Deceuninck-QuickStep win new-look Race Melbourne

Deceuninck-QuickStep claimed victory in the Towards Zero Race Melbourne on Thursday, with the criterium event adopting a new team-based format in its third edition. 

Race Melbourne runs prior to the Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race, and QuickStep stated their intentions for Sunday as Elia Viviani helped them to victory by topping the individual sprint classification. 

The new format borrowed from the Hammer Series in staging intermediate sprints on certain laps of the Melbourne Grand Prix circuit, and using a points-based system to decide the winner. The riders covered 14 laps of the 5.3km motor racing circuit around Albert Park, with sprints on laps 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, and 14. Points were on offer for the top eight riders across the line, extending to the top 10 on the final sprint.

Max Walscheid (Sunweb) beat Viviani to the line in the first sprint, but Deceuninck-QuickStep showed their strength in depth as Michael Morkov also picked up four points. Indeed, despite Viviani's presence, it was a team effort, with Dries Devenyns winning two of the sprints from breakaways and Morkov placing in all but two. The clincher came at the end of lap 12, in the penultimate sprint, where QuickStep came across the line with Devenyns, Morkov and Viviani in the top three positions.

Despite Luis Leon Sanchez (Astana) winning the enhanced prize in the final sprint to the line, the victory was already in the bag for QuickStep, who finished on 95 points, way out ahead of second-placed Jumbo-Visma, who scored 57 points through Thomas Leezer, Danny van Poppel, and George Bennett. Bora-Hansgrohe rounded out the podium with 40 points. 

Despite not winning a single sprint, Viviani placed in all but one, and his consistency was rewarded with victory in the individual sprint classification. He finished on 37 points, with Walscheid second on 31 and Devenyns third on 30. 

"It was about 40 degrees Celsius today and hard racing on the limit. We treated it like the Hammer Series, in that every time we had to sprint, we did it with two or three riders to take the team classification points," said Deceuninck-QuickStep directeur sportif Rik Van Slycke.

"The fight for the individual ranking was more intense, but Elia, helped by the guys, did a great job and secured the win in style. It was a big team effort today and a great example of the Wolfpack mentality. We now look with even more confidence to Sunday’s World Tour race."

Results

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#TeamResultHeader Cell - Column 3
1Deceuninck-QuickStep95pts
2Team Jumbo-Visma57Row 1 - Cell 3
3Bora-Hansgrohe40Row 2 - Cell 3
4Team Sunweb39Row 3 - Cell 3
5AG2R La Mondiale30Row 4 - Cell 3
6EF Education First28Row 5 - Cell 3
7Astana Pro Team25Row 6 - Cell 3
8Team Sky22Row 7 - Cell 3
9Dimension Data17Row 8 - Cell 3
10Australian Cycling Team-Kordamentha10Row 9 - Cell 3
11Lotto Soudal8Row 10 - Cell 3
12Katusha-Alpecin7Row 11 - Cell 3
13Team Bridgelane6Row 12 - Cell 3
14Trek-Segafredo4Row 13 - Cell 3
15CCC Team3Row 14 - Cell 3
16UAE Team Emirates2Row 15 - Cell 3
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Intermediate sprint 1 - lap 4
#Rider Name (Country) TeamResultHeader Cell - Column 3
1Maximilian Richard Walscheid (Ger) Team Sunweb15pts
2Elia Viviani (Ita) Deceuninck-QuickStep12Row 1 - Cell 3
3Thomas Scully (NZl) EF Education First10Row 2 - Cell 3
4Brenton Jones (Aus) Delko Marseille Provence8Row 3 - Cell 3
5Michael Schwarzmann (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe6Row 4 - Cell 3
6Michael Mørkøv (Den) Deceuninck-QuickStep4Row 5 - Cell 3
7Tadej Pogacar (Slo) UAE Team Emirates2Row 6 - Cell 3
8Szymon Sajnok (Pol) CCC Team1Row 7 - Cell 3
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Intermediate sprint 2 - lap 6
#Rider Name (Country) TeamResultHeader Cell - Column 3
1Dries Devenyns (Bel) Deceuninck-QuickStep15pts
2Daniel Oss (Ita) Bora-Hansgrohe12Row 1 - Cell 3
3Rémi Cavagna (Fra) Deceuninck-QuickStep10Row 2 - Cell 3
4Maximilian Richard Walscheid (Ger) Team Sunweb8Row 3 - Cell 3
5Elia Viviani (Ita) Deceuninck-QuickStep6Row 4 - Cell 3
6Alex Frame (NZl) Trek-Segafredo4Row 5 - Cell 3
7Cees Bol (Ned) Team Sunweb2Row 6 - Cell 3
8Ryan Gibbons (RSA) Dimension Data1Row 7 - Cell 3
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Intermediate sprint 3 - lap 8
#Rider Name (Country) TeamResultHeader Cell - Column 3
1Benoit Cosnefroy (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale15pts
2Michael Valgren (Den) Dimension Data12Row 1 - Cell 3
3Christian Knees (Ger) Team Sky10Row 2 - Cell 3
4Adam Hansen (Aus) Lotto Soudal8Row 3 - Cell 3
5Daniel McLay (GBr) EF Education First6Row 4 - Cell 3
6Thomas Leezer (Ned) Team Jumbo-Visma4Row 5 - Cell 3
7Alberto Bettiol (Ita) EF Education First2Row 6 - Cell 3
8Michael Mørkøv (Den) Deceuninck-QuickStep1Row 7 - Cell 3
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Intermediate sprint 4 - lap 10
#Rider Name (Country) TeamResultHeader Cell - Column 3
1George Bennett (NZl) Team Jumbo-Visma15pts
2Maciej Bodnar (Pol) Bora-Hansgrohe12Row 1 - Cell 3
3Danny Van Poppel (Ned) Team Jumbo-Visma10Row 2 - Cell 3
4Elia Viviani (Ita) Deceuninck-QuickStep8Row 3 - Cell 3
5Jens Debusschere (Bel) Katusha-Alpecin6Row 4 - Cell 3
6Maximilian Richard Walscheid (Ger) Team Sunweb4Row 5 - Cell 3
7Szymon Sajnok (Pol) CCC Team2Row 6 - Cell 3
8Michael Mørkøv (Den) Deceuninck-QuickStep1Row 7 - Cell 3
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Intermediate sprint 5 - lap 12
#Rider Name (Country) TeamResultHeader Cell - Column 3
1Dries Devenyns (Bel) Deceuninck-QuickStep15pts
2Michael Mørkøv (Den) Deceuninck-QuickStep12Row 1 - Cell 3
3Elia Viviani (Ita) Deceuninck-QuickStep10Row 2 - Cell 3
4Danny Van Poppel (Ned) Team Jumbo-Visma8Row 3 - Cell 3
5Cees Bol (Ned) Team Sunweb6Row 4 - Cell 3
6Maximilian Richard Walscheid (Ger) Team Sunweb4Row 5 - Cell 3
7Alberto Bettiol (Ita) EF Education First2Row 6 - Cell 3
8Jens Debusschere (Bel) Katusha-Alpecin1Row 7 - Cell 3
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Finish line
#Rider Name (Country) TeamResultHeader Cell - Column 3
1Luis León Sanchez (Spa) Astana Pro Team25pts
2Thomas Leezer (Ned) Team Jumbo-Visma20Row 1 - Cell 3
3Pierre Latour (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale15Row 2 - Cell 3
4Pavel Sivakov (Rus) Team Sky12Row 3 - Cell 3
5Lukas Pöstlberger (Aut) Bora-Hansgrohe10Row 4 - Cell 3
6Lachlan Morton (Aus) EF Education First8Row 5 - Cell 3
7Dylan Sunderland (Aus) Team Bridgelane6Row 6 - Cell 3
8Ryan Gibbons (RSA) Dimension Data4Row 7 - Cell 3
9Brenton Jones (Aus) Delko Marseille Provence2Row 8 - Cell 3
10Elia Viviani (Ita) Deceuninck-QuickStep1Row 9 - Cell 3
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Individual sprint classification
#Rider Name (Country) TeamResultHeader Cell - Column 3
1Elia Viviani (Ita) Deceuninck-QuickStep37pts
2Maximilian Richard Walscheid (Ger) Team Sunweb31Row 1 - Cell 3
3Dries Devenyns (Bel) Deceuninck-QuickStep30Row 2 - Cell 3
4Luis León Sanchez (Spa) Astana Pro Team25Row 3 - Cell 3
5Thomas Leezer (Ned) Team Jumbo-Visma24Row 4 - Cell 3
6Michael Mørkøv (Den) Deceuninck-QuickStep18Row 5 - Cell 3
7Danny Van Poppel (Ned) Team Jumbo-Visma18Row 6 - Cell 3
8George Bennett (NZl) Team Jumbo-Visma15Row 7 - Cell 3
9Benoit Cosnefroy (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale15Row 8 - Cell 3
10Pierre Latour (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale15Row 9 - Cell 3
11Daniel Oss (Ita) Bora-Hansgrohe12Row 10 - Cell 3
12Michael Valgren (Den) Dimension Data12Row 11 - Cell 3
13Maciej Bodnar (Pol) Bora-Hansgrohe12Row 12 - Cell 3
14Pavel Sivakov (Rus) Team Sky12Row 13 - Cell 3
15Thomas Scully (NZl) EF Education First10Row 14 - Cell 3
16Rémi Cavagna (Fra) Deceuninck-QuickStep10Row 15 - Cell 3
17Christian Knees (Ger) Team Sky10Row 16 - Cell 3
18Brenton Jones (Aus) Delko Marseille Provence10Row 17 - Cell 3
19Lukas Pöstlberger (Aut) Bora-Hansgrohe10Row 18 - Cell 3
20Adam Hansen (Aus) Lotto Soudal8Row 19 - Cell 3
21Lachlan Morton (Aus) EF Education First8Row 20 - Cell 3
22Cees Bol (Ned) Team Sunweb8Row 21 - Cell 3
23Jens Debusschere (Bel) Katusha-Alpecin7Row 22 - Cell 3
24Dylan Sunderland (Aus) Team Bridgelane6Row 23 - Cell 3
25Michael Schwarzmann (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe6Row 24 - Cell 3
26Daniel McLay (GBr) EF Education First6Row 25 - Cell 3
27Ryan Gibbons (RSA) Dimension Data5Row 26 - Cell 3
28Alberto Bettiol (Ita) EF Education First4Row 27 - Cell 3
29Alex Frame (NZl) Trek-Segafredo4Row 28 - Cell 3
30Szymon Sajnok (Pol) CCC Team3Row 29 - Cell 3
31Tadej Pogacar (Slo) UAE Team Emirates2Row 30 - Cell 3

 

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