It's race morning for the Elite Men here and the weather is glorious! Forecast is for warm, sunny conditions (22-23 C) with a fresh northerly breeze coming over the riders shoulder on the early run from Melbourne down to Geelong. The crucial part of the race will be the two short, sharp climbs at the back of the Geelong circuit (I think they do 11 laps from memory) so I would expect to see attempts from the likes of the Australians, Italians and Spanish to get a breakaway going in the final laps as teams like the Brits will be looking to keep it together for obvious reasons.
If a group is away when they clear the climbs for the last time they should be able to stay away as it is gently descending pretty much all the way to the final 600 metres or so.
I'm tipping somebody like Oscar Freire to win from a small group breaking away 3-4 laps from the end.
We'll be strolling 300m or so across the creek behind our place to watch them through as they pass Lara on the way down from Melbourne just after lunch I'd say. Planning a nice birthday barbie beforehand so all in all it should be a good day.
