Jayco Herald Sun Tour: Ewan sprints to Moe stage win

Caleb Ewan's dominance of the Australian summer continued on a gusty afternoon on Moe as he added stage 2 of the Jayco Herald Sun Tour to his seven previous wins in season 2016.

Team Sky and Orica-GreenEdge split the peloton inside the final 10km with Ewan, Jack Haig (Orica-GreenEdge), Tanner Putt (UnitedHealthcare), Chris Froome, Peter Kennaugh (Team Sky) and Jack Bobridge (Trek-Segafredo) forcing a break from which the Orica-GreenEdge rider was the beneficiary, claiming his third career win at the Victorian stage race.

 "It was much tougher than the usual sprint finishes that I’ve been used to this summer,” Ewan said after his win. “The team rode awesome today, they kept me out of trouble and kept me near the front on all the climbs. I struggled through the middle climb, luckily they kept me near the front this last climb and it was actually harder than expected. I knew Kennaugh and Bobridge were going to be super strong over the top so I couldn’t let them go away, so I jumped on them and held on for my life really.”

The peloton first crossed under the finish line in Moe before a 15km circuit around the Gippsland town. A little kicker of a climb in the final kilometres, followed by an uphill drag to the line in gusty conditions ensured it was a tougher finish than it appeared on paper. Having made the front group though, victory was a foregone conclusion for Ewan once he opened up his sprint.

“It’s also a massive confidence boost knowing that in the harder stages I can still be there and win the sprint. So it gives me a whole lot of confidence heading into the season,” Ewan said. “That last lap was hectic, and the wind really picked up in the last hour and half of the race which made it really hard. Like it said, my team kept me up the front out of trouble and in the wheels so when we arrived at the climb was probably a lot fresher than the other guys.”

Stage 3 of the race is expected to suit the sprinters with the stage finish in Inverloch. Having won stages 2 and 3 of last year’s race, Ewan is aiming to repeat his success of 2015

“I felt quite exhausted coming to the Tour after all the racing I’ve done, and I am quite happy with how I performed today and I hope I can get the stage tomorrow as well,” said Ewan, who started his season on January 1.

Placing third and fourth on the stage also saw Kennaugh and Froome extended their grip on the GC with the British national champion also grabbing crucial bonus seconds on the line. Having won yesterday’s stage, Kennaugh explained that consecutive wins were in the back of the mind as he made a late move once the race had blown apart.

“Once we got over the final climb, I said to myself ‘just sit on now and don’t do a single turn’. I thought just on big move and if I was going to do it, it was going to be into that final corner, just before the one k to go and try and catch them by surprise but it was sort of hard because of the headwind. By the time I made my attack, they’d all seen it because the wind was so strong but I managed to gain a bit of time on Bobridge, which is never a bad thing.”

The early breakaway
Stage 1 was a fast and frenetic start in comparison to yesterday’s stage when the six-man break established itself with little fuss. Attacks came thick and fast within the first ten kilometres with teams looking to remind the peloton of their presence in the race.

Will Clarke (Drapac), Josh Berry (St George Merida) and Ryan Cavanaugh (State of Matter/Maap) were called over the race radio as an early-established move but just as news trickled over, they had been absorbed back into the 94-rider bunch. Travis Meyer (Drapac), Nick Miller (Kenyan Riders Downunder), and Dan Bonello (St George Merida) were the next to show their cards, but it was a solo by Bobridge that saw the Australian champion open the first significance gap of the day.

Bobridge claimed the intermediate sprint point and three bonus seconds in Yarra Junction at the 33km mark but would be reeled in soon after. Chris Harper (State of Matter/Maap) and Yuma Koishi (Nippo - Vini Fantini) counter-attacked to establish the day’s breakaway.

The duos advantage grew from one minute to three minutes on the road so by the time they started the category three Powelltown climb, with 53km raced, it was clear the peloton was content to let them enjoy their day in the sun. Their maximum advantage would top out with five minutes just before the feed zone.

On the category two Vesper Hill in Noojee, Harper started to ride away from Koishi as the ever-increasing slopes took its toll. Harper’s lead over the peloton was decreasing as Avanti took up the pace making then led the peloton on approach to the third and final categorised climb of the day.

Harper enjoyed maximum points on the Fumina South climb to dispose Froome of the KOM jersey and ensure he would be making a second trip to the podium for the most aggressive rider jersey. With his lead dropping to one minute over the climb, Harper was absorbed by the peloton quickly after who had failed to drop Ewan after Orica-GreenEdge ensured the 21-year-old was present and correct on the testing climb.

With the wind picking up on the winding ride into Moe, the peloton put the hammer down. However, Neil van der Ploeg (Avanti) managed to attack off the front with Jason Christie (Kenyan Riders Downunder) and Cam Bayly (Attaque Team Gusto) bridging across.

The trio led the reduced peloton over the line in Moe by 20 seconds for the final 15km circuit but with Trek-Segafredo, Team Sky and Orica-GreenEdge bossing the race, once the six-riders were off the front there was no catching them. Niccolò Bonifazio (Trek-Segafredo) then led home the second group on the road 25 seconds down on Ewan while Nick Miller was lost home, 15:59 minutes down.

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