Once again Bright's tour delivered to track down some big-name carrots and a heady mix of young talent, it was a 19-year-old pair charged across the rain-wet line of Stage 1 to claim the Australian tour's opening win at the top of the Tawonga gap. It was a great experience. 

Talia Appleton (Bridge Lane) went to the charge to claim the Women's a-grade victory at the summit. It was clear that she was not tired of long solo efforts in the pre-race criteria, and she jumped out of the lead group at about 1.5 km and never looked back. In Men's A, the duo of Luke Prap (Jayco-AlUla) and Jack Ward (BridgeLane) drove through the turns and rain towards the peak of the popular High Country climb.

Ward clung mercilessly to the rear wheels when plapp launched into the climb, the young mountain biker had also done a lot of work on the front during the stage Oh

Ward's GC lead But without knocking the plaps out of his rhythm, the rider was able to finish the 17.4km race with the clock. It did not last because it sailed the race of the year. His closest rival on stage was a 39-second delay, but his GC lead was blown away and 1:57 was back on the stage alone centered around the Buffalo Mountain climb that remains on Sunday.

Women's Ari Anderson (ARA Skip Capital) ended Appleton's winning streak, beating the dominant rider of the event so far by 17 seconds, giving her a slim five-second advantage overall. For more information on the two stages of the Opening Criteria and Saturday, see below.

That may not be part of the official standings of Bright's tour, but the return of the Criterium on Friday night before the race in the town centre certainly raised a splash not only in the humid weather but also in the crowd. Outdoor seating in a well-placed local pub was utilized to overflow proportions while the road was lined with onlookers cheering on the gutsy movements of local heroes and visiting victory as well. On top of that, levels of noise and excitement were kept high around the residential back section of the 1km course of the scenic town, surrounded by mountains. With the heat of late spring days quickly evaporating and thunderstorms swept away, the mottled wet conditions played a role in the race itself, but a great deterrent to riders and spectators "Because it was really wet, I wanted to be in front at the start and the next thing, in the middle of the first lap, I looked back and I saw a solid gap."

"I thought I'd keep doing it for a bit because I know I have a solid TT – it may have been some others coming across me at some point but it never really happened and I just kept riding."

It meant that the 19-year-old also just kept stretching her advantage, and while she may not have planned to become a lone ranger, it was a move that eventually left the rest of the field race for second place. In the 40-minute 2-lap critical, he ran the line ahead of Appleton teammate Lily Pollock. The Men's Division 1 crit followed a completely different script, and the attack was thick and fast and just as quickly rewound. Plup tried to set up the sprint quickly on the final lap, but it worked well on the front as the dual Australian Road and TT champion had to lose his green and gold stripes for this, but at the Peloton than usual. Still, in the end, Jaco Arula's rider was third, Patrick Eddy (dsm-firmenich Post NL) claimed the prize, and 18-year-old Oscar Gallagher (Keystone-Cranetech Racing) was second.

The rider, who left early on Saturday morning, had another rainy day waiting to progress the tour itself at the 93.7km Gap Loop Stage 1. It was a route that took the Peloton from Bright to the top of the Rosewight Gap and then to the nearly 8km climb of the Tawonga Gap, finishing the race at the Misty Summit. 

Women's a field, in the solo attack on the first corner after the Rose White Gap descent, kept the race almost together until the middle. Nicole Wilson (Cycling Development Foundation) took the lead, followed by Vanessa Nanfra (Women's Cycling Development) and Karla Bell. The trio were in front until they made a turn to Tawonga Gap. Bell took off alone up to the charging group and is no longer the Peloton, the midpoint

Talia Appleton (Bridge Lane) was pushed into the lead group through much of the climb as teammate Caitlin Nicholson worked at the front but was hit solo again. It looked like they were going to be in the middle of the night. She took off at the first observation deck of the climb, opening the view across the valley for those who had stopped to see and peer down the town of Mount Beauty and the pond.

Travelling less than 1.5 km from Appleton meant that, as on Friday, she was gone and never seen again. Appleton crossed the line at the top of the Tawonga Gap 12 seconds ahead of Ali Anderson (ARA Skip Capital), while Anderson's teammate Lauren Bates took the podium two more seconds later.

Split apart in the first half of the Men's A race, Rose White Gap climbed around in the middle of the stage doing some damage and even wet descent. Four riders - Jack Ward (Bridge Lane), Tali Lane Wales (CCACHE x Par Küp), Oliver Sims and Lyndon Milostick - emerged from a twisted wet downhill run with a firm gap. Then another group of 4 people ・ Blake Quick (Jaco Arla), Elliot Schultz (Bridge Lane), Cameron Fraser (Blackshaw Racing) and Joshua Radman (Saint Piran) ・ got hooked, and by then it was like they were able to stay. I saw it. 

Luke Plapp (Jayco-AlUla), defending the overall champion, did not have it, but teammate Quick returned to help, but the jayco-AlUla rider was replaced by another rider in front of the race. Before Plup arrived, Lane Wales was the key rider to drive the pace, but once Plup jumped, the burden seemed to have fallen on him - he was defending the champion after all and it seemed he had little choice but to oblige. The group got smaller as the gradient went up, and when Prapp decided it was really time to go, he could stick to his wheel, and the rider was Ward, 19, who won a silver medal in the elite category of this year's Mountain Bike National Championship.

No matter how hard the Prap worked, there was no shaking from the rear wheels. In fact, when the line came into view, Ward was prepared enough to escape the plup, winning with an unexpected celebration.

"I was hoping to get some good results, I've been feeling good in training but I didn't expect to be able to hang on with Plappy, I think he was maybe taking it a bit easier," Ward told Cyclingnews at the top of the tawonga gap. "I said gracefully as I heard it, but it was good".

Plapp is quick with a hearty celebration to the victor and may have been one for Ward after Stage 1, but a five-second margin in Plapp's time trial at gc means Ward can't tide him over. When asked shortly after the stage by the race media, he said that if he could stay within Plapp's reasonable distance in the test against the clock, the screwed face and stumped appearance were well answered.

Schultz was in 3rd place, 1:02 back, just 2 seconds before Lane Wales and 3 seconds before Rudman.

There was no change in the weather for Stage 2 on Saturday afternoon, but there was a change in the tour standings after the time trial took place. 

The skepticism that Ward could hold the Australian champion within a tight range is well established, with no sign of being thwarted by the wet condition of the plup or the fact that it was the first time trial he had fixed the number since the crash at the 7th Olympics, with abdominal surgery and long layoffs. It was an accident that led to the crash. Prapp delivered a 17.4 km backland out and back time trial time at 20:28.5. That was 39 seconds before Zachary Marriage (Bridge Lane) and 54 seconds before Dylan Proctor Parker (Alla Skip Capital). Ward returned to 18th place at 2:02, while the 19-year-old Plapp took 1:57 to 2nd overall and Tallillane Wales took third place in the GC at 2:22. The gap GC-focused plup with most of his rivals was pulling out with all the work on the front of Stage 1 being rewarded.

Appleton may have shown her time trial prowess at the Criterion, but she just missed out on making it for three in Women's a Stage 2. Ali Anderson came to the top with a time of 24:13. This was 2 seconds faster than Appleton in 17th place, and 3 seconds faster than Kaitlyn Nicholson, a rider in Bridge Lane in 20th place. As a result, Anderson came to lead the leaderboard overall, but obviously there is only a 5-second gap in the form Appleton.

With only a 64km stage to go before the final winner is decided on Sunday, but with a route involving 1,552m of climbing as it makes its way up to Mount Buffalo, the problem is that five seconds will be enough.