The inaugural Terra Australis mountain bike race is shaping up as a truly epic battle between leading riders including the likes of Beijing Olympian, Dan McConnell. By the end of the second stage, the Great Southern Land Epic has turned into a three way tussle between early leaders, theTotal Rush team and second placed team which includes McConnell, the TORQ Allstars, while still in the running is the third placed KOM team.

The seven day race which covers a total of 550 km around the Victorian Highlands started from the ski resort of Falls Creek on Sunday.

The race start at Falls Creek soon sorted out the riders. A combination of altitude and three sharp climbs split the field early. The 79 km stage to Mt Beauty saw a succession of punctures with many of the riders caught out after running lightweight tyres. Leading team, Total Rush, had four punctures while the TORQ Allstars got a total of three punctures.

An early attack by Total Rush team mates, Mark Fenner and Sam Bach resulted in a comfortable 35 minute lead over the KOM team of Warren Burgess and Zoe King both from Sydney. King, one of Australia’s top elite women described the final climb as, "The toughest climb I have ever done!"

The first stage proved harder than many of the riders expected even though it was not the longest of the seven stages. The altitude and courses reminded many of riding overseas.

Kerry Ryan, past winner of the Trans Rockies super masters division, said, “It was as difficult as anything on the Trans Rockies.”

After stage one ended and the tyre discussion followed the riders prepared for the second stage.

Stage two between Falls Creek and Dinner Plains was a total of 102 km. Some smoke from a nearby back burning created an ‘eerie’ backdrop as the the TORQ Allstars started with vengeance.

After starting with a 34 minute deficit, the TORQ Allstars went straight on the attack. The Total Rush team let them go but by the first feed station had regained any lost ground. This was the catalyst for a second attack by the TORQ Allstars which Total Rush were again able to reign in before the TORQ team put in a one and a half minute gap between them and Total Rush by the second feed station. This gap extended to seven minutes by the end of the stage.

Another favourite team containing Troy Bailey (Armidale, VIC) and Joel Donney (Queanbeyan, NSW) were further back in the field after Bailey suffered a virus in the first stage. The BMC team are currently 1 hour 30 min off the leaders’ pace but are expected to move up over the next few stages.

With five remaining stages some of the top placings are expected to vary.

Team Placings after Stage 2:
1st Total Rush - Mark Fenner (Armidale, VIC) and Sam Bach (Upper Ferntree Gully, VIC)
2nd TORQ Allstars - Dan McConnell (Bruthen, VIC) & Luke Fetch ((Bittern, VIC) + 28 mins
3rd KOM - Warren Burgess (Neutral Bay, NSW) and Zoe King (Neutral Bay, NSW) + 1 hr 25 mins

A combination of altitude and three sharp climbs split the field early

Altitude...

In Australia

Highest point of day one was 1875m

results of informal "where do you notice altitude thread here what-point-you-notice-altitude-t94361.html?hilit=altitude

The daily stage and overall time series results are up on Vorb here.