Tour Down Under: Bevin wins stage 2 in Angaston

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Patrick Bevin (CCC Team) laid down his biggest marker yet in the battle for the overall crown at the Tour Down Under by winning stage 2 in a reduced bunch sprint. The new race leader powered clear to win ahead of Caleb Ewan (Lotto Soudal) and Peter Sagan (Bora-Hansgrohe).

A crash in the final few hundred metres took down several riders and held up the majority of the peloton. Bevin responded to a late attack from Luis Leon Sanchez (Astana) and powered to the line inside the final 150m. There was a late charge from Caleb Ewan but the pint-sized sprinter was unable to even draw level with Bevin in the closing metres. Sagan, was best of the rest, while EIia Viviani was caught too far back to contest the win.

"I think that on a finish like that I can play my cards pretty well, obviously, having come here and had the form and taking time bonuses yesterday," Bevin said at the line. "I don't think that saying I could win stage 2 was on the cards, but it's just that I could pick a good line on that hard, draggy finish. Sanchez was off the front and that gave me the perfect springboard. I put my head down and if you finish first, you finish first. if you get mowed down, you get mowed down, but obviously the legs were good."

Bevin took five seconds on stage 1 after going into the day's break, but his sprint today was reminiscent of a rider like Simon Gerrans in his pomp, as the New Zealand rider took on the pure sprinters and beat them on the gentle incline into Angaston. The win means that Bevin takes a five-second lead into stage 3 over Viviani, with Ewan a futher four seconds in arrears.

The likes of Richie Porte, Michael Woods and defending champion Daryl Impey must now attack in order to wrestle control away from Bevin, but on the basis of today's result that will be no easy challenge.

The crash in the final kilometre certainly affected the result, with a rider from AG2R La Mondiale one of the first to come down after a touch of wheels. Until that point it looked as though the stage would finish in a typical bunch sprint, but the crash caused panic with riders either hitting the deck or forced to brake. With the fall inside the final three kilometres, none of the riders held up lost time other than the bonus seconds awarded on the line for the top three.

"I wasn't affected by the crash at all," Bevin said. "I was trying to move up. I was slightly pinched. I had my teammate Fran Ventoso who delivered me to around tenth wheel with around one-kilometre to go and I was picking and choosing my way through the bunch. The guys were great in the final. This is a great way to start the year with CCC Team."

Earlier in the day, Artyom Zakharov (Astana), Jason Lea (UniSA-Australia) and Jaime Castrillo (Movistar) formed the main break. The trio - with Lea on the attack for the second time in two days - built up a lead of more than three minutes as they battled it out for the intermediates.

With 50 kilometres to go, however, they were back in the bunch, leading to Manuele Boaro (Astana) and Matthieu Ladagnous (Groupama-FDJ) going clear. The Astana man was ordered back, leaving the lone Frenchman at the front of the race. He bravely battled through the heat to build up a two-minute lead, but with the sprinters' teams ready and waiting there was little chance in a lone rider being allowed too much room.

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With 30km to go, Ladagnous's advantage was down to under 30 seconds, and with two kilometres remaining he was finally brought back. Lotto Soudal, Bora, Bahrain and Sunweb organised their leadout trains on the front of the bunch as the pace continued to rise, and it looked as though Ewan was among the best placed riders after yesterday's mistakes, and even after the crash the smart money would have been on the Lotto rider.

But Bevin has been on the front foot since the race began, and once more he showed his aggressive nature. When Luis Leon Sanchez - a former overall winner of this race - accelerated clear after the crash, it was the CCC rider who responded first. He used the Astana man as a marker and simply accelerated away from the remnants of the bunch. Ewan was able to hold Bevin for just the briefest of moments before running out of gas as the line approached.

Stage 2 video highlights

Full Results