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Herald Sun Tour, Australia, October 14-24, 2004
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Matt Goold's Sun Tour diary
Although it's one of the two biggest stage races his home country hosts, Australian Matthew Goold is riding the Malaysia Airlines Herald Sun Tour of Provincial Victoria as part of the multi-national Active for Life Team, alongside Canadians Eric Wohlberg and Dominique Perras, New Zealander Glen Mitchell and Jorge Libonatti from Uruguay.
Hailing from the Southern Australian state of Victoria, Goold is a former state road champion whose role in the team will be to ride support for Wohlberg in the hunt for stage victories.
Stage 8 - October 20: Bendigo Kermesse, 69 km
A watchful eye
The Active For Life team plan today was to keep a close watch on three cyclists - Luke Roberts (Latrobe City), Ben Brooks (McGee NSWIS) and Jonas Ljungblad (Europcar-Pelaco).
These three cyclists are riding really well - and we know they can climb, so their numbers have been imprinted on our brains for the next four days. Each time they make a move, we want a rider in purple right behind.
There were many attempted breaks in the first half of today's race, and we had a rider in each of them. Eric Wohlberg managed to get away in a group of around 15 but, unfortunately they were a little disorganized, and with 13 laps to go, three riders went off the front.
These three riders are not an overall threat, so weren't chased down by the main field - they actually made our job a little easier. Between them they secured all the remaining sprints, which meant our rivals couldn't benefit from any of the time bonuses on offer.
Our team has ridden a really smart race so far, avoiding silly mistakes and staying focused. And with around 600 schoolchildren waving Active For Life banners on the start/finish line, how can you not be motivated!!
