, can be hard going but Budget Forklifts rider Luke Davison came out on top on Wednesday at the Tour of Gippsland.
Davison sprinted to victory on Stage 1 at the San Remo waterfront and also Stage 2 on the Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit. Cyclingnews' Alex Malone, who is racing for the Plan B team, caught up with the overall leader heading into day 2.
Alex Malone: You got two wins today, the second one seemed a fair bit harder than the first one. Talk me through this morning's stage and in the afternoon?
Luke Davison: I think the first crit, the first race of any [tour] is always going to be frantic, trying to go for it [in the morning] the circuit was fast and flowing so it was imperative to stay near the front. It was tough to move up [because of the speed].
I guess I just had really good positioning this morning, it was just fortunate that I had the legs when I needed it and I went from the corner - with 200m to go - and got a clean run to the line.
The afternoon stage [around the famous Phillip Island] I had to come back from a fair way, maybe 300-350m and with a head wind so I had to make up quite a lot of ground on the guys in front. With 100m to go I looked across and could still see riders in front so I had to fight tooth and nail to get the win. It's always the one's you work hardest for that are the most rewarding.
AM: I haven't looked over the course for the following stages but do you think it's possible for you guys to defend the jersey, either for yourself or another teammate?
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LD: With these tours I think you have to play it day by day because there is such a big field and there's a significant group of riders and teams who are at a high level. It's going to be a matter of just making sure we stay out of trouble. It only takes one touch of the brakes, a crash or missing an intermediate sprint and not picking up those precious seconds. The whole team is confident in backing me up, if I've got the legs, if not I'm more than happy to help out one my other teammates - any one of them.
