By anyone's measure Norman Alvis is a fine bike rider. At the end of last month he attempted the American one-hour record, a torturous mental grind in which he set a new mark of 51 kilometres and 505 metres.
Now just weeks later with his legs seemingly fresher than ever and his mind free and relaxed, he is blitzing the VicHealth Tour. Yesterday Alvis, who is the No. 2 ranked US cyclist and most recently triumphed in the Tour of America series, won another VicHealth stage, the undulating Omeo to Lakes Entrance over 131 kilometres, enjoying a roaring and welcome tailwind.
He caught other experienced riders like Graeme Miller (Mitre 10), Stuart O'Grady (Echuca Moama) and race leader Rolf Huser (Malaysia Airlines) napping with a sudden explosive move just kilometres from the finish.
But stage wins are not what Alvis (Sweetheart Oranges), 34, is focusing on.
Today's individual time trial from Lakes Entrance to Bairnsdale is his forte.
He should, in theory, blast the entire field with his steady but punishing pace, and finish the day in the yellow jersey. "I am in a difficult situation because I want to win the race overall, but when there is a chance for a stage win, that's a chance I will take," he said.
"I am a little over a minute behind Huser now and I know I can pull that out of him in the time trial and that I can win the stage.
"But a lot of things can happen and while I think the time trial will go a long way in determining the winner at the end of the week, the race will be by no means over."
In yesterday's stage, the noted climber Brendan Vesty (Mitre 10) and third placed rider Scott McGrory (Breaka Milk) broke away from the main bunch early and were a minute up on the field. But with teammates Alvis and Huser controlling the pace at the front of the bunch, McGrory and Vesty were quickly regathered around the 80-kilometre mark.
"I feel good and I'm confident of my position," Alvis said.
"Obviously I have some stuff in my legs - today I walked away from 10 of the strongest riders in the race."
Despite his favoritism, Alvis was cautious about his chances. "It's never easy and I just compete with what's in front of me," he said.
1. Norman ALVIS SWEET 50.34.84 2. Trent KLASNA TATTS 1.11.67 3. Jamie DREW JAYVIS 3.00.71 4. Chris WHERRY SWEET 3.15.03 5. David LEE LATTRA 3.22.10 6. Stuart O'GRADY ECHMOA 3.31.93 7. Chris JENNER ECHMOA 4.08.14 8. Roman STOFFEL ABOM 5.08.98 9. Tristan PRIEM JAYVIS 5.20.32 10. Levy LEIPHEIMER TATTS 5.36.34 11. Scott MCGRORY BREAKA 5.52.81 12. Ralf GRABSCH LATTRA 6.01.20 13. Cyril BOS ECHMOA 6.08.71 14. Haydn BRADBURY TATTS 6.30.28 15. Jason PHILLIPS LATTRA 6.32.30 16. Jerone WALTERS AHP 6.42.69 17. Daniel SCHNIDER MALAIR 6.58.57 18. Rolf HUSER MALAIR 7.11.05 19. Peter PAPE SWEET 7.30.79 20. Anthony LANGELLA ECHMOA 7.43.44 21. Sean SULLIVAN COBBAR 7.43.84 22. Brendan VESTY M10 7.58.09 23. David MCKENZIE JAYVIS 8.10.93 24. Graeme MILLER M10 8.11.11 25. Gordon MCCAULEY M10 8.25.75 26. Sebastian HINAULT ECHMOA 8.26.32 27. Glen THOMPSON M10 8.27.05 28. Matthew WALLACE COBBAR 9.06.56 29. Michael SAYERS TATTS 9.12.67 30. Warren CLARK M10 9.16.22 31. Ryan SUCKLING BREVWA 9.23.00 32. Dennis RASMUSSEN LATTRA 9.46.60 33. Hilton MCMURDO BREVWA 9.50.75 34. Garry PARSONS AHP 9.53.96 35. Wayne VAN MOORSEL COBBAR 10.01.39 36. Michael SKELDE LATTRA 10.09.87 37. Martin VAN STEEN ABOM 10.18.22 38. Danny HENNESSY COBBAR 10.23.35 39. Marko SCHLITTCHEN ABOM 10.43.96 40. Dirk RONELLFITSCH ABOM 11.06.19 41. Daniel PARADIS MALAIR 11.25.84 42. Robert TIGHELLO ABOM 11.26.30 43. Tim DECKER AHP 12.15.40 44. Scott FORTNER SWEET 12.20.69 45. Paul RUGARI SUNS 12.33.11 46. Brent MCCAIG BREAKA 12.53.80 47. Allan IACUONE JAYVIS 13.07.95 48. Chris WHITE BREAKA 13.49.44 49. Pietro ZUCCONI MALAIR 14.23.45 50. Glen HARRIS BREVWA 14.25.73 51. Matthew ATKINS TATTS 14.39.98 52. Olin BAKKE SUNS 14.52.24 53. Rik MCCAIG BREAKA 15.06.48 54. Jason RIGG BREVWA 15.09.38 55. Stephen PATE SWEET 15.34.31 56. Eddie HOLLANDS BREVWA 16.01.69 57. Luke WEIR COBBAR 16.19.06 58. Ashley SHEARD AHP 16.35.20 59. Murray FENWICK AHP 16.52.63
1. Norman ALVIS SWEET 27.03.34 2. Trent KLASNA TATTS 4.28 3. Chris JENNER ECHMOA 5.46 4. Rolf HUSER MALAIR 5.50 5. Scott MCGRORY BREAKA 6.41 6. Chris WHERRY SWEET 7.37 7. Ralf GRABSCH LATTRA 8.25 8. Jamie DREW JAYVIS 9.17 9. Jason PHILLIPS LATTRA 11.14 10. Roman STOFFEL ABOM 11.15 11. Levy LEIPHEIMER TATTS 15.36 12. Daniel SCHNIDER MALAIR 16.14 13. David MCKENZIE JAYVIS 17.17 14. Tristan PRIEM JAYVIS 20.02 15. Chris WHITE BREAKA 20.36 16. Michael SKELDE LATTRA 22.53 17. Brendan VESTY M10 24.33 18. Anthony LANGELLA ECHMOA 25.03 19. Stuart O'GRADY ECHMOA 27.16 20. Dennis RASMUSSEN LATTRA 30.35 21. Peter PAPE SWEET 37.59 22. Sebastian HINAULT ECHMOA 39.42 23. Jerone WALTERS AHP 40.59 24. Marko SCHLITTCHEN ABOM 42.17 25. Daniel PARADIS MALAIR 43.20 26. David LEE LATTRA 45.37 27. Cyril BOS ECHMOA 45.41 28. Michael SAYERS TATTS 47.55 29. Haydn BRADBURY TATTS 48.08 30. Graeme MILLER M10 48.09 31. Martin VAN STEEN ABOM 52.21 32. Matthew WALLACE COBBAR 53.25 33. Sean SULLIVAN COBBAR 53.53 34. Garry PARSONS AHP 54.22 35. Wayne VAN MOORSEL COBBAR 58.03 36. Hilton MCMURDO BREVWA 59.41 37. Luke WEIR COBBAR 1.00.34 38. Eddie HOLLANDS BREVWA 1.06.53 39. Glen THOMPSON M10 1.06.54 40. Jason RIGG BREVWA 1.09.17 41. Ryan SUCKLING BREVWA 1.10.25 42. Dirk RONELLFITSCH ABOM 1.12.51 43. Robert TIGHELLO ABOM 1.19.13 44. Danny HENNESSY COBBAR 1.29.40 45. Allan IACUONE JAYVIS 1.29.57 46. Paul RUGARI SUNS 1.31.35 47. Brent MCCAIG BREAKA 1.39.00 48. Olin BAKKE SUNS 1.41.34 49. Ashley SHEARD AHP 1.41.37 50. Scott FORTNER SWEET 1.50.24 51. Pietro ZUCCONI MALAIR 1.59.42 52. Gordon MCCAULEY M10 2.03.25 53. Warren CLARK M10 2.03.39 54. Rik MCCAIG BREAKA 2.17.29 55. Murray FENWICK AHP 2.22.11 56. Tim DECKER AHP 2.28.06 57. Matthew ATKINS TATTS 2.29.00 58. Glen HARRIS BREVWA 2.36.27 59. Stephen PATE SWEET 3.04.04
1. LaTrobe - Traralgon 81.28.07 2. Echuca - Moama 18.49 3. Jayco - V.I.S. 18.58 4. Sweetheart Oranges 19.56 5. Tattersall's 21.50 6. Malaysia Airlines 29.48 7. Abom Mt. Buller 1.07.58 8. Mitre 10 1.24.17 9. Breaka Flavoured Milk 1.30.41 10. Cobram - Barooga 1.35.21 11. Brevtex - W.A.I.S. 2.21.24 12. A. H. Plant 2.27.29
The US hour record-holder defied a strong headwind to blitz his rivals and drive a 4min 28sec wedge between himself and the rest of the field.
The 35.2km stage between Lakes Entrance and Bairnsdale was expected to dramatically alter the overall standings, but no one, let alone Alvis, predicted the American would excel to the degree he did.
Alvis (Sweethearts Oranges) covered the distance in 50min 34sec with the closest to him being fellow American Trent Klasna (Tattersall's) at 51:46 and Warrnambool's Jamie Drew (Jayco-VIS) at 53:35.
But more importantly, Alvis took more than seven minutes out of overnight Tour leader, Switzerland's Rolf Huser (Malaysia Airlines), who finished 18th at 57:45.
Alvis, 33, nursing a rasping cough as a result of his exertion, said he was spent at the finish.
"That's the first time in the whole race that I've pulled everything out and given it my all," he said.
"My legs were really hurting and they're still sore now. I'll be feeling them until the end of the race, but I think it was worth it."
It was apparent Alvis had Huser's measure as early as 2km into the stage when he led by eight seconds.
At 5km, he had increased the gap to 33sec, and was three minutes in front at the 20km mark.
At 25km, the gap had blown out to 4min 20sec and then Alvis really rallied over the final 10km.
"I started off just mellow," the strongly built American said.
"I didn't want to go flat-out from the gun because I wanted to get over the first hill and let my body open up and get rolling.
"As soon as I got over the hill, I caught sight of (Scott) McGrory and that was a huge motivation.
"I passed him at 15km and then actually hit a flat spot because I couldn't see anybody in front of me.
"But with 7km-8km to go I got a good look at (Chris) Jenner and could see he was only 30-40sec ahead.
"I kept dropping down a cog and digging deeper and deeper and when I came around the last corner at the roundabout I could see Jenner and (Ralf) Grabsch and just flew by them in the last kilometre."
Huser, sprawled in the back seat of his team car and looking thoroughly exhausted, offered no excuses.
"It was not a good day for me," he said in broken English. "For me it is better to have a little more hill and not a strong wind."
Huser, who led Alvis by 1min 21sec overnight, has now dropped to fourth spot, 5:50 off the pace.
Klasna was the other big mover yesterday and is now in second spot at 4:28, followed by Jenner (Echuca-Moama) at 5:40.
Klasna said the time-trial was his least-favorite type of race and was "stoked" at his success.
"At least I have all the skin on my body, so I've enjoyed it more than last year," he said in a reference to his bad fall at the start of last year's Tour.
Drew moved up two spots in the general classification, although he is now 9:17 behind after starting the day 7:37 down.
"I had a lull in the middle of the Tour with two bad days, but I'm feeling strong and looking forward to the last few days," he said.
Queenslander Scott McGrory (Breaka Flavoured Milk), who has surprised everyone with his tenacity and strong riding during the Tour, finished 11th yesterday and is now in fifth spot, 6:41 behind.
But McGrory is determined to try to improve his standing in today's penultimate and second-longest stage between Traralgon and Cowes.
Bendigo's Chris White, also well-placed at 11th overall overnight, battled saddle soreness yesterday and could finish only 48th of the 59 remaining riders.
He dropped to 15th spot in the general classification, 20:36 behind.