EF Education First's Dan McLay won the opening stage of the 2019 Jayco Herald Sun Tour at the Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit in Victoria, Australia, on Wednesday afternoon, beating Team Sky's Kristoffer Halvorsen and EvoPro's Wouter Wippert in a bunch sprint.
It was the British sprinter's first win since taking a stage of the Circuit Cycliste Sarthe in France last April, and he was quick to praise his EF Education First teammates for the work they did to set him up for victory and take the race's first leader's jersey.
"We always knew the finish was going to be difficult with the wind," said McLay. "Mitch [Docker] came up to me during the race and said that if the wind doesn't change, this is exactly how we're going to do it, and we just did it exactly as he said.
"We weren't going to take it on from the front," he continued, "and in some ways it looks at the finish as though Mitch hasn't done a lot, but actually he was pushing the wind on the left-hand side all the way around the last corner, while the other teams were using two guys, and then Tom Scully just launched me down the last straight, where my eyes were stronger than my legs: I took a gear too big, but just hung on to the line."
How it unfolded
Compared to the women's race, which had taken place on the same Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit earlier in the day, the wind had picked up significantly for the men's event, although that didn't stop Ayden Toovey (Team Bridgelane) going on the attack with later winner McLay's EF teammate James Whelan and Team Sky's Christian Knees.
The three riders skipped off the front of an originally larger, 20-rider group that got a gap on the opening lap of the 22-lap, 97.9km stage, but first Knees, and later Whelan, were called back to the bunch by their teams in an attempt to keep their powder a little drier for their squads' GC hopes later in the race.
Toovey was nevertheless keen to push on alone, and was joined midway through the race by Karl Michelin-Beard (Oliver's Real Food Racing) and Futuro-Maxxis' Dylan Newbery, and the trio had a good gap of 2:20 over the main field with 10 laps to go, with the bunch being led – with no great urgency – by Richie Porte's Trek-Segafredo squad.
With just over two laps to go – and the peloton closing fast – Michelin-Beard decided to leave his breakaway companions behind, although his efforts were short-lived. First Toovey and Newbery were swallowed up on the penultimate lap, and then Michelin-Beard's day was also soon over.
The bunch were all together on the last lap, led by Wippert's EvoPro Racing team and Mitchelton-Scott, and as the race approached the finish straight, a flurry of last-gasp efforts were quickly policed by Mitchelton.
Team Sky emerged at the front to try to set up their sprinter, Halvorsen, for the win, but it was McLay who came through fastest, pipping the Norwegian on the line, with Wippert taking third.
Thursday's 127km second stage from Wonthaggi to Churchill hits the hills, with the day's second and final climb featuring a 1.1km gravel section 12km from the end, before a downhill run to the line.
Cyclingnews is proud to introduce the first episode of our Cyclingnews Podcast Women's Edition, brought to you by Sportful, Pinarello and Floyd's of Leadville.
Full results
# | Rider Name (Country) Team | Result | |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Daniel Mclay (GBr) EF Education First Pro Cycling | 2:16:58 | |
2 | Kristoffer Halvorsen (Nor) Team Sky | ||
3 | Wouter Wippert (Aus) EvoPro Racing | ||
4 | Theodore Yates (Aus) Drapac Cannondale Holistic | ||
5 | Robert Stannard (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott | ||
6 | Pavel Sivakov (Rus) Team Sky | ||
7 | Dion Smith (NZl) Mitchelton-Scott | ||
8 | Tom Scully (NZl) EF Education First Pro Cycling | ||
9 | Lucas Hamilton (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott | ||
10 | Michael Woods (Can) EF Education First Pro Cycling | ||
11 | Richie Porte (Aus) Trek-Segafredo | ||
12 | Owain Doull (Gbr) Team Sky | ||
13 | Dylan van Baarle (Ned) Team Sky | 0:00:04 | |
14 | Brenton Jones (Aus) KordaMentha Australian Team | ||
15 | Nicholas White (Aus) Team Bridgelane | ||
16 | Chris Harper (Aus) Team Bridgelane | ||
17 | Kenny Elissonde (Fra) Team Sky | ||
18 | Craig Wiggins (Aus) St George Continental | ||
19 | Damien Howson (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott | ||
20 | Tom Mcfarlane (Aus) KordaMentha Australian Team | ||
21 | Dylan Sunderland (Aus) Team Bridgelane | ||
22 | Alistair Donohoe (Aus) Pro Racing Sunshine Coast | ||
23 | Jarlinson Pantano Gomez (Col) Trek-Segafredo | ||
24 | Hayden Mccormick (NZl) Team Bridgelane | ||
25 | Jason Lea (Aus) Team Bridgelane | ||
26 | Alex Frame (NZl) Trek-Segafredo | ||
27 | Ayden Toovey (Aus) Team Bridgelane | ||
28 | Daniel Whitehouse (Aus) EvoPro Racing | ||
29 | Luke Rowe (GBr) Team Sky | ||
30 | Aaron Gate (Aus) EvoPro Racing | ||
31 | Michael Vink (NZl) St George Continental | ||
32 | Peter Stetina (USA) Trek-Segafredo | ||
33 | Christian Knees (Ger) Team Sky | ||
34 | Jesse Featonby (Aus) Oliver's Real Food Racing | ||
35 | Lachlan Morton (Aus) EF Education First Pro Cycling | ||
36 | Sam Jenner (Aus) KordaMentha Australian Team | ||
37 | Freddy Ovett (Aus) Pro Racing Sunshine Coast | ||
38 | Nicholas Schultz (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott | ||
39 | Michael Freiberg (Aus) Pro Racing Sunshine Coast | ||
40 | Liam Magennis (Aus) Drapac Cannondale Holistic | 0:00:12 | |
41 | Angus Lyons (Aus) Oliver's Real Food Racing | ||
42 | Carter Turnbull (Aus) KordaMentha Australian Team | ||
43 | Corbin Strong (Aus) St George Continental | ||
44 | Ashley Mackay (Aus) Pro Racing Sunshine Coast | ||
45 | Muhammad Zawawi Azman (Mas) Team Sapura Cycling | ||
46 | Jesse Ewart (Aus) Team Sapura Cycling | ||
47 | Benjamin Dyball (Aus) Team Sapura Cycling | ||
48 | Rudy Porter (Aus) KordaMentha Australian Team | ||
49 | Sebastian Presley (Aus) Oliver's Real Food Racing | ||
50 | William Clarke (Aus) Trek-Segafredo | ||
51 | Muhamad Nur Aiman Mohd Zariff (Mas) Team Sapura Cycling | ||
52 | Nick Miller (NZl) Futuro-Maxxis Pro Cycling | ||
53 | Michael Potter (Aus) Pro Racing Sunshine Coast | ||
54 | Conor Murtagh (Aus) Oliver's Real Food Racing | ||
55 | Ryan Cavanagh (Aus) St George Continental | ||
56 | Koen de Kort (Ned) Trek-Segafredo | ||
57 | James Whelan (Aus) EF Education First Pro Cycling | ||
58 | Sam Bewley (NZl) Mitchelton-Scott | ||
59 | Oliver Martin (Aus) Drapac Cannondale Holistic | ||
60 | Ryan Mullen (Irl) Trek-Segafredo | ||
61 | Marcus Culey (Aus) Team Sapura Cycling | ||
62 | Neil Van Der Ploeg (Aus) Team Bridgelane | ||
63 | Liam White (Aus) Drapac Cannondale Holistic | ||
64 | Nathan Elliot (Aus) KordaMentha Australian Team | ||
65 | Mitchell Docker (Aus) EF Education First Pro Cycling | ||
66 | Patrick Burt (Aus) Drapac Cannondale Holistic | 0:00:19 | |
67 | Karl Michelin-Beard (Aus) Oliver's Real Food Racing | ||
68 | Timothy Cameron (Aus) St George Continental | ||
69 | Christopher Williams (Aus) Futuro-Maxxis Pro Cycling | ||
70 | Benjamin Andrews (Aus) Oliver's Real Food Racing | ||
71 | Rhys Robotham (Aus) Futuro-Maxxis Pro Cycling | 0:00:21 | |
72 | Rowan Dever (Aus) Oliver's Real Food Racing | ||
73 | Muhsin Al Redha Misbah (Mas) Team Sapura Cycling | 0:00:24 | |
74 | Taj Jones (Aus) Pro Racing Sunshine Coast | 0:00:30 | |
75 | Jonathon Noble (Aus) Pro Racing Sunshine Coast | ||
76 | Shane Archbold (Aus) EvoPro Racing | 0:00:41 | |
77 | Cyrus Monk (Aus) EvoPro Racing | 0:00:54 | |
78 | David Williams (Aus) KordaMentha Australian Team | 0:01:14 | |
79 | Tom Kaesler (Aus) Drapac Cannondale Holistic | 0:01:33 | |
80 | Harrison Sweeny (Aus) EvoPro Racing | 0:01:34 | |
81 | Callum Scotson (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott | ||
82 | Luke Mudgway (Aus) EvoPro Racing | ||
83 | Dylan Newbery (Aus) Futuro-Maxxis Pro Cycling | 0:03:25 | |
84 | Carter Bettles (Aus) Futuro-Maxxis Pro Cycling | 0:06:00 | |
85 | Thomas Hubbard (Aus) St George Continental | ||
86 | Cameron Layton (Aus) Futuro-Maxxis Pro Cycling | ||
87 | Zachary Johnson (Aus) Drapac Cannondale Holistic | 0:07:46 | |
88 | Thomas Coates (Aus) Futuro-Maxxis Pro Cycling | 0:12:26 | |
DNS | Sebastian Berwick (Aus) St George Continental |
# | Rider Name (Country) Team | Result | |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Ayden Toovey (Aus) Team Bridgelane | 6 | pts |
2 | Christian Knees (Ger) Team Sky | 4 | |
3 | James Whelan (Aus) EF Education First Pro Cycling | 2 |
# | Rider Name (Country) Team | Result | |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Ayden Toovey (Aus) Team Bridgelane | 6 | pts |
2 | Karl Michelin-Beard (Aus) Oliver's Real Food Racing | 4 | |
3 | Dylan Newbery (Aus) Futuro-Maxxis Pro Cycling | 2 |
# | Rider Name (Country) Team | Result | |
---|---|---|---|
1 | EF Education First Pro Cycling | 6:50:54 | |
2 | Team Sky | ||
3 | Mitchelton-Scott | ||
4 | Trek-Segafredo | 0:00:08 | |
5 | EvoPro Racing | ||
6 | Team Bridgelane | 0:00:12 | |
7 | KordaMentha Australian Team | ||
8 | Pro Racing Sunshine Coast | ||
9 | St George Continental | 0:00:20 | |
10 | Drapac Cannondale Holistic | 0:00:24 | |
11 | Oliver's Real Food Racing | 0:00:28 | |
12 | Team Sapura Cycling | 0:00:36 | |
13 | Futuro-Maxxis Pro Cycling | 0:00:52 |
# | Rider Name (Country) Team | Result | |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Daniel Mclay (GBr) EF Education First Pro Cycling | 2:16:48 | |
2 | Kristoffer Halvorsen (Nor) Team Sky | 0:00:04 | |
3 | Wouter Wippert (Aus) EvoPro Racing | 0:00:06 | |
4 | Ayden Toovey (Aus) Team Bridgelane | 0:00:08 | |
5 | Theodore Yates (Aus) Drapac Cannondale Holistic | 0:00:10 | |
6 | Robert Stannard (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott | ||
7 | Pavel Sivakov (Rus) Team Sky | ||
8 | Dion Smith (NZl) Mitchelton-Scott | ||
9 | Tom Scully (NZl) EF Education First Pro Cycling | ||
10 | Lucas Hamilton (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott | ||
11 | Michael Woods (Can) EF Education First Pro Cycling | ||
12 | Richie Porte (Aus) Trek-Segafredo | ||
13 | Owain Doull (Gbr) Team Sky | ||
14 | Christian Knees (Ger) Team Sky | 0:00:12 | |
15 | Dylan van Baarle (Ned) Team Sky | 0:00:14 | |
16 | Brenton Jones (Aus) KordaMentha Australian Team | ||
17 | Nicholas White (Aus) Team Bridgelane | ||
18 | Chris Harper (Aus) Team Bridgelane | ||
19 | Kenny Elissonde (Fra) Team Sky | ||
20 | Craig Wiggins (Aus) St George Continental | ||
21 | Damien Howson (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott | ||
22 | Tom Mcfarlane (Aus) KordaMentha Australian Team | ||
23 | Dylan Sunderland (Aus) Team Bridgelane | ||
24 | Alistair Donohoe (Aus) Pro Racing Sunshine Coast | ||
25 | Jarlinson Pantano Gomez (Col) Trek-Segafredo | ||
26 | Hayden Mccormick (NZl) Team Bridgelane | ||
27 | Jason Lea (Aus) Team Bridgelane | ||
28 | Alex Frame (NZl) Trek-Segafredo | ||
29 | Daniel Whitehouse (Aus) EvoPro Racing | ||
30 | Luke Rowe (GBr) Team Sky | ||
31 | Aaron Gate (Aus) EvoPro Racing | ||
32 | Michael Vink (NZl) St George Continental | ||
33 | Peter Stetina (USA) Trek-Segafredo | ||
34 | Jesse Featonby (Aus) Oliver's Real Food Racing | ||
35 | Lachlan Morton (Aus) EF Education First Pro Cycling | ||
36 | Sam Jenner (Aus) KordaMentha Australian Team | ||
37 | Freddy Ovett (Aus) Pro Racing Sunshine Coast | ||
38 | Nicholas Schultz (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott | ||
39 | Michael Freiberg (Aus) Pro Racing Sunshine Coast | ||
40 | James Whelan (Aus) EF Education First Pro Cycling | 0:00:21 | |
41 | Liam Magennis (Aus) Drapac Cannondale Holistic | 0:00:22 | |
42 | Angus Lyons (Aus) Oliver's Real Food Racing | ||
43 | Carter Turnbull (Aus) KordaMentha Australian Team | ||
44 | Corbin Strong (Aus) St George Continental | ||
45 | Ashley Mackay (Aus) Pro Racing Sunshine Coast | ||
46 | Muhammad Zawawi Azman (Mas) Team Sapura Cycling | ||
47 | Jesse Ewart (Aus) Team Sapura Cycling | ||
48 | Benjamin Dyball (Aus) Team Sapura Cycling | ||
49 | Rudy Porter (Aus) KordaMentha Australian Team | ||
50 | Sebastian Presley (Aus) Oliver's Real Food Racing | ||
51 | William Clarke (Aus) Trek-Segafredo | ||
52 | Muhamad Nur Aiman Mohd Zariff (Mas) Team Sapura Cycling | ||
53 | Nick Miller (NZl) Futuro-Maxxis Pro Cycling | ||
54 | Michael Potter (Aus) Pro Racing Sunshine Coast | ||
55 | Conor Murtagh (Aus) Oliver's Real Food Racing | ||
56 | Ryan Cavanagh (Aus) St George Continental | ||
57 | Koen de Kort (Ned) Trek-Segafredo | ||
58 | Sam Bewley (NZl) Mitchelton-Scott | ||
59 | Oliver Martin (Aus) Drapac Cannondale Holistic | ||
60 | Ryan Mullen (Irl) Trek-Segafredo | ||
61 | Marcus Culey (Aus) Team Sapura Cycling | ||
62 | Neil Van Der Ploeg (Aus) Team Bridgelane | ||
63 | Liam White (Aus) Drapac Cannondale Holistic | ||
64 | Nathan Elliot (Aus) KordaMentha Australian Team | ||
65 | Mitchell Docker (Aus) EF Education First Pro Cycling | ||
66 | Karl Michelin-Beard (Aus) Oliver's Real Food Racing | 0:00:27 | |
67 | Patrick Burt (Aus) Drapac Cannondale Holistic | 0:00:29 | |
68 | Timothy Cameron (Aus) St George Continental | ||
69 | Christopher Williams (Aus) Futuro-Maxxis Pro Cycling | ||
70 | Benjamin Andrews (Aus) Oliver's Real Food Racing | ||
71 | Rhys Robotham (Aus) Futuro-Maxxis Pro Cycling | 0:00:31 | |
72 | Rowan Dever (Aus) Oliver's Real Food Racing | ||
73 | Muhsin Al Redha Misbah (Mas) Team Sapura Cycling | 0:00:34 | |
74 | Taj Jones (Aus) Pro Racing Sunshine Coast | 0:00:40 | |
75 | Jonathon Noble (Aus) Pro Racing Sunshine Coast | ||
76 | Shane Archbold (Aus) EvoPro Racing | 0:00:51 | |
77 | Cyrus Monk (Aus) EvoPro Racing | 0:01:04 | |
78 | David Williams (Aus) KordaMentha Australian Team | 0:01:24 | |
79 | Tom Kaesler (Aus) Drapac Cannondale Holistic | 0:01:43 | |
80 | Harrison Sweeny (Aus) EvoPro Racing | 0:01:44 | |
81 | Callum Scotson (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott | ||
82 | Luke Mudgway (Aus) EvoPro Racing | ||
83 | Dylan Newbery (Aus) Futuro-Maxxis Pro Cycling | 0:03:34 | |
84 | Carter Bettles (Aus) Futuro-Maxxis Pro Cycling | 0:06:10 | |
85 | Thomas Hubbard (Aus) St George Continental | ||
86 | Cameron Layton (Aus) Futuro-Maxxis Pro Cycling | ||
87 | Zachary Johnson (Aus) Drapac Cannondale Holistic | 0:07:56 | |
88 | Thomas Coates (Aus) Futuro-Maxxis Pro Cycling | 0:12:36 |
# | Rider Name (Country) Team | Result | |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Ayden Toovey (Aus) Team Bridgelane | 12 | pts |
2 | Daniel Mclay (GBr) EF Education First Pro Cycling | 10 | |
3 | Wouter Wippert (Aus) EvoPro Racing | 8 | |
4 | Kristoffer Halvorsen (Nor) Team Sky | 6 | |
5 | Theodore Yates (Aus) Drapac Cannondale Holistic | 4 | |
6 | Christian Knees (Ger) Team Sky | ||
7 | Karl Michelin-Beard (Aus) Oliver's Real Food Racing | ||
8 | James Whelan (Aus) EF Education First Pro Cycling | 2 | pts |
9 | Dylan Newbery (Aus) Futuro-Maxxis Pro Cycling |
# | Rider Name (Country) Team | Result | |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Robert Stannard (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott | 2:16:58 | |
2 | Pavel Sivakov (Rus) Team Sky | ||
3 | Nicholas White (Aus) Team Bridgelane | 0:00:04 | |
4 | Craig Wiggins (Aus) St George Continental | ||
5 | Tom Mcfarlane (Aus) KordaMentha Australian Team | ||
6 | Sam Jenner (Aus) KordaMentha Australian Team | ||
7 | Liam Magennis (Aus) Drapac Cannondale Holistic | 0:00:12 | |
8 | Carter Turnbull (Aus) KordaMentha Australian Team | ||
9 | Corbin Strong (Aus) St George Continental | ||
10 | Rudy Porter (Aus) KordaMentha Australian Team |
# | Rider Name (Country) Team | Result | |
---|---|---|---|
1 | EF Education First Pro Cycling | 6:50:54 | |
2 | Team Sky | ||
3 | Mitchelton-Scott | ||
4 | Trek-Segafredo | 0:00:08 | |
5 | EvoPro Racing | ||
6 | Team Bridgelane | 0:00:12 | |
7 | KordaMentha Australian Team | ||
8 | Pro Racing Sunshine Coast | ||
9 | St George Continental | 0:00:20 | |
10 | Drapac Cannondale Holistic | 0:00:24 | |
11 | Oliver's Real Food Racing | 0:00:28 | |
12 | Team Sapura Cycling | 0:00:36 | |
13 | Futuro-Maxxis Pro Cycling | 0:00:52 |