Young Australian Matt Goss (South Australia.com-AIS) took the lead in the Tour of Britain during...
Australian Mathew Goss (South Australia.com-AIS) (Image credit: Gerry McManus)
Canny Goss lands lead
Young Australian Matt Goss (South Australia.com-AIS) took the lead in the Tour of Britain during stage two yesterday. Goss, who is just 19, went into the stage trailing the overnight leader, Denmark's Martin Pedersen (Team CSC), by two seconds but picked up time bonuses along the route by winning the third intermediate sprint and placing third in the first two sprints of the day.
Goss finished the stage with the main bunch and now has a two second lead over Pedersen. He also increased his lead in the sprint competition and now sits on 24 points double the tally of Pedersen, his nearest rival for the jersey.
"The team faces a huge task to defend Matt's lead against some of the world's strongest professional teams," said team director, Brian Stephens. "But the boys are enthusiastic and they're not intimidated by the quality of the opposition."
A product of the Tasmanian Institute of Sport's development program, Goss has been considered a rider to watch in the Australian scene for the last few years. He hails from Tasmania where his palmares includes the prestigious Latrobe and Launceston Wheelraces on the track and the 2004 Launceston International Classic.
