Bay Crits: Ewan sprints to day two victory

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Caleb Ewan took his first victory of 2019 and first for Lotto Soudal by winning day two of the Lexus Blackburn Bay Crits in Geelong, Australia, on Wednesday evening.

His teammate Roger Kluge was instrumental in keeping the race together, although Ewan felt good enough to initiate a breakaway around two thirds of the way into the 60-minute race, and when the Australian sprinter was joined by Heinrich Haussler (MS All Stars), Robbie Hucker (Lexus of Blackburn) and Jay McCarthy (Novotel Geelong), it looked as though the move might stick.

However, strong work by Katusha Sports' Nathan Haas for overall leader Marco Haller ensured that the race was back together with 10 minutes still to race, with Kluge soon taking control at the head of affairs once again.

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It turned out to be a job well done as Ewan put his head down and sprinted to the win ahead of Haussler and Haller, with the latter now taking a five-point lead ahead of Lexus of Blackburn's Raphael Freienstein into Thursday's final race in Williamstown.

"It feels good to get the year off to a great start and win for my new team," Ewan said. "Roger made it a little easier for me. He didn't even want to start today, but I made him do it, and I'm glad he did. This is the only race of the year that I can really ride aggressively and I think it makes it entertaining racing for all the fans.

"Last year was disappointing for me, so I really wanted to get this year off to a good start," he said. "It's so important to get that winning feeling back, and hopefully it can continue on from here."

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