Lyons roars on Willunga Hill

BALLARAT pro-cyclist Angus Lyons has claimed the third stage of the Santos Festival of Cycling – Be Safe Be Seen road race in South Australia.

The event, which is acted as a replacement for the Tour Down Under, included a three-day short stage race, with the final leg going from McLaren Vale to Willunga Hill on Saturday.

Heading into the final climb in a breakaway, and with some big names including Richie Porte and Luke Durbridge in the chase group, Lyons eventually claimed top honours 22 seconds ahead of Callum Scotson from World Tour squad BikeExchange – Jayco.

“This is kind of what I do, break away and try and hold it,” Lyons said. “That was the plan, plan A, and yeah, it worked out.

“We had a couple of guys in the peloton whose job was sit there and they were our picks if it came down to it following them [the big-name riders] up the climb.

“We came close last year, similar situation, just not a such gap at the bottom, so it was nice to finish it off.”

Lyons, who races for the pro-continental ARA Pro Racing Sunshine Coast team, finished 50th overall and described the final day conditions as challenging.

“I said to [teammate] Declan [Trezis] about halfway round, ‘awwww I’m sick of this wind already, we’re about 40k in’,” he said.

“It’s sort of always playing in the back of your mind, at the same time I’m glad I wasn’t in the peloton at that point because it sounded pretty hard.”