Chaves wins 2018 Herald Sun Tour

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Esteban Chaves has won the 2018 Herald Sun Tour with his Mitchelton-Scott teammates Cameron Meyer and Damien Howson rounding out the overall podium.

The final day stage on the Kinglake circuit was won by Same Crome with Chaves crossing the line safety in the reduced bunch to celebrate his first overall win since the 2015 Abu Dhabi Tour. Despite the best efforts of his rivals to distance Chaves on the final climb, the Colombian was well protected by his team. His overall winning margin reduced at the end of the stage but the victory was never in doubt over the 151-kilometre stage.

"It's a really nice feeling to win here in the home country of the team. We are really happy with the team, we rode really well," Chaves said after sealing yellow. "We raced differently this year, every climb was full gas with the breakaway really close. It was intense but the team did very well so thanks very much to all of them. It is unbelievable to have one, two, three overall."

The overall win with Meyer and Howson also on the podium, capped off a successful summer for the team following victories at nationals with Alex Edmondson and overall Tour Down Under success via Daryl Impey.

For Bennelong-SwissWellness and Crome, the stage victory ended a successful race with Dylan Sunderland winning the young rider classification and Steele von Hoff the points classification.

"It feels amazing. You come here wanting a good result and it has been a hard week so to top it off with a win, not for myself but for the team, means a lot," said Crome. "It has been a really tough time. Late last year one of my mates Jason Lowndes was killed in the accident by a car and it really hit home with us all at Bendigo. He would loved that [win] so that one was for him today. He'd be stoked looking down at that one, that's for sure."

How it unfolded

An aggressive start to the five 30-kilometre circuits of Kinglake saw early splits occur in the peloton. A nine-rider breakaway eventually forcing its way off the front of the peloton once over the start/finish line to get lap two underway. The break would grow in numbers by two in the following lap with the main point of the interest the KOM battle between Nathan Earle (Israel Cycling Academy) and Brad Evans (Mobius-BridgeLane). The Australian doing enough to seal the classification.

From the peloton, 30 seconds in arrears, James Whelan rode across to the break, which had started to splinter. On the penultimate lap, having shed its passengers, the breakaway extended its lead out to over one minute. Mitchelton-Scott sitting on the front of the peloton controlling the tempo content to let Dylan Sunderland (Bennelong-SwissWellness) become virtual yellow jersey via the breakaway.

Passing through for the bell lap, Dane Mads Pedersen led solo having skipped off the front of the breakaway, 1:12 minutes ahead of the peloton. The breakaway then disintegrating on the lap with Sunderland, Pedersen, Lasse Norman Hansen, and Cyrus Monk the four survivors. Pedersen lasting the longest and earning the aggressive rider prize as a result.

On approach to the final climb, the quartet broke apart as the battle for the GC ignited in the peloton and closed the gap. EF Education-Drapac then Bennelong SwissWellness via Chris Harper trying to disrupt Mitchelton-Scott's tempo on the climb. Howson and Ruben Guerreiro next to roll the dice after the early skirmish only for the move to come back together. Meyer went to the front and taking pole position into the corner at 150 metres to go, looked good for the win. Crome had other ideas, the 24-year-old kicking hard to take the biggest success yet of his young career. 

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