Queenslander Jonathan Cantwell confirmed his status as one of Australia’s best
road sprinters with an emphatic victory in the Elgas Tour of the Murray River
today.

Cantwell, 26, defeated the consistent Joel Pearson (Credit Collect) by 14
seconds with the greatly-improved Richard Lang (Budget Forklifts) a further 13
seconds away in third place.

Rohan Dennis (Jayco/AIS) takes out the final stage of the tour in Mildura.

Riding for the classy Fly V Australia outfit, Cantwell, who had won 17 races in
America this year before returning home for the Scody Cup series, said he was
“absolutely relieved” to snare overall honours.

“You don’t really know how much weight is on your shoulders until you put the
leader jersey on and hope it stays there,” he said.

Cantwell finished fifth in the final 66km Mildura criterium, won by the impressive
Jayco AIS rider Rohan Dennis who also triumphed in the same stage in last year's tour.

Pearson, 26, based in Eurobodalla on the New South Wales Sapphire Coast,
claimed sixth position in the Mildura criterium and said the tour had “gone great”
for him.

Jonathan Cantwell has transferred his success in America to the roads of Australia.

Lang’s outstanding performance piloted him to a four-point lead over Cantwell
and Pearson in the four-event Scody Cup series which will culminate with the
Caterpillar Underground Mining Tour of Tasmania from September 29 to
October 4.

For full results and a pictorial coverage of the tour log onto www.cyclingnews.com

A selection of images from the Tour of the Murray River will be posted on The Licorice Gallery shortly.