20-year-old sprinter says escape was stronger than expected
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Scott Law (V Australia) takes out stage one of the tour in North Shore.(Image credit: Shane Goss/licoricegallery.com)
A sweet moment: Von Hoff crosses the line to take out the Goulburn Sydney Classic.(Image credit: David Lane/www.actionsnaps.com.au)
Scott Law (V Australia), one of the fastest sprinters participating in this year's Goulburn to Cycle Sydney Classic, admits that a period of indecision about whether to get his team to chase on the descent off Razorback Hill may have cost him a chance to win the 109-year-old race. Speaking to Cyclingnews after the finish of the Classic, Law said that he had misjudged the strength of the front group.
"Last year, it was a very similar situation, but it all ended up regrouping at the very end, after the descent [and then we set up Cantwell for the win]," said Law.
"I think that made us initially a little apprehensive trying to chase on the descent, thinking that it probably would come back, but because of the sheer strength of the front group we simply couldn’t get them back. By the time we tried to get working together and bring them back it was too late."
The front group, which included teammate Johnnie Walker, had only one recognized sprinter in it, Steele Von Hoff, and the Genesys rider ended up cruising to the win after a perfect team lead-out. Law commented that the presence of Walker complicated matters, and exacerbated the delay in the chase.
"We knew we had Johnnie up there and we knew he could do a good result, but we came into today’s race with the plan to try and work for myself," said Law. "Towards the end we really tried to get it all back together with Chris Winn and Cam Peterson and about three or four of the BikeBug.com guys but it just wasn’t enough."
Phil Grenfell, also in the chasing pack, was particularly critical of the V Australia team when asked about the situation at the end of the race.
"Steele was the only one of the sprinters to get over the top of old Razorback," said Grenfell. "When V Australia ended up riding it was too late. There was only 5km to go and by then there was no way we were going to bring it back."
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After last year's second overall, and some strong showings in the recent Tour of Geelong, Law confessed that the failure to bring back the break was a missed opportunity.
"Honestly, I’m disappointed [with the result]," said Law. "But it’s nice to be back in Australia racing, I enjoy racing here, and hopefully I’ll be lining up again soon at the Herald Sun Tour."
Alex Hinds is a graduate of Economics and Political Science from Sydney University. Growing up in the metropolitan area of the city he quickly became a bike junkie, dabbling in mountain and road riding. Alex raced on the road in his late teens, but with the time demands of work and university proving too much, decided not to further pursue full-time riding.
If he was going to be involved in cycling in another way the media seemed the next best bet and jumped at the opportunity to work in the Sydney office of Cyclingnews when an offer arose in early 2011.
Though the WorldTour is of course a huge point of focus throughout the year, Alex also takes a keen interest in the domestic racing scene with a view to helping foster the careers of the next generation of cycling.
When not writing for Cyclingnews Alex is a strong proponent of the awareness of cyclists on the road in Sydney having had a few close run-ins with city traffic in the past.
