McLay wins stage 1 of the Jayco Herald Sun Tour

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.

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