Jake Latham
The Tour of Bright starts today where riders will test their abilities with a 13.5km Individual Time Trial on an out and back course from Porepunkah.
Temperatures are set to climb toward 30 degrees, but the mercury wont be the only thing heading upward.
In the scenic Victorian alpine village, 10 divisions make up the field covering masters, women’s and elite men’s categories.
Saturday sees all divisions (except Elite Men’s A division – 131km) battle the 91km course starting in the heart of Bright at the Alpine Cycling Club Headquarters and winding it’s way through Ovens, up the Rosewhite Gap hill climb, a sprint through Tawonga and all the way up Mount Beauty to the Tawonga Gap, a category 1 climb with 479m of elevation and an average gradient of 6.3%.
Sunday is the main showdown where rider’s head skyward on some nasty pinches including The Meg climb and end at Rene’s Lookout hill climb to The Cross where the stage finishes.
The previous overall Elite A grade place getters include Oscar Stevenson, Matt Clarke, Brendan Canty, Robert Power and Jack Haig.
