Dainese wins opening stage of men's Herald Sun Tour

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Team Sunweb's Alberto Dainese sprinted to the win from a bunch-sprint finish to stage 1 of the 2020 Jayco Herald Sun Tour in Shepparton, Australia, on Wednesday, getting the better of Kaden Groves (Mitchelton-Scott) and Moreno Hofland (EF Pro Cycling).

After the bunch had brought back the day's five-rider breakaway with five kilometres of the 121.9km stage to go, Sunweb took to the front of the bunch to set Dainese up for the finish, battling it out with EF Pro Cycling and Mitchelton-Scott in the closing kilometres.

Max Kanter took his teammate Dainese through the final right-hand bend with 250 metres to go, and the Italian powered to a clear victory ahead of Groves and Hofland.

"First day, first win. This is my second professional win, but my first as part of a WorldTour team," Dainese told reporters after stepping down from the podium, clad in his yellow leader's jersey, with that first victory having come at the 2019 Czech Cycling Tour while riding for SEG Racing Academy.

"It was a wide road coming into the finish, and we stayed on the front for the last few kilometres," he said. "Then it got a bit messy, but Max got me through the last corner in fifth or sixth position so that I could start my sprint. 

"It was a tight one, as the lead-out guys from EF were at the front, and I had to close a little gap. But it was fine in the end, and I'm happy I got it."

Dainese took 10th place on the opening stage of last month's Tour Down Under, and then improved that to fifth place on stage 4 to Murray Bridge before taking third place at the precursor to the Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race, the Race Torquay, last week.

"The Tour Down Under wasn't easy against some of the best sprinters in the world. I still need a bit more practice," admitted Dainese. "I'm still only 21, though, so I hope I can still improve in the next few years."

How it unfolded

The riders set off from the Mitchelton Winery Estate near Nagambie, two hours north of Melbourne, on Wednesday morning, and soon after the opening stage's first intermediate sprint after 9.5km – won by Team Sapura Cycling's Roy Eefting – the day's main breakaway went clear.

Four riders – Ryan Thomas (ARA Pro Racing Sunshine Coast), Conor Murtagh (Oliver’s Real Food Racing), Team BridgeLane's Ben Hill, Charles-Etienne Chretien (Aevolo) – were subsequently joined following a lone chase by Jesse Coyle (Nero Continental), and the quintet build up a maximum lead of just over three minutes.

Sunweb, EF Pro Cycling and Israel Start-Up Nation policed the front of the peloton, but the WorldTour squads were happy to let the break go.

A crash in the bunch brought down Team BridgeLane sprinter Nick White, and he was later seen being tended to by the race doctor, with his ripped shorts displaying a bloodied and bruised hip.

Although he was unable to be involved in the sprint finish, White managed to finish the stage, in last place, and will hope to recover in order to try his luck in another spring finish later in the week.

Up at the front, White's BridgeLane teammate Hill won the second intermediate sprint with just under 20km left to race, but with the break's advantage over the bunch plummeting fast, Hill attacked his breakaway companions and managed to eke out his time at the front of the race until the last five kilometres, earning himself the prize as the most aggressive rider by day's end.

It was the cue for Sunweb to take control at the head of affairs, and they duly delivered their man to victory at the finish in the Victorian town of Shepparton.

Dainese takes the Australian stage race's first leader's jersey into stage 2, although the 21-year-old sprinter will be hard-pressed to defend it on the summit finish at the Falls Creek ski resort on Thursday.

Results

General classification