"I thought that was a good opportunity to be up there and I was just lucky to have really good legs today and make the most of it,"
"I thought I could go alright, but definitely surprised with the win. I wasn't expecting that,"
"I'm not the best climber, but long, sustained efforts like that kind of suit me."
Will Cooper (St George) won the opening stage of the Tour of Bright from a nine-rider break that began the final climb with about a four-minute advantage. Luke Plapp (Jayco-AlUla) and Oscar Onley (Picnic-Post NL) could not close the gap. Plapp set a new KOM on Tawonga Gap in 17:40, moved into fourth overall with a 1:51 deficit, and caught all break riders except Cooper and Team Brennan's Tristan Saunders and 17-year-old Oliver Ward. The top seven Strava times on the 7.42km, 6.6% segment were set during the stage, with Kelland O'Brien at 18:11. Rain affected the opening stage, Onley placed 26th as part of his season build. Talia Appleton (Praties) won the women's climb again by about 1:18 while also targeting the Strava QOM of 20:53 set by Sarah Gigante.
Read at www.cyclingnews.com
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