Blake Quick has achieved consecutive stage wins at the Santos Festival of Cycling.
The Santos Festival of Cycling is an Australian cycling event that replaces the National Road Series and the Tour Under, open to men and women cyclists.
The race spans four days and three stages in South Australia and offers local cyclists the opportunity to compete alongside World Tour professionals.
Quick, a criterium winner and part of team InForm TMX MAKE, won both stages of the men’s race by sprinting to a stage-2 win in Woodside.
Team Westpac racer Jensen Plowright crossed the line for a second-place finish. After being penalized for an irregular sprint, he was relegated, and the stage-2 second place was awarded to Cameron Scott from Pro Racing Sunshine Coast.
The King of the Mountain jersey wearer, Ben Hill, who came in third in this stage.
He quickly praised his team and said they did a “really good job of keeping me out of the wind and dropping me off at the perfect time.”
Plowright’s relegation meant that it was two consecutive days that a penalty affected the results.
James Whelan, the stage-1 solo winner, and leader of the pack received a controversial penalty for slipstreaming after he experienced an earlier problem.
This penalty shaved a minute off his time and decreased his leading gap.
Coupled with Hill’s third place, precious seconds were cropped from his lead and effectively bumped him down to a second place.
The 12.9-kilometer stage took off from the top of Mount Lofty.
Six cyclists – Ben Dyball, Dylan Sunderland, Carter Bettles, Torben Partridge-Madsen, Tom Chester, and Rober Parker – grouped together, fighting for a win.
January was a busy month for Quick, who also won the U23 Australian Road Race and Lexus of Blackburn Bay Crits.
