Oliver Bleddyn (Team Brennan) and Sophie Edwards (Butterfields Ziptrak Racing) have staked their claims for the overall victory in the ProVelo Super League by winning the general classifications at the Harbour City GP in New South Wales.
Men’s race
Bleddyn showed amazing consistency across the three stages to secure the overall win.
On the Stage 1 criterium in Cronulla, the Olympic gold medallist recorded a fourth place in the bunch sprint behind Kurt Eather (CCACHE x BODYWRAP), who replicated last year's achievement of winning the opening stage.
Stage 2's race at the Pheasant Wood motor racing circuit saw Patrick Eddy (Team Brennan) take his first win in the green-and-gold national road champion's colours. After an attritional race, Eddy took an aggressive line on the final corner to launch his sprint and take victory, with teammate Bleddyn crossed in third place.
Pat Eddy scored his first win in the national champion's kit.
The final Queen Stage began under cloudy skies but mostly dry roads in the NSW Southern Highlands, setting the scene for an aggressive opening.
After a series of early attacks, Lucas Stevenson (VIS p/b K.O.M.P), Ollie Sims (Cobra9 x Leigh Surveyors) and Finlay Walsh (CCACHE x BODYWRAP) established the day’s first breakaway and gained an advantage of around one minute.
The peloton soon split behind them, with a group of 13 riders bridging across to the leaders. Out of that front group, rounding the final bend and launching his sprint early was Will Heffernan (Randwick Botany CC) who had Bleddyn locked on the wheel.
Bleddyn didn't have the legs to come around the storming Heffernan, who took an emphatic win in Kangaloon.
Will Heffernan took out the 125km Queen Stage ahead of Bleddyn.
However, with the bonus seconds earned throughout the race, Bleddyn clinched the overall leader's jersey and with it, a 102-point lead in the ProVelo Super League. He will take the leader's jersey into next week's Squadron Energy Grafton to Inverell.
Women's race
After the winning the Melbourne to Warrnambool last week, Sophie Edwards showed she is in a purple patch of form to claim the final stage and the overall win of the Harbour City GP in drizzly conditions.
At the opening criterium Odette Lynch (Butterfields Ziptrak Racing) sprinted to victory on the beachside course ahead of U23 riders Belinda Bailey (Nstrmo x Attaquer x CCACHE) and Amelie Sanders (Meridian Bikebug), with Edwards in fourth.
Lynch recorded back-to-back victories with another sprint win on the Pheasant Wood circuit. Despite playing a team role by leading out Lynch, Edwards also held on to come second in the final sprint, meaning Butterfields Ziptrak headed into the Queen Stage with the provisional GC leader and third place.
Odette Lynch took back-to-back stage wins, while Edwards (left) continued her purple patch.
Stage 3, taking on four laps of a challenging 25km circuit around Kangaloon, was characterised by a strong early breakaway by NSTRMO x Attaquer x CCACHE's Isla Bradbury.
Bradbury, whose sister is WorldTour professional Neve Bradbury, launched clear at the end of the first lap and extended her lead to a maximum advantage of 3 minutes and 30 seconds over the next 50km.
PSL leader Sophia Sammons (Team Redcat) set about closing the gap and minimising the threat that Bradbury might pose to the overall win, but she was marked by Edwards.
Edwards took the final stage and the overall, adding to last week's Warrny win.
Bradbury began to tire and Sammons, now joined by teammate Tully Schweitzer, turned the screws alongside Edwards to reel in Bradbury with 10 kilometres remaining.
In the sprint of the front group, Edwards delivered under pressure to secure both the stage and the overall title.
She has now narrowed the gap to Sammons in the PSL standings to just five points ahead of next week's Grafton to Inverell, setting up a tantalising final two rounds to the 2026 League.