Chipotle rider shows that course is conquerable for the fast men with sixth place finish
Steel Von Hoff (Chipotle) talked to us after the race in Buninyong. (Image credit: Alex Hinds)
While the 10.1 kilometre Buninyong course at the Cycling Australia Road Championships has been criticised by some riders as "too hard" for a sprinter to succeed on, Steele Von Hoff (Chipotle Development) showed no shortage of tenacity to stay in the race and - had Lady Luck smiled a little differently on the Victorian, may well have been celebrating an unlikely national title.
Von Hoff finished sixth on the day, leading home the main field 1:11 back from winner Simon Gerrans (GreenEdge). Impressively, he outsprinted two WorldTour veterans in Chris Sutton (Sky) and Baden Cooke (GreenEdge) to take the result. It was a great performance from a man who has been criticised in the past for his unproven performance on longer, hillier parcours.
The sprinter explained to Cyclingnews he'd come close to getting dropped a few times but forced himself through the final few laps to get the result.
"I was cramping with three laps to go, and I tried to force the water down, then I felt bloated," said Von Hoff. "Then the laps just kept ticking down and all of a sudden it was the final lap."
"I was on Sutton's wheel, he went and I was on his wheel, and got past him to take sixth. I'm stoked."
Von Hoff added that he was really pleased to be able to stay right up there with the best riders on the climbs.
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"I'm a sprinter, and it's the job of the other guys to drop me. The tip-top guys did that, but the other riders, the other sprinters couldn't get rid of me. Hopefully when I next come back, I'll even be able to follow the climbers."
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.
