Stage 1 finish of Jayco Herald Sun Tour extended to top of Falls Creek

THE Jayco Herald Sun Tour has a true summit finish after race director John Trevorrow extended the tough Stage 1 finish to the top of Falls Creek.

Simon Gerrans looks to pat a swan while on a training ride ahead of the Herald Sun Tour.

THE Jayco Herald Sun Tour has a true summit finish after race director John Trevorrow extended the tough Stage 1 finish to the top of Falls Creek.

Trevorrow yesterday shocked guests at the launch of the February 1-5 race by revealing the 169.9km opening day would be pushed nearly 4km further uphill to the ski resort.

The route was initially set to finish at the Howmans Gap tollbooth, but riders will now have to complete the full 29km slog up Falls Creek after ascending Tawonga Gap.

Team Sky’s three-time Tour de France champion Chris Froome and Orica-BikeExchange star Esteban Chaves are expected to wage a thrilling one-on-one battle up one of the state’s most famous climbs.

“In the end everyone was wanting it to finish at the top and I got convinced,” Trevorrow said.

Simon Gerrans looks to pat a swan while on a training ride ahead of the Herald Sun Tour.

“They reckon the extra few kilometres up there isn’t going to make much difference. Chaves and Froome will most likely have blown almost everyone away by then anyway.”

The summit finish is a complete about-face for the Herald Sun Tour, with Trevorrow initially not wanting to take the race up any of the major climbs in the Victorian high country.

But the confirmation of Chaves’ Herald Sun Tour debut and Froome’s commitment to defend his 2016 crown set the wheels in motion for a climbing-centric race.

“My initial reasons for not going to Falls was because the race could get virtually decided on the first day,” Trevorrow said.

“But once we got Chaves and Froome across the line I thought ‘We’ve got to have a mountain finish to see these guys and what they can do’. It would be ridiculous if you didn’t.

“My decision to go to the pay gate was because the last 3.8km is the steepest and I didn’t want everyone else other than those two and maybe a couple of others to be out of the race.

“But they’ve got to me.”

Chaves’ veteran Australian teammate and two-time Herald Sun Tour winner Simon Gerrans was a key supporter of the Falls Creek summit finish.

Gerrans already acknowledged his chances of a third title were slim given the uphill terrain that awaits.

“You can never rule anything out and I’ll never say it’s not possible to win, but looking at the course I think it’s going to be a two-rider race to be honest,” Gerrans said.

Originally published as Stage 1 finish of Jayco Herald Sun Tour extended to top of Falls Creek