ProVelo Super League: Marr, Ward take top honours in Tasmania

Sophie Marr and Jack Ward have moved into the overall lead of the ProVelo Super League after clinching general classification wins at the Tour of Tasmania over the weekend.

SBS Women’s League

Marr (Praties Cycling Team) moved to top of the ladder after a weekend of impressive results across the four stages: 2^nd in Friday’s criterium, 1^st in Saturday’s road race, 3^rd in the 4km time trial, and 2^nd in the queen stage on Sunday.

“It’s great, it’s so cool as well to have such good team work to be able to get to this position is really fortunate,” Marr said of her overall standing in the PSL.

“It’s a challenge but really happy with how we are sitting.”

Women's 2025 Tour of Tasmania GC podium: Alli Anderson, Sophie Marr, Lauren Bates.

It was a battle between Keely Bennett, Sophie Marr and Alli Anderson across the first three stages, with the trio sharing all podium positions.

Keely Bennett (Meridian Blue Cycling p/b 99 Bikes) secured a stunning stage 1 victory in Devonport, off the back of a well-executed team strategy.

The Meridian Blue squad focused solely on supporting Bennett in the criterium for the final sprint, conserving their resources for the final lap, in a move that paid off, with Bennett getting the better of Marr in a sprint over the finish line.

Keely Bennett beats Sophie Marr to the line on stage 1.

Stage 2 on Saturday morning saw the podium positions reverse after the road race from Sheffield, with Marr taking line honours over a fast-finishing Bennett, and Alli Anderson (Butterfields Ziptrack Racing) repeating her third place from stage 1.

It was Alli Anderson’s turn to stand atop the podium after the stage 3, a fast 4km time trial on Saturday afternoon. Anderson powered home for the win in 6 minutes and 22 seconds, 5 seconds ahead of Keely Bennett, with Sophie Marr taking third.

The fourth and final stage was expected to be a general classification showdown on the slopes of the Golden Valley climb up to Tasmania’s Central Plateau.

In rainy conditions, the riders set off from Deloraine, with a breakaway of nine riders forming early in the stage, extending their lead to a maximum advantage of just under 6 minutes. However, this was quickly reduced as the peloton prepared for the climb.

The Praties Cycling Team went to work on the climb, using their entire squad to set the pace.

In the end, the group stayed together, and 10 riders came to the line for a reduced bunch sprint. All eyes were on Marr, but it was Lauren Bates (Canberra Cycling Club) who emerged from the mist to claim an emotional victory. Sophie Marr put in an incredibly strong ride to cross the line second on the stage, securing the overall win in the process.

Lauren Bates won stage 4 of the Tour of Tasmania.

Results: Spirit of Tasmania Cycling Tour – Women

Stage 1

Keely Bennett (Meridian Blue Cycling p/b 99 Bikes)
Sophie Marr (Praties Cycling Team) +0
Alli Anderson (Butterfields Ziptrack Racing) +0

Stage 2

Sophie Marr (Praties Cycling Team)
Keely Bennett (Meridian Blue Cycling p/b 99 Bikes) +0
Alli Anderson (Butterfields Ziptrack Racing) +0

Stage 3

Alli Anderson (Butterfields Ziptrack Racing)
Keely Bennett (Meridian Blue Cycling p/b 99 Bikes) +5”33
Sophie Marr (Praties Cycling Team) +5”60

Stage 4

Lauren Bates (Canberra Cycling Club)
Sophie Marr (Praties Cycling Team) +0
Rhylee Akeroyd (Meridian Blue Cycling p/b 99 Bikes) +0

General Classification

Sophie Marr (Praties Cycling Team)
Alli Anderson (Butterfields Ziptrack Racing) +10
Lauren Bates +16

PSL overall standings after Round 3

Sophie Marr (Praties Cycling Team) 352 points
Talia Appleton (Praties Cycling Team) 278 points
Katelyn Nicholson (Butterfields Ziptrack Racing) 252 points

SumUp Men’s League

Jack Ward (Team Brennan p/b TP32 ) emerged the winner of the Tour of Tasmania by just 1 second after an epic showdown with Zac Marriage (Butterfields Ziptrack Racing) on the queen stage of the Tour of Tasmania.

Heading into the final stage Marriage had a 20 second lead over Ward, but a Team Brennan p/b TP32 masterclass set up their teammate perfectly to launch on the climb with 7km to go.

Marriage was unable to close the gap, with Ward finishing 17 seconds ahead of his rival. With crucial finishing bonus points, Ward took the overall GC by just 1 second.

“So good, the boys did awesome, the team, without them it wouldn’t have happened so good,” Ward said after the mountain-top finish.

“It’s a bunch of points and it just gets me one step closer (to the PSL win)”

Jack Ward attacked with 7km to go on stage 4.

Heading into the opening stage criterium, all eyes were on Team Brennan p/b TP32’s Blake Agnoletto, with many wondering if anyone would be able to challenge him on the fast Devonport circuit.

His Brennan team were active all race, working to a familiar playbook, reminiscent of their winning tactics at the SA Kick-It criterium, where they took their first ProVelo Super League victory.

They were challenged by the CCACHE X BODYWRAP team, who were ever-present at the front of the field, controlling the back half of the race with a tight leash for their sprinter Kurt Eather, who unleashed his powerful sprint on the final corner, holding on to take a powerful win ahead of League leader Blake Agnoletto.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by SBS Sport (@sbssportau)

It was an aggressive start to stage 2, with constant attacks before a break of three riders went at about 30km. They were reeled in just after the imposing Union Bridge climb, where another flurry of attacks saw Jack Ward (Team Brennan p/b TP32) head up the road solo while a chase group scrambled behind. The chase thinned to three with Zac Marriage (Butterfields Ziptrak Racing), Hamish McKenzie (Tasmanian Institute of Sport) and Ollie Sims (Cobra9 X Leigh Surveyors) in pursuit of the storming Jack Ward.

While Sims dropped from the chase group, Hamish McKenzie played a very smart finale, using the current U23 League rivalry between Ward and Marriage to his advantage. Marriage took up the chase to Ward while McKenzie saved his effort before attacking the pair as they came together, staying away for a commanding solo win. Ward out-sprinted Marriage for second and sets up a tight battle for the GC with two stages remaining.

Hamish McKenzie took out stage 2.

Olympic champion Oliver Bleddyn (Team Brennan p/b TP32) proved why he was the red-hot favourite heading into stage 3, the 4.3km time trial. Bleddyn set a blistering speed of 47km/h and the fastest time of 5 minutes and 29 seconds.

Heading into the final decisive stage, McKenzie led the GC, with Marriage in second and a handy 20 second buffer over his main rival Jack Ward.

A break of three; Brendon Green (Cycling Development Foundation), Tom Cheeseman (Criterion Racing), and Lenny Griffiths (Individual), formed early on stage 4 and held their lead until the lower slopes of the final climb.

It was here where Team Brennan put their riders at the front and set a relentless pace, attempting to launch Jack Ward early enough to close the time gap needed to win the GC.

Ward launched his attack with approximately 7km to go and immediately opened a gap. Marriage formed a chase group behind and stayed about 10 seconds back for the duration of the climb but was unable to bridge the gap with Ward going on to clinch the 2025 Tour of Tasmania title.

Results: Spirit of Tasmania Cycling Tour – Men