2020 Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race (World Tour), Australia, 6th Edition

Women's race: February 1, 2020
Men's race: February 2, 2020

Plus: Race Torquay (1.1)

Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race podium history | 2019 edition | 2023 edition (race not run in 2020 & 2021)

Mens race | Women's race | Race Torquay

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Men's Race, Sunday, February 2, 2020

Men's race course map

Geelong - Geelong, 171 km

Dries Devenyns finishes just ahead of Pavel Sivakov.

The race: Here's the report from winner Dries Devenyns' Team Deceuninck-Quick Step

Dries Devenyns proved that age is just a number as he powered to a memorable win at the sixth edition of the Australian race, on the back of a majestic ride that showcased his strength and experience. Usually a world-class team player, Dries saw his opportunity and immediately grabbed it, in the process helping Deceuninck – Quick-Step reach a jaw-dropping milestone of 750 UCI victories since the squad’s inception in 2003.

“It is a very special day for me. I like this race a lot, I like racing in Australia and I’ve always felt good here, so to win it after a couple of good results in the past gives me a huge satisfaction. It’s not only the victory that makes me happy, but also the fact that I could write history today for this amazing team”, said Dries, who couldn’t hide his delight after his first win in nearly four years.

A brisk start to affairs meant that the peloton broke apart after just a couple of kilometers, with strong crosswinds also playing a role. Deceuninck – Quick-Step were at the right side of this cut and drove the tempo, but despite several teams’ concerted effort, a regrouping took place after 50 kilometers and things calmed down. Eventually, the bunch allowed two riders to go six minutes clear, but that gap didn’t help them too much and they were brought to heel on the penultimate lap of the finishing circuit.

The race was ignited with 26 kilometers to go, when the vicious tempo splintered the pack, leaving just 17 riders at the front. Dries Devenyns was one of them and made the selection when a searing attack, launched the last time up the Challambra Crescent, dislodged the remaining sprinters. Then, on a small climb with five kilometers to go, Pavel Sivakov (Team Ineos) executed a late acceleration and put some daylight between him and the others.

Sensing that it was the right moment to go, Dries upped the tempo and bridged across inside the last four kilometers without ever looking back. With the gap between the duo and the chasers sitting at seven seconds, it was a nail-biting final, and our rider played the scenario perfectly, coming around his opponent just before the last bend and punching clear with the finish line in sight. Beaming with happiness after his maiden World Tour win, Devenyns sat down and analysed Sunday’s 171.7km-long World Tour race.

“You could see it was very aggressive from the beginning, when it didn’t take long for the peloton to be in pieces. When this happened, I was at the back but I remained calm, knowing a regrouping should take place, which it did. With two laps to go, the race split again and this time I was at the front”, Dries said of what proved to be the most important moment of the race. “I found myself outnumbered there as some teams had several riders, so more options, but I also knew I had good legs so I kept my confidence, even when they rode hard over the top of the climb. Then, when Sivakov attacked, I decided to go with him and we gave everything, I had no idea how good he was in a sprint, but I pack a good kick and I knew I had my chance, so I gave it my best. At the end of the day, I am happy I could bring it home for the Wolfpack!”

Complete Results:

108 starters, 95 classified finishers, 13 abandons

171 kilometers raced at an average speed of 41.738 km/hr

1	DEVENYNS Dries	Deceuninck-Quick Step	4hr 5min 49sec
2	SIVAKOV Pavel	Team INEOS	s.t.
3	IMPEY Daryl	Mitchelton-Scott	@ 4sec
4	KEUKELEIRE Jens	EF Pro Cycling	s.t.
5	VAN BAARLE Dylan	Team INEOS	s.t.
6	MCCARTHY Jay	Bora-hansgrohe	s.t.
7	EWAN Caleb	Lotto-Soudal	0:25
8	HALLER Marco	Bahrain-McLaren	s.t.
9	VIVIANI Elia	Cofidis	s.t.
10	YATES Simon	Mitchelton-Scott	s.t.
11	PERNSTEINER Hermann	Bahrain-McLaren	s.t.
12	HAAS Nathan	Cofidis	0:30
13	MORKOV Michael	Deceuninck-Quick Step	0:50
14	NIZZOLO Giacomo	NTT Pro Cycling	s.t.
15	HALVORSEN Kristoffer	EF Pro Cycling	s.t.
16	PEDERSEN Mads	Trek-Segafredo	s.t.
17	CONSONNI Simone	Cofidis	s.t.
18	SARREAU Marc	Groupama-FDJ	s.t.
19	VENDRAME Andrea	Ag2r La Mondiale	s.t.
20	WISNIOWSKI Lukasz	CCC Team	s.t.
21	ZABEL Rick	Israel Start-Up Nation	s.t.
22	SCHWARZMANN Michael	Bora-hansgrohe	s.t.
23	ARASHIRO Yukiya	Bahrain-McLaren	s.t.
24	DOULL Owain	Team INEOS	s.t.
25	ROSSKOPF Joey	CCC Team	s.t.
26	POWER Robert	Team Sunweb	s.t.
27	CHEVRIER Clément	Ag2r La Mondiale	s.t.
28	HOLMES Matthew	Lotto-Soudal	s.t.
29	WARBASSE Larry	Ag2r La Mondiale	s.t.
30	GASTAUER Ben	Ag2r La Mondiale	s.t.
31	PIBERNIK Luka	Bahrain-McLaren	s.t.
32	PORTE Richie	Trek-Segafredo	s.t.
33	ELISSONDE Kenny	Trek-Segafredo	s.t.
34	HINDLEY Jai	Team Sunweb	s.t.
35	BOIVIN Guillaume	Israel Start-Up Nation	s.t.
36	LIENHARD Fabian	Groupama-FDJ	s.t.
37	POWLESS Neilson	EF Pro Cycling	s.t.
38	SCOTSON Miles	Groupama-FDJ	0:58
39	PICCOLI James	Israel Start-Up Nation	s.t.
40	GESCHKE Simon	CCC Team	1:06
41	DOCKER Mitchell	EF Pro Cycling	1:19
42	BENNETT Sam	Deceuninck-Quick Step	1:33
43	GREIPEL André	Israel Start-Up Nation	1:37
44	KANTER Max	Team Sunweb	s.t.
45	BOUCHARD Geoffrey	Ag2r La Mondiale	s.t.
46	ARMIRAIL Bruno	Groupama-FDJ	s.t.
47	TOOVEY Ayden	Korda Mentha-Australia	s.t.
48	SAGAN Juraj	Bora-hansgrohe	s.t.
49	DE BOD Stefan	NTT Pro Cycling	s.t.
50	BENEDETTI Cesare	Bora-hansgrohe	s.t.
51	SCHELLING Ide	Bora-hansgrohe	s.t.
52	SCHULTZ Nick	Mitchelton-Scott	s.t.
53	ALMEIDA João	Deceuninck-Quick Step	s.t.
54	DOWSETT Alex	Israel Start-Up Nation	2:36
55	GIBBONS Ryan	NTT Pro Cycling	s.t.
56	STORER Michael	Team Sunweb	3:10
57	ROWE Luke	Team INEOS	3:20
58	STORK Florian	Team Sunweb	s.t.
59	LOPEZ Juan Pedro	Trek-Segafredo	s.t.
60	VAN DER SANDE Tosh	Lotto-Soudal	4:13
61	HANSEN Adam	Lotto-Soudal	s.t.
62	VANBILSEN Kenneth	Cofidis	s.t.
63	PORTER Rudy	Korda Mentha-Australia	4:36
64	RUTSCH Jonas	EF Pro Cycling	5:43
65	KLUGE Roger	Lotto-Soudal	s.t.
66	DIBBEN Jonathan	Lotto-Soudal	5:53
67	HOWSON Damien	Mitchelton-Scott	s.t.
68	WYSS Danilo	NTT Pro Cycling	s.t.
69	CERNY Josef	CCC Team	s.t.
70	SMITH Dion	Mitchelton-Scott	s.t.
71	TURNBULL Carter	Korda Mentha-Australia	6:55
72	WHITE Nicholas	Korda Mentha-Australia	s.t.
73	REIJNEN Kiel	Trek-Segafredo	s.t.
74	RÄIM Mihkel	Israel Start-Up Nation	s.t.
75	VAN KEIRSBULCK Guillaume	CCC Team	s.t.
76	BASKA Erik	Bora-hansgrohe	s.t.
77	DE KORT Koen	Trek-Segafredo	s.t.
78	RIES Michel	Trek-Segafredo	s.t.
79	CATAFORD Alexander	Israel Start-Up Nation	s.t.
80	MORTON Lachlan	EF Pro Cycling	s.t.
81	MEYER Cameron	Mitchelton-Scott	s.t.
82	SUNDERLAND Dylan	NTT Pro Cycling	s.t.
83	GUARNIERI Jacopo	Groupama-FDJ	s.t.
84	CATTANEO Mattia	Deceuninck-Quick Step	s.t.
85	TILLER Rasmus	NTT Pro Cycling	10:03
86	BATTISTELLA Samuele	NTT Pro Cycling	s.t.
87	SABATINI Fabio	Cofidis	11:55
88	SCULLY Tom	EF Pro Cycling	12:03
89	LAWLESS Chris	Team INEOS	s.t.
90	KEISSE Iljo	Deceuninck-Quick Step	s.t.
91	ARCHBOLD Shane	Deceuninck-Quick Step	s.t.
92	LAAS Martin	Bora-hansgrohe	s.t.
93	LEAHY Conor	Korda Mentha-Australia	s.t.
94	MATHIS Marco	Cofidis	s.t.
95	LE TURNIER Mathias	Cofidis	s.t.

Men's race course map:

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Women's Race: Saturday, February 1, 2020

Women's race course map

Liane Lippert shows how a race is won.

Geelong - Geelong, 121 km

The race: Here's the report from winner Liane Lippert's Team Sunweb.

The Women’s WorldTour began today at the Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race with a challenging 121 kilometre route in Geelong and the surrounding area awaiting the riders. Alongside the testing parcours, the weather added an extra challenge to the race, as the peloton had to contend with strong winds and rain throughout the afternoon.

Not long after the flag drop an early breakaway duo escaped and it looked as if they would form the move of the day, but upon arriving at the first sprint point things were all back together. A new group of five forged on at the head of the race to be more successful, slowly building up their lead over the bunch. As the rain continued to pour and with a lack of cooperation in the peloton, the breakaway held an advantage of over four minutes with just 40 kilometres to go.

The bunch soon responded and the team came to the front to help set the pace and slowly reel in the breakaway. The gap fell at a steady rate and as the bunch hit the slopes of the Challambra climb with roughly ten kilometres to go, the race was back together.

The team set a solid pace on the climb with riders dropping off the back, but in a cagey affair no attacks were made. Those dropped made it back onto the group on the descent, including some dangerous sprinters. On the final small but sharp rise with around five kilometres to go, Liane Lippert put in a stinging attack, managing to get clear of the now diminished peloton.

Not looking back, she dug deep and continued to push on the pedals all the way to the line, holding on to take a memorable victory. Behind, Leah Kirchmann sprinted to fifth place, rounding off what was a great day of racing for the team.

“The team did such a good job from the beginning and they protected me through the whole day,” beamed Lippert at the finish. “We’re used to the tough conditions so it was good for us and we made the race hard in the wind. I felt really good so I attacked on the final uphill part after the bridge and I never looked back. It’s amazing, I can’t believe I’ve won my first WorldTour race. The team played a really important role in the finale; without them I couldn’t have won today.”

Team Sunweb coach Nicolas Marche added: “We showed during the Tour Down Under how strong we are so we were confident of a good result today and believed we could win. We started with a really clear plan and everyone knew exactly what to do. The team rode really well all day and the race was exactly like we had talked about in the morning. Liane put in a really strong attack in the finale and could stay away until the line; it’s a fantastic day for us. It’s a great result for the whole team, everyone worked really hard, and it’s a nice way to finish our time racing in Australia.”

Complete Results:

121 kilometers raced at an average speed of 36.710 km/hr

1	LIPPERT Liane	Team Sunweb	3hr 17min 46sec
2	SIERRA Arlenis	Astana	@ 15sec
3	SPRATT Amanda	Mitchelton-Scott	s.t.
4	WILES Tayler	Trek-Segafredo	s.t.
5	KIRCHMANN Leah	Team Sunweb	0:21
6	HOSKING Chloe	Rally Cycling	s.t.
7	STEPHENS Lauren	TIBCO-Silicon Valley Bank	s.t.
8	WINDER Ruth	Trek-Segafredo	s.t.
9	HARRIS Ella	Canyon-SRAM	s.t.
10	CHAPMAN Brodie	FDJ Nouvelle-Aquitaine	s.t.
11	LABOUS Juliette	Team Sunweb	0:24
12	ROSEMAN Ruby	Korda Mentha-Australia	1:00
13	HENDERSON Anna	Team Sunweb	s.t.
14	HENTTALA Lotta	Trek-Segafredo	1:24
15	KITCHEN Lauren	FDJ Nouvelle-Aquitaine	s.t.
16	RAGUSA Katia	Astana	s.t.
17	GEORGI Pfeiffer	Team Sunweb	s.t.
18	MARCHE Shara	FDJ Nouvelle-Aquitaine	s.t.
19	KENNEDY Lucy	Mitchelton-Scott	1:30
20	MULLENS Peta	Roxsolt Attaquer	2:12
21	SOEK Julia	Team Sunweb	s.t.
22	RYAN Alexis	Canyon-SRAM	s.t.
23	HERFOSS Emily	Roxsolt Attaquer	s.t.
24	GIGANTE Sarah	TIBCO-Silicon Valley Bank	s.t.
25	BOOGAARD Maaike	Alé BTC Ljubljana	2:47
26	HANSELMANN Nicole	Doltcini-Van Eyck Sport	2:50
27	BARROW Justine	Roxsolt Attaquer	s.t.
28	GROSSETÊTE Maëlle	FDJ Nouvelle-Aquitaine	s.t.
29	FRAPPORTI Simona	Bepink	2:51
30	EDWARDS Sophie	Korda Mentha-Australia	3:21
31	DOCX Mieke	Doltcini-Van Eyck Sport	3:35
32	LUDWIG Hannah	Canyon-SRAM	3:38
33	KESSLER Nina	TIBCO-Silicon Valley Bank	s.t.
34	WORRACK Trixi	Trek-Segafredo	3:40
35	VAN WITZENBURG Marieke	Doltcini-Van Eyck Sport	4:00
36	TALBOT Josie	Korda Mentha-Australia	s.t.
37	ERATH Tanja	Canyon-SRAM	4:21
38	WRIGHT Madeline	Roxsolt Attaquer	4:46
39	WIEL Jade	FDJ Nouvelle-Aquitaine	s.t.
40	VALSECCHI Silvia	Bepink	s.t.
41	VAN NECK Melissa	Bepink	5:40
42	BAKKER Minke	Doltcini-Van Eyck Sport	6:01
43	BARRERA Anet	Agolico	6:14
44	VROMANNE Justine	Doltcini-Van Eyck Sport	7:34
45	IVANIUK Maryna	Astana	s.t.
46	MORALES Jeniffer	Agolico	8:32
47	GUTIERREZ Ariadna	Agolico	s.t.
48	AHUMADA Denisse	Agolico	s.t.
49	PRIETO Marcela	Agolico	s.t.
50	MANEEPHAN Jutatip	Alé BTC Ljubljana	8:34
51	PLICHTA Anna	Trek-Segafredo	9:34
52	PATTARO Francesca	Astana	10:01
53	ZANARDI Silvia	Bepink	s.t.
54	CLEVENGER Erica	TIBCO-Silicon Valley Bank	s.t.
55	PRATT Jessica	Canyon-SRAM	13:04
56	LOUW Anya	Korda Mentha-Australia	s.t.
57	MARTIN Alexandra	Korda Mentha-Australia	s.t.
58	CHURSINA Anastasiia	Alé BTC Ljubljana	22:07

Women's race course map:

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Race Torquay: Thursday, January 30. 10 laps x 13km = 130 km

UCI rating: 1.1

Sam Bennett wins in Torquay. Getty Images

The Race: Here's the report from winner Sam Bennett's Deceuninck-Quick Step team.

Sam Bennett is off to a flying start this season, already having two wins under his belt just ten days since rolling out his campaign in Australia. Most recent came Thursday, at Race Torquay, an event consisting of ten laps of an undulating 13.3km circuit following a clockwise direction.

“This success makes me very happy and feeds my confidence ahead of Sunday, when I hope to be again up there with a shot at victory. The credit goes to the team, who did again a great job and were always there for me”, Sam said immediately after the finish.

The same riders who lined out last week for Tour Down Under were again in action for Deceuninck – Quick-Step, who lost Mattia Cattaneo early in the race, following a crash. Fortunately for the Italian, he didn’t sustain any injuries other than just a few grazes and will be at the start line of the Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race, our last appointment in Australia for 2020.

The race was animated by Dries Devenyns, who launched an attack after six laps, being joined by Daryl Impey (Mitchelton-Scott), together with whom he worked well together, opening up a gap of 55 seconds which spread some panic in the peloton. Eventually, the sprinters’ teams took the front of the pack and narrowed down the advantage of the escapees, who despite their valiant effort, got pegged back with 15 kilometers to go.

A flurry of attacks on the final lap didn’t change the expected outcome and the first edition of Race Torquay culminated in a bunch gallop dominated by Deceuninck – Quick-Step. Michael Mørkøv delivered again a perfectly-executed lead-out, rolling out the red carpet for Irish Champion Sam Bennett, who shot from the peloton and generated a whirring speed which brought him a comfortable win over Giacomo Nizzolo (NTT Pro Cycling) and Alberto Dainese (Team Sunweb).

“After an aggressive start, things became pretty controlled, so I asked the guys to make it harder and kick off the race again, and that’s when Dries went and forced the others to chase. It all came together later and I got an armchair ride to the line. I like the course and the length of the race, even though it was harder than advertised, as it has a bit of everything for everyone, and winning this event after being elevated to UCI status gives me a lot of satisfaction”, added Sam, who triumphed at Race Torquay twice when it used to be a criterium.

Complete results:

130 kilometers raced at an average speed of 42.991 km/hr

1	BENNETT Sam	Deceuninck-Quick Step	3hr 1min 26sec
2	NIZZOLO Giacomo	NTT Pro Cycling	s.t.
3	DAINESE Alberto	Team Sunweb	s.t.
4	GROVES Kaden	Mitchelton-Scott	s.t.
5	MORKOV Michael	Deceuninck-Quick Step	s.t.
6	SARREAU Marc	Groupama-FDJ	s.t.
7	PEDERSEN Mads	Trek-Segafredo	s.t.
8	VENDRAME Andrea	Ag2r La Mondiale	s.t.
9	KLUGE Roger	Lotto-Soudal	s.t.
10	VIVIANI Elia	Cofidis	s.t.
11	HALVORSEN Kristoffer	EF Pro Cycling	s.t.
12	HALLER Marco	Bahrain-McLaren	s.t.
13	VENTOSO Francisco	CCC Team	s.t.
14	BASKA Erik	Bora-hansgrohe	s.t.
15	WHITE Nicholas	Team BridgeLane	s.t.
16	LAAS Martin	Bora-hansgrohe	s.t.
17	GUARNIERI Jacopo	Groupama-FDJ	s.t.
18	REIJNEN Kiel	Trek-Segafredo	s.t.
19	CONSONNI Simone	Cofidis	s.t.
20	GIBBONS Ryan	NTT Pro Cycling	s.t.
21	POWER Robert	Team Sunweb	s.t.
22	BOIVIN Guillaume	Israel Start-Up Nation	@ 7sec
23	ROSSKOPF Joey	CCC Team	0:09
24	WARBASSE Larry	Ag2r La Mondiale	s.t.
25	VAN KEIRSBULCK Guillaume	CCC Team	s.t.
26	HILL Benjamin	Team BridgeLane	s.t.
27	JENNER Samuel	Team BridgeLane	0:11
28	ARASHIRO Yukiya	Bahrain-McLaren	s.t.
29	PERNSTEINER Hermann	Bahrain-McLaren	s.t.
30	SCHULTZ Elliot	KordaMentha-Australia	s.t.
31	CHEVRIER Clément	Ag2r La Mondiale	s.t.
32	SLATTERY Godfrey	KordaMentha-Australia	s.t.
33	GASTAUER Ben	Ag2r La Mondiale	s.t.
34	WYSS Danilo	NTT Pro Cycling	s.t.
35	RIES Michel	Trek-Segafredo	s.t.
36	BOUCHARD Geoffrey	Ag2r La Mondiale	s.t.
37	FRANKINY Kilian	Groupama-FDJ	s.t.
38	TURNBULL Carter	KordaMentha-Australia	s.t.
39	MCCARTHY Jay	Bora-hansgrohe	s.t.
40	SAGAN Juraj	Bora-hansgrohe	s.t.
41	WISNIOWSKI Lukasz	CCC Team	s.t.
42	POWLESS Neilson	EF Pro Cycling	s.t.
43	KANTER Max	Team Sunweb	s.t.
44	GREIPEL André	Israel Start-Up Nation	s.t.
45	VANBILSEN Kenneth	Cofidis	s.t.
46	ARCHBOLD Shane	Deceuninck-Quick Step	s.t.
47	LOPEZ Juan	Trek-Segafredo	0:21
48	ELISSONDE Kenny	Trek-Segafredo	s.t.
49	DOULL Owain	Team INEOS	s.t.
50	GESCHKE Simon	CCC Team	s.t.
51	SCULLY Tom	EF Pro Cycling	0:24
52	SCHWARZMANN Michael	Bora-hansgrohe	s.t.
53	ARMIRAIL Bruno	Groupama-FDJ	0:26
54	SCHULTZ Nick	Mitchelton-Scott	s.t.
55	YATES Simon	Mitchelton-Scott	s.t.
56	LIENHARD Fabian	Groupama-FDJ	s.t.
57	VAN BAARLE Dylan	Team INEOS	s.t.
58	SABATINI Fabio	Cofidis	0:29
59	SMITH Dion	Mitchelton-Scott	s.t.
60	PIBERNIK Luka	Bahrain-McLaren	0:33
61	BUITRAGO Santiago	Bahrain-McLaren	0:35
62	ROWE Luke	Team INEOS	0:38
63	ZABEL Rick	Israel Start-Up Nation	0:41
64	SCOTSON Miles	Groupama-FDJ	0:49
65	RUTSCH Jonas	EF Pro Cycling	0:52
66	STORK Florian	Team Sunweb	s.t.
67	STANNARD Ian	Team INEOS	s.t.
68	CHRISTIE-JOHNSTON Alastair	Team BridgeLane	s.t.
69	DE KORT Koen	Trek-Segafredo	s.t.
70	HINDLEY Jai	Team Sunweb	s.t.
71	TOOVEY Ayden	Team BridgeLane	s.t.
72	BENTON Thomas	KordaMentha-Australia	s.t.
73	STORER Michael	Team Sunweb	s.t.
74	KEUKELEIRE Jens	EF Pro Cycling	s.t.
75	KEISSE Iljo	Deceuninck-Quick Step	s.t.
76	DE BOD Stefan	NTT Pro Cycling	0:54
77	MORTON Lachlan	EF Pro Cycling	s.t.
78	DEVENYNS Dries	Deceuninck-Quick Step	s.t.
79	ALMEIDA Joao	Deceuninck-Quick Step	1:03
80	BENEDETTI Cesare	Bora-hansgrohe	s.t.
81	SIVAKOV Pavel	Team INEOS	1:06
82	VAN DER SANDE Tosh	Lotto-Soudal	1:09
83	HOWSON Damien	Mitchelton-Scott	1:24
84	DOCKER Mitchell	EF Pro Cycling	s.t.
85	BATTISTELLA Samuele	NTT Pro Cycling	1:42
86	SCHELLING Ide	Bora-hansgrohe	s.t.
87	KRAGH ANDERSEN Asbjorn	Team Sunweb	2:23
88	RAIM Mihkel	Israel Start-Up Nation	2:35
89	DIBBEN Jonathan	Lotto-Soudal	s.t.
90	LAWLESS Chris	Team INEOS	3:26
91	HANSEN Adam	Lotto-Soudal	3:38
92	TILLER Rasmus	NTT Pro Cycling	4:56
93	QUICK Blake	KordaMentha-Australia	5:43
94	CATAFORD Alexander	Israel Start-Up Nation	6:06
95	HAAS Nathan	Cofidis	8:19
96	CERNY Josef	CCC Team	s.t.
97	IMPEY Daryl	Mitchelton-Scott	s.t.
98	GOLDSTEIN Omer	Israel Start-Up Nation	8:21
99	SUNDERLAND Dylan	NTT Pro Cycling	8:22