PSL Round 2: Tour of Tasmania highlights local talent

The Tour of Tasmania took place over the weekend. It is one of the oldest and most prestigious national cycling tours in Australia. First raced in 1930, it is now part of the ProVelo Super League.

The four-stage race across the north-west of Tasmania, including a Prologue ITT, stage races and criterium.

Stage 1

The Tour of Tasmania kicked off in sunny Launceston with a 600m Prologue in the heart of town. Navigating the steep uphill bends of the Zig Zag track proved challenging for many and showed that even a short effort can make for a tricky start.

In the SBS women’s Ruby Taylor, riding for Team Redcat, put her mountain bike background to good use, exploding out of the gate and maintaining her intensity all the way through to step into the lead.

Melbourne-based Sprinter Keely Bennett (Butterfields Ziptrak Racing) also put in a powerful ride, to take second place and making a statement ahead of the tour’s road stages.

In the men’s league, Cameron Ivory set a blistering pace early on, trying to win yet another Tour of Tasmania prologue on this exact course.

He was sweating in the hot seat as we saw Connor Wright, Australian representative on the mountain bike, take to the start line. Flying through the hairpin bends, he looked set to step into the lead, but it wasn’t quite enough, settling for second behind Ivory.

Stage 2

Two ascents of the infamous Gunns Plains climbs punctuated a very challenging opening road stage for the Tour of Tasmania. Rolling out in perfect conditions, there was no shortage of aggression to try and force a selection on the difficult terrain.

The women faced 107km and two ascents of Gunns Plains in a stage that was expected to shape the battle for the general classification. The early stages were defined by a strong breakaway, with each of the major teams looking for both stage and overall victory.

The breakaway worked well together and stayed away until the second ascent of Gunns Plains, reeled in by a select climbing group that formed on the lower slopes. There was a brief pause before pre-race favourite Sophia Sammons (Team Redcat) launched, with the west-Australian quickly establishing a gap that kept her out of sight of the chasing group patrolled by her Redcat teammates.

It was a perfect scenario for the U23 national time trial champion who found her rhythm and continued to extend her lead. Sammons crossed the line solo in what may prove to be a career-defining victory – proving she can translate her tremendous time trial engine to results on the road, especially when the road turns up.

In the men’s race, a star-studded field lined up in Penguin, with two Olympic gold medallists and the current Australian National Road Champion, Patrick Eddy, taking to the start. 

After an aggressive start, the bunch found their rhythm with CCACHE X BODYWRAP managing a gap to the day’s breakaway of Iven Bennet and Leighton Cook from Butterfields Ziptrak Racing and Falcons Pedal Mafia, respectively.

The Brennan team were aggressive throughout the finale and managed to launch Oliver Bleddyn solo with 11 kilometres to go. The Olympic gold medallist put in a tremendous effort along the coastal roads to hold off the chasing peloton, coming into the finish solo ahead of a reduced bunch sprint led by Oscar Gallagher (CCACHE X BODYWRAP) and Will Heffernan (Randwick Botany Cycling Club)

Stage 3

In the women’s race, an aggressive start out of Longford saw a number of riders from the ARA Skip Capital and NSTRMO X Attaquer X CCACHE teams looking to gain a head start before the ascent up Poatina. They were unable to escape the stranglehold that Team Redcat held over the peloton, who were controlling affairs for race leader Sophia Sammons.

Kirsty Watts (Merdian BikeBug) took out the first of the intermediate sprints, before a nasty crash saw a big group of riders go down, and the race was neutralised. Following an assessment of the riders and support available the unfortunate decision was made to cancel the stage. 

With the mountaintop finish looming, the men were keen to get up the road, with approximately eight riders joining the early breakaway formed by Will Heffernan, riding as an individual.

The break established a maximum advantage of 2 minutes and 30 seconds heading into the base of the climb, which started eroding quickly when the climbing teams started making moves to set up their respective team leaders.

The on-and-off racing allowed the group to recover between efforts, and nobody was able to get away. Coming into the final kilometre, it became clear we were setting up for a small bunch finish that included the race leader, Oliver Bleddyn (Team Brennan_).

Bleddyn looked comfortable, but the explosiveness of young Falcons Pedal Mafia rider Connor Wright proved too much to handle, with the West Australian taking his first Hertz Pro Velo Super League victory in a thrilling finale.

Stage 4

Heading into the final stage criterium on the streets of Launceston, the big news story was the attendance of overall race leader Sophia Sammons, who, after multiple medical assessments both yesterday and this morning, was cleared to race the final stage. Sammons arrived at the start line heavily bandaged but, after being cleared of a head injury, was intent on defending her lead and winning her first overall title at this level.

An aggressive race throughout saw a number of the Top 10 in GC fall down the standings after losing contact with the peloton and being pulled from the race on the circuit around City Park in Launceston.

With the group all together into the finish, all eyes were on pre-race favourite Keely Bennett from Butterfields Ziptrak Racing to deliver in the bunch sprint. Rounding the final corner, Bennett looked set to take out the final stage before young Ruby Taylor from Team Redcat stormed through the centre to take a thrilling stage win. 

Taylor capped off an excellent week of racing, top and tailing the Tour of Tasmania, while her teammate Sophia Sammons rode a calm and measured race to finish in the main field, sealing her maiden GC win at the national level and stamping her authority on the 2026 Hertz Pro Velo Super League.

The men’s race saw an action-packed race from the gun as Oliver Bleddyn and his Brennan teammates sought to control the front of the field to set up the overall win. Coming into the stage, Bleddyn led Falcons Pedal Mafia rider Connor Wright by 19 seconds. With Wright unable to overtake Bleddyn on bonus seconds alone and Bleddyn’s Brennan team-mates carefully controlling the opening laps, the overall title appeared to be a straightforward affair.

That all changed when six riders stepped off the front, quickly establishing a handy lead, while Brennan was attentive in marking the riders bridging across. It was at this moment that the race took a turn, with 5th-place Levi Hone for team Brennan marking a move that went all the way up to the front of the race. While the bunch scrambled and the breakaway set to work, the gap blew out to 40 seconds, putting Hone into the virtual GC on the road over his team-mate Bleddyn.

As they came into the final lap, Brennan’s Pat Eddy attacked on the final lap, almost managing to stay away before Tasmania local Reuben Page-Brown closed the gap down into the final corner, railing the final right hander in the rain and sprinting to his first Hertz Pro Velo Super League win.

With the time bonus for 3rd on the stage and the advantage over the main field, Echuca’s Levi Hone stepped into the race lead at the last possible moment, winning his first PSL overall title ahead of his team mate, Olympic gold medallist Oliver Bleddyn.

After the two rounds of the PSL, the individual league leaderboards are:

Women’s Individual Classification

1.          Sophia Sammons                    Team Redcat                             216 pt 

2.          Odette Lynch                             Butterfields Ziptrak Racing  162 pt 

3.          Ruby Taylor                                  Team Redcat                              160 pt 

Men’s Individual Classification

1.          Levi Hone                                Team Brennan                                          171 pt 

2.          Connor Wright                       Falcons Pedal Mafia Racing              146 pt 

3.          Oliver Bleddyn                    Team Brennan                                                144 pt 

The next round of the ProVelo Super League is the Melbourne to Warrnambool Cycling Festival on 28 February and 1 March.

Learn more about PSL at provelosuperleague.com

Photo credit: ProVelo Super League and Beardy McBeard.