October 14, 2009 (Apollo Bay, Australia) – Chris Sutton still says his father is not interested enough to come and watch him ride but the younger man took another giant step towards making that and other things more likely with a second stage win in today’s leg of the 2009 Jayco Herald Sun Tour, that also delivered him the yellow jersey.

After his Garmin Slipstream team mate, Tom Peterson, looked to have booked a spot in a two man shoot-out with Geelong’s Leigh Howard (Jayco AIS) for the honours on the 164km third stage from Warrnambool to Apollo Bay, Sutton was part of a big pack that hunted them down just 100 metres from the line.

“I thought Tom Peterson would win the stage but Fly V kept chasing. I feel a bit sorry for both of them. Leigh Howard is a great bike rider and Tom is going really strong at the moment. He was upset he missed the move yesterday and I am sure he is a bit upset today as well. But that is bike racing. We rode a team plan,” a measured Sutton said after the win, still unaware that he had wrestled the leader’s prized yellow jersey from Jonathan Cantwell (Fly V) by the barest one second margin.

And while Sutton still has plans of retaining the jersey through to Melbourne on Saturday in an attempt to complete the first father and son Tour victories, complementing father Gary’s 1984 success, he is aware of that same team plan and of the threats from elsewhere.

“The race is not over yet and let’s hope I’ve still got it on my back tomorrow. I know Jonno Cantwell and the rest of Fly V will give us a run for the money. It has been a big 24 hours but we are not getting too excited.

“We’re riding for Wiggo and Svein – the three of us can podium but the big dangers are Jonno and Matthew Wilson,” Sutton said.

Sutton is clearly in awe of Bradley Wiggins ability and knows the asset that Svein Tuft, a world championships silver medallist at time trial in 2008, is to their team: “Wiggo is like a freight train. I can’t describe how fast he goes. Today after Fly V did all the work, which was perfect for us, Trent Lowe took over at the front, and then Bradley and I tagged on.

“We don’t really talk that much on the road. We just have a bit of a signal. Wiggo just taps his hand on his rear and I hang on,” Sutton explained.

Peterson on the other hand was clearly despondent post race, despite picking up the polka dot jersey for the leader in the King of the Mountains category, two hill climbs, two sprint wins and a few bonus seconds during the day. “I’m speechless. I would have loved to have won it today, but we went with the team,” the 2009 Tour of California stage winner said during the presentation ceremony.

The rising star Howard, who won the award for the most aggressive rider on the day was more philosophical but equally frustrated. “It is a bit unfortunate and I am very disappointed. We went a long way out. At 15k to go we thought we had it and we probably slowed up a bit too much,” the talented 19 year old said.

“And then there was the obvious change of tactics from Garmin. He kept attacking me. I understand why they did it – they won they stage.”

Although he scored no additional points on the stage, that was race in kinder conditions than the two previous days, although still testing for the riders, Cantwell retained the sprinters green jersey and kept some confidence.

“It was do or die day for me with those climbs but my team did a great job, 167k’s on the front. I am super confident we can get it (the yellow jersey) back. Race dynamics change. We’ll sit tomorrow and let them (Garmin) do the work,” an upbeat Cantwell said.

That fourth stage tomorrow takes the peloton over 139 kilometres from Anglesea to Barwon Heads, with intermediate sprints at the Great Ocean Road Memorial Arch and at Moriac and a testing climb up Benwerrin.

Results

1. Chris Sutton (Aus) Garmin-Slipstream 3:48:58
2. Jonathan Cantwell (Aus) Fly V Australia
3. David Tanner (Aus) Rock Racing
4. Tom Peterson (USA) Garmin-Slipstream
5. Bradley Wiggins (GBr) Garmin-Slipstream
6. Mitchell Pearson (Aus) Prime Estate
7. Leigh Howard (Aus) Jayco AIS
8. David Mccann (Irl) Prime Estate 0:02
9. Peter Latham (NZl) Bissell Pro Cycling
10. Philip Zajicek (Aus) Fly V Australia
11. Aaron Kemps (Aus) Rock Racing
12. Rohan Dennis (Aus) Jayco AIS
13. Bernard Van Ulden (USA) Jelly Belly
14. Ben Jacques-Maynes (USA) Bissell Pro Cycling
15. Svein Tuft (Can) Garmin-Slipstream
16. Paul Mach (USA) Bissell Pro Cycling
17. Nathan Earle (Aus) Praties
18. Darren Lapthorne (Aus) Rapha Condor
19. Simon Richardson (GBr) Rapha Condor
20. Jeremy Yates (NZl) LeTua 0:10
21. Takumi Beppu (Jpn) Aisan
22. Nick Aitken (Aus) Jayco Australia National
23. Taiji Nishitani (Jpn) Aisan 0:15
24. Lachlan Norris (Aus) Prime Estate 0:19
25. Tom Southam (GBr) Rapha Condor
26. Matthew Wilson (Aus) Jayco Australia National
27. Benjamin Day (Aus) Fly V Australia 0:39
28. Tim Roe (Aus) Savings & Loans 1:08
29. David Pell (Aus) Savings & Loans
30. Jai Crawford (Aus) Savings & Loans
31. Ricardo Van Der Velde (Ned) Garmin-Slipstream
32. Trent Lowe (Aus) Garmin-Slipstream
33. Alex Howes (USA) Garmin-Slipstream
34. Michael Matthews (Aus) Jayco AIS
35. Will Routley (Can) Jelly Belly
36. Michael England (Aus) Budget Forklifts
37. Kiel Reijnen (USA) Jelly Belly
38. Cameron Jennings (Aus) Budget Forklifts
39. Brett Tivers (NZl) Prime Estate
40. Masahiro Shinagawa (Jpn) Aisan
41. Kristian House (GBr) Rapha Condor 1:15
42. Joshua Chugg (Aus) Praties 8:42
43. Luke Fetch (Aus) Prime Estate
44. Rhys Pollock (Aus) Drapac Porsche
45. Jonny Clarke (Aus) Jelly Belly
46. Omer Kem (USA) Bissell Pro Cycling
47. Jeremy Vennell (NZl) Bissell Pro Cycling
48. Kazuhiro Mori (Jpn) Aisan
49. Darren Rolfe (Aus) Fly V Australia
50. Richie Porte (Aus) Jayco Australia National
51. Mitchell Docker (Aus) Jayco Australia National
52. Dylan Newell (Aus) Praties 0:12:43
53. Frank Pipp (USA) Bissell Pro Cycling 0:16:37
54. John Anderson (Aus) Budget Forklifts 0:23:59
55. Stephen Cunningham (Aus) Savings & Loans
56. Peter Ladd (Aus) Budget Forklifts
57. William Dickeson (Aus) Savings & Loans
58. Lars Pria (Rom) LeTua
59. Nic Sanderson (Aus) Rock Racing
60. Glenn O’s hea (Aus) Jayco AIS
61. Adam Semple (Aus) Jayco AIS
62. David Kemp (Aus) Fly V Australia
63. John Cornish (Aus) Prime Estate
64. Dean Downing (GBr) Rapha Condor
65. Benjamin King (Aus) Fly V Australia
66. Thomas Nankervis (Aus) Jayco Australia National
67. Andrew Roe (Aus) Savings & Loans
68. Matthew Rice (Aus) Jelly Belly
69. Zak Dempster (Aus) Drapac Porsche
70. Jaan Kirsipuu (Est) LeTua
71. Dean Windsor (Aus) Drapac Porsche
72. Cody O’reilly (USA) Bissell Pro Cycling
73. Mitsuhiro Matsumura (Jpn) Aisan
74. Stuart Shaw (Aus) Drapac Porsche
75. Herz Serge (Ger) LeTua
76. Jason Rigg (Aus) Praties
77. Kyle Marwood (Aus) Praties
78. William Clarke (Aus) Praties
79. Joel Pearson (Aus) Savings & Loans
80. Malcolm Rudolph (Aus) Budget Forklifts
81. Kenichi Suzuki (Jpn) Aisan
82. Peter Smith (Aus) Prime Estate 0:24:08
DNF Benjamin Grenda (Aus) Praties
DNF Richard Lang (Aus) Budget Forklifts
DNF Blair Windsor (Aus) Budget Forklifts

GC after Stage 3

1. Chris Sutton (Aus) Garmin-Slipstream 11:04:08
2. Jonathan Cantwell (Aus) Fly V Australia 1
3. Bradley Wiggins (GBr) Garmin-Slipstream 0:35
4. Matthew Wilson (Aus) Jayco Australia National 0:45
5. Svein Tuft (Can) Garmin-Slipstream 0:55
6. David Tanner (Aus) Rock Racing 1:25
7. Philip Zajicek (Aus) Fly V Australia 1:30
8. Aaron Kemps (Aus) Rock Racing 1:35
9. Ben Jacques-Maynes (USA) Bissell Pro Cycling
10. Bernard Van Ulden (USA) Jelly Belly 1:39
11. David Pell (Aus) Savings & Loans 1:40
12. Nick Aitken (Aus) Jayco Australia National 1:42
13. Tom Peterson (USA) Garmin-Slipstream 4:35
14. Mitchell Pearson (Aus) Prime Estate 4:41
15. David Mccann (Irl) Prime Estate 4:43
16. Peter Latham (NZl) Bissell Pro Cycling
17. Paul Mach (USA) Bissell Pro Cycling
18. Simon Richardson (GBr) Rapha Condor
19. Darren Lapthorne (Aus) Rapha Condor
20. Benjamin Day (Aus) Fly V Australia 5:20
21. Jai Crawford (Aus) Savings & Loans 5:49
22. Ricardo Van Der Velde (Ned) Garmin-Slipstream
23. Kiel Reijnen (USA) Jelly Belly
24. Cameron Jennings (Aus) Budget Forklifts
25. Michael Matthews (Aus) Jayco AIS 0:13:01
26. Alex Howes (USA) Garmin-Slipstream
27. Rhys Pollock (Aus) Drapac Porsche 0:13:21
28. Darren Rolfe (Aus) Fly V Australia 0:13:43
29. Omer Kem (USA) Bissell Pro Cycling 0:21:43
30. Jeremy Yates (NZl) LeTua 0:23:28
31. Rohan Dennis (Aus) Jayco AIS 0:23:49
32. Michael England (Aus) Budget Forklifts 0:24:06
33. Tom Southam (GBr) Rapha Condor
34. Will Routley (Can) Jelly Belly
35. Masahiro Shinagawa (Jpn) Aisan
36. Trent Lowe (Aus) Garmin-Slipstream 0:24:17
37. Kristian House (GBr) Rapha Condor 0:24:22
38. Takumi Beppu (Jpn) Aisan 0:24:27
39. Jaan Kirsipuu (Est) LeTua 0:25:22
40. Zak Dempster (Aus) Drapac Porsche 0:28:40
41. Leigh Howard (Aus) Jayco AIS 0:38
42. Tim Roe (Aus) Savings & Loans 0:31:18
43. Jeremy Vennell (NZl) Bissell Pro Cycling 0:32:29
44. Dylan Newell (Aus) Praties 0:35:50
45. Kazuhiro Mori (Jpn) Aisan 0:36:43
46. Joshua Chugg (Aus) Praties 0:38:52
47. Jonny Clarke (Aus) Jelly Belly
48. Mitchell Docker (Aus) Jayco Australia National
49. Richie Porte (Aus) Jayco Australia National
50. Frank Pipp (USA) Bissell Pro Cycling 0:40:24
51. Nathan Earle (Aus) Praties 0:46:20
52. Taiji Nishitani (Jpn) Aisan 0:46:33
53. Lachlan Norris (Aus) Prime Estate 0:46:37
54. John Cornish (Aus) Prime Estate 0:46:57
55. Benjamin King (Aus) Fly V Australia
56. John Anderson (Aus) Budget Forklifts
57. Adam Semple (Aus) Jayco AIS
58. Cody O’reilly (USA) Bissell Pro Cycling
59. Kyle Marwood (Aus) Praties
60. Malcolm Rudolph (Aus) Budget Forklifts
61. Brett Tivers (NZl) Prime Estate 0:47:26
62. Dean Downing (GBr) Rapha Condor 0:47:44
63. Stuart Shaw (Aus) Drapac Porsche 0:52:00
64. Nic Sanderson (Aus) Rock Racing 0:54:09
65. David Kemp (Aus) Fly V Australia
66. Jason Rigg (Aus) Praties
67. Dean Windsor (Aus) Drapac Porsche
68. Luke Fetch (Aus) Prime Estate 0:55:00
69. William Clarke (Aus) Praties 1:06:01
70. Peter Ladd (Aus) Budget Forklifts 1:06:03
71. Matthew Rice (Aus) Jelly Belly
72. Joel Pearson (Aus) Savings & Loans
73. Mitsuhiro Matsumura (Jpn) Aisan
74. William Dickeson (Aus) Savings & Loans 1:10:17
75. Lars Pria (Rom) LeTua
76. Thomas Nankervis (Aus) Jayco Australia National
77. Stephen Cunningham (Aus) Savings & Loans
78. Herz Serge (Ger) LeTua
79. Andrew Roe (Aus) Savings & Loans
80. Kenichi Suzuki (Jpn) Aisan
81. Glenn O’s hea (Aus) Jayco AIS 1:10:22
82. Peter Smith (Aus) Prime Estate 1:10:26