Johnson wins opening stage at Tour of Murray

Shannon Johnson (Charter Mason) has won the opening stage of the Tour of the Murray River in Robinvale, Victoria, this afternoon. The former superbike national champion motored his way to a famous bunch sprint victory to claim his first ever Subaru National Road Series (NRS) win on the first of seven stages this week.

The first stage of the new-look Tour of the Murray River got underway with clear skies and warm weather greeting riders in Mildura. The regular early aggression was present but nothing of any significance stuck until the 62km mark when a group containing Darren Lapthorne and Will Walker (Drapac), Sean McCarthy and Jack Anderson (Budget) and Brenton Jones (Huon-Genesys) snuck away.

The group's lead got out to the one minute mark, but with Jones under team instruction not to contribute, the group lacked cohesion and was subsequently brought back into the fold just after the 100km thanks to some steady work by Euride Racing.

Soon after a much more threatening split of 17 riders found its way off the front. With danger riders such as Tom Palmer and Luke Davision (Drapac), Anthony Giacoppo (Huon-Genesys) and Jesse Kerrison (Budget) present in the move, it was Euride Racing who again returned the front of the peloton.

With 10km remaining the break was reduced to just six riders but with the remaining Drapac riders working hard, it looked like the break could hold on to the finish. The group was caught in the dying moments of the race and it was Johnson who opened up the sprint early into the final corner to get an unassailable lead and take his maiden NRS stage win. The father of two now holds a two second lead in the overall classification heading into Wednesdays stage two criterium in Swan Hill.

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