Herald Sun Tour Podium history | 2019 edition
Stage 1 | Stage 2 | Stage 3 | Stage 4 | Stage 5

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Sunday, February 9: 5th & Final Stage, Melbourne 89.1 km Circuit Race

Kaden Groves wins the final stage of the 2020 Herald Sun Tour

Weather at Melbourne at 12:30 PM, local time: 28C (82F), partly cloudy, with the wind from the east at 26 km/hr (16 mph). No rain is forecast.

The race: Here's the report from stage winner Kaden Groves' Mitchelton-Scott team.

Neo-pro Kaden Groves claimed the final stage, his second win of the Jayco Herald Sun Tour, to wrap up the Australian summer season for Mitchelton-SCOTT.

Groves, who also won on stage three, finished ahead of teammate Dion Smith on the Melbourne-circuit, whilst Damien Howson retained third overall behind champion Jai Hindley (Team Sunweb).

Despite a windy back half, the final Melbourne circuit stage always looked destined for a sprint.

A breakaway of seven animated racing but they were kept within 40seconds and were all-but swallowed up by the bunch with one lap remaining.

Mitchelton-SCOTT lined up for the sprint inside the final three kilometres and, despite losing their way up the final climb of Anderson Street hill, Groves wrapped up his second win for the week.

The end of racing today sees a close to the 2020 Australian cycling season. Mitchelton-SCOTT now head back to Europe with three national titles and an additional four UCI wins and 11 podiums.

Kaden Groves – Stage winner:
“(The finish) really suited me because it was hard enough to drop some of the other fast guys and in the end I’m happy to get the win.

“We all got together pretty late actually, maybe three kilometres to go. It was pretty messy and in the crosswinds we lined up and we put it into the gutter at the head of the peloton.  Coming into the climb EF took over and set a really hard pace up the top. Hofland let Tom Scully go off the front, forcing me to chase, so I had to close the gap from the kilometre banner to probably 300m to go where I had a run at him, took the barrier on the right and led out the sprint.

“The guys were perfect, keeping me fresh in every stage and delivering me to the finishes as smooth as possible. I think the results of the week are pretty good.”

Damien Howson – 3rd overall:
“It’s always good to be on the podium here. Of course, I would have taken first, but I didn’t come here expecting to finish third either.

“That’s cycling, things change and you need to adapt to them so I’m happy we made the most of what we had and to finish with two stages with Kaden also makes it a successful week.”

Matt Wilson – Sport Director:
“Two stage wins and an overall podium is a great week by any standards.

“Of course we set high goals to come here and win the Tour and a couple of stages, and it would have been nice, but we were out-classed. We weren’t going good enough and Jai Hindley was super and some of the domestic riders really stepped up too.

“I think it was a great race and I’m really proud of the guys, they did everything they could.

“The strategy today was to leave it late. Obviously with the head wind down the back and the climb, we knew if we came with numbers we’d been in a really good place.

“We got it half right, but then we fell back to plan B which was to make sure Kaden was in good position into the final corner if we couldn’t do the lead out. He was and from that point the guys knew he was safe.”

Complete Results:

89.1 kilometers raced at an average speed of 45.063 km/hr

1	GROVES Kaden	Mitchelton-Scott	1hr 58min 38sec
2	SMITH Dion	Mitchelton-Scott	s.t.
3	HOFLAND Moreno	EF Pro Cycling	s.t.
4	RICE Michael	ARA-Sunshine Coast	s.t.
5	RAIM Mihkel	Israel Start-Up Nation	s.t.
6	KRAGH ANDERSEN Asbjørn	Team Sunweb	s.t.
7	MCGILL Scott	Aevolo	s.t.
8	MUDGWAY Luke	Black Spoke	s.t.
9	BOIVIN Guillaume	Israel Start-Up Nation	s.t.
10	STITES Tyler	Aevolo	s.t.
11	HOWSON Damien	Mitchelton-Scott	s.t.
12	MCCORMICK Hayden	Black Spoke	s.t.
13	HINDLEY Jai	Team Sunweb	s.t.
14	YATES Simon	Mitchelton-Scott	s.t.
15	DAINESE Alberto	Team Sunweb	s.t.
16	CAVANAGH Ryan	St George Continental	s.t.
17	ORAM James	Black Spoke	s.t.
18	LEBAS Thomas	Kinan	@ 7sec
19	BERWICK Sebastian	St George Continental	s.t.
20	GARCIA Marcos	Kinan	s.t.
21	VINE Jay	Nero Continental	s.t.
22	CULEY Marcus	Team Sapura	0:09
23	WHITE Liam	Oliver's Real Food	s.t.
24	EWART Jesse	Team Sapura	s.t.
25	POWLESS Neilson	EF Pro Cycling	s.t.
26	PORTER Rudy	KordaMentha-Australia	s.t.
27	SCULLY Tom	EF Pro Cycling	s.t.
28	CHRETIEN Charles-Etienne	Aevolo	s.t.
29	STORER Michael	Team Sunweb	s.t.
30	HILL Benjamin	BridgeLane	s.t.
31	JENNER Samuel	BridgeLane	s.t.
32	SLATTERY Godfrey	KordaMentha-Australia	s.t.
33	CARMAN Ben	Nero Continental	s.t.
34	HILL Samuel	BridgeLane	s.t.
35	SCHUNK Conor	Aevolo	s.t.
36	MORTON Lachlan	EF Pro Cycling	0:14
37	GOLDSTEIN Omer	Israel Start-Up Nation	0:19
38	HEANEY Alex	St George Continental	0:23
39	NAKAJIMA Yasuharu	Kinan	0:28
40	RUTSCH Jonas	EF Pro Cycling	s.t.
41	TOOVEY Ayden	BridgeLane	s.t.
42	BOLTON Thomas	Oliver's Real Food	s.t.
43	TURNBULL Carter	KordaMentha-Australia	0:40
44	O'BRIEN Mark	KordaMentha-Australia	s.t.
45	MEYER Cameron	Mitchelton-Scott	s.t.
46	WHITE Calan	KordaMentha-Australia	0:44
47	KANTER Max	Team Sunweb	s.t.
48	MURTAGH Conor	Oliver's Real Food	s.t.
49	GUARDIOLA Salvador	Kinan	s.t.
50	THOMAS Ryan	ARA-Sunshine Coast	s.t.
51	PICCOLI James	Israel Start-Up Nation	s.t.
52	FLEMING Riley	Oliver's Real Food	0:48
53	PRESLEY Sebastian	Oliver's Real Food	0:50
54	YATES Joel	St George Continental	s.t.
55	LYONS Angus	Oliver's Real Food	s.t.
56	DOWSETT Alex	Israel Start-Up Nation	0:53
57	DOCKER Mitchell	EF Pro Cycling	s.t.
58	BARRETT Sebastian	ARA-Sunshine Coast	s.t.
59	SCOTT Ari	Black Spoke	1:05
60	COYLE Jesse	Nero Continental	1:12
61	YAMAMOTO Genki	Kinan	1:17
62	CATAFORD Alexander	Israel Start-Up Nation	1:23
63	KENCH Josh	Black Spoke	1:26
64	SCHULTZ Nick	Mitchelton-Scott	s.t.
65	POWER Robert	Team Sunweb	s.t.
66	METCALFE Ben	BridgeLane	1:28
67	REARDON Connor	St George Continental	1:29
68	POTTER Michael	ARA-Sunshine Coast	s.t.
69	MILLER Christopher	Nero Continental	s.t.
70	MACKAY Ashley	ARA-Sunshine Coast	s.t.
71	PERRY Ben	Israel Start-Up Nation	s.t.
72	BEWLEY Sam	Mitchelton-Scott	1:42
73	MCKENNA Dylan	Nero Continental	s.t.
74	BATT Ethan	Black Spoke	1:46
75	WILLIAMS David	KordaMentha-Australia	2:00
76	STORK Florian	Team Sunweb	2:03
77	TSUBAKI Hiroshi	Kinan	2:48
78	DAVIDS Brendon	Oliver's Real Food	3:42
79	WHELAN James	EF Pro Cycling	s.t.
80	FREIBERG Michael	ARA-Sunshine Coast	s.t.

Final GC after stage 5:

• Final GC leader: Jai Hindley (Team Sunweb)
• Mountains classification winner: Jai Hindley (Team Sunweb)
• Sprint classification winner: Benjamin Hill (Team BridgeLane)
• Best young rider: Sebastian Berwick (St. George Continental)
• Team classification winner:Team Sunweb

612.1 kilometers raced at an average speed of 41.247 km/hr

1	HINDLEY Jai	Team Sunweb	14hr 50min 23sec
2	BERWICK Sebastian	St George Continental	@ 17sec
3	HOWSON Damien	Mitchelton-Scott	0:36
4	POWLESS Neilson	EF Pro Cycling	1:00
5	VINE Jay	Nero Continental	1:28
6	EWART Jesse	Team Sapura	1:32
7	STORER Michael	Team Sunweb	1:59
8	LEBAS Thomas	Kinan	2:02
9	PORTER Rudy	KordaMentha-Australia	2:41
10	ORAM James	Black Spoke	2:50
11	GARCIA Marcos	Kinan	3:01
12	CHRETIEN Charles-Etienne	Aevolo	3:29
13	MCCORMICK Hayden	Black Spoke	4:05
14	RUTSCH Jonas	EF Pro Cycling	5:09
15	CATAFORD Alexander	Israel Start-Up Nation	6:21
16	GOLDSTEIN Omer	Israel Start-Up Nation	7:00
17	HILL Samuel	BridgeLane	7:19
18	JENNER Samuel	BridgeLane	7:37
19	YATES Simon	Mitchelton-Scott	7:50
20	MORTON Lachlan	EF Pro Cycling	8:35
21	SCHUNK Conor	Aevolo	9:29
22	WHELAN James	EF Pro Cycling	9:42
23	SCOTT Ari	Black Spoke	9:56
24	O'BRIEN Mark	KordaMentha-Australia	10:54
25	STORK Florian	Team Sunweb	11:05
26	SMITH Dion	Mitchelton-Scott	13:50
27	CULEY Marcus	Team Sapura	14:03
28	DOCKER Mitchell	EF Pro Cycling	14:07
29	TURNBULL Carter	KordaMentha-Australia	14:37
30	WHITE Calan	KordaMentha-Australia	15:30
31	PERRY Ben	Israel Start-Up Nation	15:55
32	GUARDIOLA Salvador	Kinan	16:18
33	MEYER Cameron	Mitchelton-Scott	17:33
34	BOIVIN Guillaume	Israel Start-Up Nation	17:46
35	PICCOLI James	Israel Start-Up Nation	18:23
36	LYONS Angus	Oliver's Real Food	18:42
37	DAVIDS Brendon	Oliver's Real Food	18:44
38	SCHULTZ Nick	Mitchelton-Scott	19:38
39	POWER Robert	Team Sunweb	20:57
40	TOOVEY Ayden	BridgeLane	21:22
41	PRESLEY Sebastian	Oliver's Real Food	21:53
42	FREIBERG Michael	ARA-Sunshine Coast	23:53
43	MCKENNA Dylan	Nero Continental	25:48
44	CARMAN Ben	Nero Continental	26:08
45	SCULLY Tom	EF Pro Cycling	27:09
46	METCALFE Ben	BridgeLane	27:48
47	REARDON Connor	St George Continental	28:10
48	CAVANAGH Ryan	St George Continental	29:42
49	HEANEY Alex	St George Continental	30:22
50	HOFLAND Moreno	EF Pro Cycling	30:29
51	RAIM Mihkel	Israel Start-Up Nation	30:33
52	DOWSETT Alex	Israel Start-Up Nation	30:34
53	YATES Joel	St George Continental	32:17
54	STITES Tyler	Aevolo	32:31
55	THOMAS Ryan	ARA-Sunshine Coast	32:50
56	POTTER Michael	ARA-Sunshine Coast	33:14
57	SLATTERY Godfrey	KordaMentha-Australia	33:50
58	BARRETT Sebastian	ARA-Sunshine Coast	35:32
59	RICE Michael	ARA-Sunshine Coast	36:01
60	GROVES Kaden	Mitchelton-Scott	36:11
61	DAINESE Alberto	Team Sunweb	36:21
62	KANTER Max	Team Sunweb	36:31
63	MILLER Christopher	Nero Continental	38:39
64	WHITE Liam	Oliver's Real Food	38:53
65	FLEMING Riley	Oliver's Real Food	s.t.
66	MACKAY Ashley	ARA-Sunshine Coast	40:22
67	MCGILL Scott	Aevolo	40:27
68	BOLTON Thomas	Oliver's Real Food	40:51
69	TSUBAKI Hiroshi	Kinan	41:04
70	NAKAJIMA Yasuharu	Kinan	42:42
71	MUDGWAY Luke	Black Spoke	43:32
72	KENCH Josh	Black Spoke	s.t.
73	YAMAMOTO Genki	Kinan	43:38
74	KRAGH ANDERSEN Asbjørn	Team Sunweb	43:50
75	BATT Ethan	Black Spoke	45:48
76	HILL Benjamin	BridgeLane	46:08
77	WILLIAMS David	KordaMentha-Australia	46:24
78	MURTAGH Conor	Oliver's Real Food	51:34
79	COYLE Jesse	Nero Continental	51:48
80	BEWLEY Sam	Mitchelton-Scott	55:32

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Saturday, February 8: Stage 4, Mansfield - Mt. Buller, 106.6 km

Jai Hindley takes stage four in front of Sebastian Berwick. Photo: Con Chronis

The race: Here's the report from stage winner Jai Hindley's Team Sunweb.

After stage two’s summit finish atop Falls Creek, today the peloton were faced with the second mountain top finish on Mount Buller. With a gradient of over six percent for 16 kilometres, the testing ramps were destined to shake up the GC battle. The team started the day with Jai Hindley in the race leader’s jersey and Michael Storer also well positioned in the overall fight, sitting in fifth place on GC.

It was a nervous start to the stage with numerous attacks and the threat of crosswinds making for a fast and frenetic opening ten kilometres. A breakaway of eight soon established itself at the head of the race and the team took control at the front of the peloton, allowing the gap to reach a maximum of three minutes and 40 seconds.

Alberto Dainese, Max Kanter and Asbjørn Kragh Andersen contributed to the chase on the flat lands and as the peloton began the climb of Mount Buller the gap to the break was down to under three minutes. A steady but strong tempo was then set on the front by Robert Power and Florian Stork, with both riders managing to pull back several attacks before Michael Storer took over proceedings in the finale.

A headwind on the opening three quarters of the climb meant it was a larger group than expected that approached the finale but Storer was steadfast and brought race leader Hindley into a good position under the flamme rouge. At that moment, young rider jersey wearer Sebastian Berwick put in a stinging attack and Hindley was the only rider capable of following on the steep finishing ramps.

Once in the wheel, Hindley was able to have a brief moment of recovery before delivering his own attack in the closing 200 metres, charging home for his second stage win of the race.

As a result of bonus seconds on the line, Hindley now leads Berwick by ten seconds on GC ahead of tomorrow’s final stage in Melbourne, while Storer also occupies a top ten spot in seventh place.

“The guys were incredible, they rode on the front from the first kilometre,” praised Hindley at the finish. “I’m just so relieved I could pay off all their hard work so this is a pretty special one. I’ve known Storer for yonks so to have him ride in the final like that for me was unreal. He was phenomenal, as were the other guys today. Hats off to Seb Berwick, he threw the kitchen sink at me on the final climb and was super strong. It’s really special to be wearing the leader’s jersey at the Sun Tour. This is the third time I’ve done this race now so for an Australian guy to race here is special and to wear the jersey into the final stage tomorrow – I’m a bit lost for words.”

Team Sunweb coach Luke Roberts added: “Today we had the second mountain top finish up to Mount Buller which is a difficult 16 kilometre climb. Our biggest priority today was to defend Jai’s GC lead. It was an aggressive race in the beginning and eventually an eight rider group got away and our guys took control. The other teams left the work up to us today and the guys had to work really hard for it but we rode the almost perfect race on the front all day. In the final Jai followed his rivals who were competing for the podium. Berwick put in a good attack and Jai could go with him and finished it off for the stage win. It was great work by all the team today so full credit to them for not only securing the yellow jersey but also picking up another stage win.”

Complete Results:

106.6 kilometers raced at an average speed of 35.3 km/hr

1	HINDLEY Jai	Team Sunweb	3hr 1min 25sec
2	BERWICK Sebastian	St George Continental	s.t.
3	VINE Jay	Nero Continental	@ 9sec
4	EWART Jesse	Team Sapura	0:17
5	POWLESS Neilson	EF Pro Cycling	0:18
6	SCHULTZ Nick	Mitchelton-Scott	0:22
7	HOWSON Damien	Mitchelton-Scott	s.t.
8	PICCOLI James	Israel Start-Up Nation	0:23
9	GARCIA Marcos	Kinan	s.t.
10	LEBAS Thomas	Kinan	0:30
11	PORTER Rudy	KordaMentha-Australia	0:43
12	ORAM James	Black Spoke	0:48
13	O'BRIEN Mark	KordaMentha-Australia	s.t.
14	YATES Simon	Mitchelton-Scott	s.t.
15	HILL Samuel	BridgeLane	0:50
16	CHRETIEN Charles-Etienne	Aevolo	s.t.
17	STORER Michael	Team Sunweb	0:53
18	MCCORMICK Hayden	Black Spoke	0:55
19	MEYER Cameron	Mitchelton-Scott	1:23
20	WHITE Calan	KordaMentha-Australia	1:44
21	PERRY Ben	Israel Start-Up Nation	1:59
22	RUTSCH Jonas	EF Pro Cycling	s.t.
23	LYONS Angus	Oliver's Real Food	2:01
24	SMITH Dion	Mitchelton-Scott	2:09
25	CULEY Marcus	Team Sapura	2:12
26	STORK Florian	Team Sunweb	2:23
27	CATAFORD Alexander	Israel Start-Up Nation	2:28
28	SCHUNK Conor	Aevolo	3:03
29	JENNER Samuel	BridgeLane	3:21
30	GOLDSTEIN Omer	Israel Start-Up Nation	3:31
31	SCOTT Ari	Black Spoke	3:52
32	WHELAN James	EF Pro Cycling	4:42
33	MORTON Lachlan	EF Pro Cycling	5:17
34	TOOVEY Ayden	BridgeLane	5:51
35	BOIVIN Guillaume	Israel Start-Up Nation	6:12
36	GUARDIOLA Salvador	Kinan	6:17
37	METCALFE Ben	BridgeLane	6:27
38	TURNBULL Carter	KordaMentha-Australia	s.t.
39	MCKENNA Dylan	Nero Continental	6:32
40	DOCKER Mitchell	EF Pro Cycling	6:52
41	DAVIDS Brendon	Oliver's Real Food	8:42
42	FREIBERG Michael	ARA-Sunshine Coast	s.t.
43	YATES Joel	St George Continental	9:34
44	CAVANAGH Ryan	St George Continental	9:37
45	POWER Robert	Team Sunweb	s.t.
46	PRESLEY Sebastian	Oliver's Real Food	9:40
47	BARRETT Sebastian	ARA-Sunshine Coast	s.t.
48	REARDON Connor	St George Continental	10:07
49	WHITE Liam	Oliver's Real Food	s.t.
50	DOWSETT Alex	Israel Start-Up Nation	10:12
51	HEANEY Alex	St George Continental	s.t.
52	HILL Benjamin	BridgeLane	11:53
53	FLEMING Riley	Oliver's Real Food	13:54
54	SLATTERY Godfrey	KordaMentha-Australia	s.t.
55	KANTER Max	Team Sunweb	s.t.
56	MACKAY Ashley	ARA-Sunshine Coast	s.t.
57	CARMAN Ben	Nero Continental	s.t.
58	HOFLAND Moreno	EF Pro Cycling	14:05
59	RAIM Mihkel	Israel Start-Up Nation	s.t.
60	TSUBAKI Hiroshi	Kinan	s.t.
61	BATT Ethan	Black Spoke	14:11
62	THOMAS Ryan	ARA-Sunshine Coast	14:39
63	POTTER Michael	ARA-Sunshine Coast	s.t.
64	BEWLEY Sam	Mitchelton-Scott	15:31
65	SCULLY Tom	EF Pro Cycling	s.t.
66	MCGILL Scott	Aevolo	s.t.
67	STITES Tyler	Aevolo	s.t.
68	MUDGWAY Luke	Black Spoke	s.t.
69	MURTAGH Conor	Oliver's Real Food	s.t.
70	KENCH Josh	Black Spoke	15:40
71	MILLER Christopher	Nero Continental	16:02
72	WILLIAMS David	KordaMentha-Australia	16:12
73	BOLTON Thomas	Oliver's Real Food	s.t.
74	NAKAJIMA Yasuharu	Kinan	16:22
75	YAMAMOTO Genki	Kinan	s.t.
76	KRAGH ANDERSEN Asbjørn	Team Sunweb	16:50
77	DAINESE Alberto	Team Sunweb	16:52
78	GROVES Kaden	Mitchelton-Scott	s.t.
79	COYLE Jesse	Nero Continental	19:01
80	RICE Michael	ARA-Sunshine Coast	19:30

GC after stage 4:

523 kilometers raced at an average speed of 40.661 km/hr

1	HINDLEY Jai	Team Sunweb	12hr 51min 45sec
2	BERWICK Sebastian	St George Continental	@ 10sec
3	HOWSON Damien	Mitchelton-Scott	0:36
4	POWLESS Neilson	EF Pro Cycling	0:51
5	EWART Jesse	Team Sapura	1:26
6	VINE Jay	Nero Continental	s.t.
7	STORER Michael	Team Sunweb	1:50
8	LEBAS Thomas	Kinan	1:55
9	PORTER Rudy	KordaMentha-Australia	2:32
10	ORAM James	Black Spoke	2:50
11	GARCIA Marcos	Kinan	2:54
12	CHRETIEN Charles-Etienne	Aevolo	3:20
13	MCCORMICK Hayden	Black Spoke	4:05
14	RUTSCH Jonas	EF Pro Cycling	4:41
15	CATAFORD Alexander	Israel Start-Up Nation	4:59
16	WHELAN James	EF Pro Cycling	6:00
17	GOLDSTEIN Omer	Israel Start-Up Nation	6:41
18	HILL Samuel	BridgeLane	7:10
19	JENNER Samuel	BridgeLane	7:28
20	YATES Simon	Mitchelton-Scott	7:50
21	MORTON Lachlan	EF Pro Cycling	8:21
22	SCOTT Ari	Black Spoke	8:51
23	STORK Florian	Team Sunweb	9:02
24	SCHUNK Conor	Aevolo	9:20
25	O'BRIEN Mark	KordaMentha-Australia	10:14
26	DOCKER Mitchell	EF Pro Cycling	13:14
27	CULEY Marcus	Team Sapura	13:54
28	SMITH Dion	Mitchelton-Scott	13:56
29	TURNBULL Carter	KordaMentha-Australia	13:57
30	PERRY Ben	Israel Start-Up Nation	14:26
31	WHITE Calan	KordaMentha-Australia	14:46
32	DAVIDS Brendon	Oliver's Real Food	15:02
33	GUARDIOLA Salvador	Kinan	15:34
34	MEYER Cameron	Mitchelton-Scott	16:53
35	PICCOLI James	Israel Start-Up Nation	17:39
36	BOIVIN Guillaume	Israel Start-Up Nation	17:46
37	LYONS Angus	Oliver's Real Food	17:52
38	SCHULTZ Nick	Mitchelton-Scott	18:12
39	POWER Robert	Team Sunweb	19:31
40	FREIBERG Michael	ARA-Sunshine Coast	20:11
41	TOOVEY Ayden	BridgeLane	20:54
42	PRESLEY Sebastian	Oliver's Real Food	21:03
43	MCKENNA Dylan	Nero Continental	24:06
44	CARMAN Ben	Nero Continental	25:59
45	METCALFE Ben	BridgeLane	26:20
46	REARDON Connor	St George Continental	26:41
47	SCULLY Tom	EF Pro Cycling	27:00
48	DOWSETT Alex	Israel Start-Up Nation	29:41
49	CAVANAGH Ryan	St George Continental	29:42
50	HEANEY Alex	St George Continental	29:59
51	HOFLAND Moreno	EF Pro Cycling	30:33
52	RAIM Mihkel	Israel Start-Up Nation	s.t.
53	YATES Joel	St George Continental	31:27
54	POTTER Michael	ARA-Sunshine Coast	31:45
55	THOMAS Ryan	ARA-Sunshine Coast	32:06
56	STITES Tyler	Aevolo	32:31
57	SLATTERY Godfrey	KordaMentha-Australia	33:41
58	BARRETT Sebastian	ARA-Sunshine Coast	34:39
59	KANTER Max	Team Sunweb	35:47
60	RICE Michael	ARA-Sunshine Coast	36:01
61	DAINESE Alberto	Team Sunweb	36:21
62	GROVES Kaden	Mitchelton-Scott	s.t.
63	MILLER Christopher	Nero Continental	37:10
64	FLEMING Riley	Oliver's Real Food	38:05
65	TSUBAKI Hiroshi	Kinan	38:16
66	WHITE Liam	Oliver's Real Food	38:44
67	MACKAY Ashley	ARA-Sunshine Coast	38:53
68	BOLTON Thomas	Oliver's Real Food	40:23
69	MCGILL Scott	Aevolo	40:27
70	KENCH Josh	Black Spoke	42:06
71	NAKAJIMA Yasuharu	Kinan	42:14
72	YAMAMOTO Genki	Kinan	42:21
73	MUDGWAY Luke	Black Spoke	43:32
74	KRAGH ANDERSEN Asbjørn	Team Sunweb	43:50
75	BATT Ethan	Black Spoke	44:02
76	WILLIAMS David	KordaMentha-Australia	44:24
77	HILL Benjamin	BridgeLane	46:02
78	COYLE Jesse	Nero Continental	50:36
79	MURTAGH Conor	Oliver's Real Food	50:50
80	BEWLEY Sam	Mitchelton-Scott	53:50

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Friday, February 7: Stage 3, Bright - Wangaratta, 178.1 km

Kaden Groves takes the third stage ahead of Alberto Dainese. Photo Con Chronis

Weather at the finish town of Wangaratta at 1:00 PM, local time: 28C (83F), sunny, with the wind from the south at 10 km/hr (6 mph). 25% chance of shower during the afternoon.

The race: Here's the report from GC leader Jai Hindley's Team Sunweb.

Stage three at the Jayco Herald Sun Tour began at a fierce pace, with a plethora of riders looking to make the day’s breakaway over the early climbs. The racing was so intense that it took over 50 kilometres for the move to eventually form, when a group of strong riders broke clear and the pace in the bunch lulled, allowing a group of dropped riders to return to the bunch.

With the peloton back together, the team began to work on the front with Robert Power and Florian Stork contributing to the pace setting. The breakaway contained a couple of potential GC threats, so the team worked well to ensure that the gap didn’t grow out too far, with it peaking at just over four minutes.

Heading into the final 50 kilometres the gap started to fall quickly with other teams assisting the chase. One last obstacle awaited the riders; a short and tricky climb that crested with just 15 kilometres to go. An infernal pace was set on the climb and the bunch thinned out dramatically, with race-leader Jai Hindley and Michael Storer making it over the top at the head of the race. Stage one winner Alberto Dainese just lost contact with the group at the summit, but after fighting hard he returned to the peloton ahead of the sprint finish.

Hindley and Storer did their best to position Dainese in the finale, with the Italian coming out of the final corner in around sixth wheel. Producing a strong sprint, he came round several riders in the gallop to the line, ending the day in second place. [ With Mitchelton-Scott's Kaden Groves winning the sprint.]

With no change in the GC standings, Hindley holds onto the race lead ahead of tomorrow’s summit finish atop Mount Buller.

“The guys did a good job to position me but the pace on the last climb was quite hard and I was dropped,” explained Dainese at the finish. “I managed to make it back onto the peloton in the last ten kilometres but I just missed the legs for the sprint as I was spent after the effort on the climb.”

Team Sunweb coach Luke Roberts continued: “It was a difficult stage today. The race was on from the beginning. There was a tough climb near the start of the stage and it took almost 50 kilometres for the race to settle down. The guys did well to take control once a group of eight riders had gone. Rob and Florian did a good job to keep the breakaway in check. With a climb in the final, we knew it would be a tricky one to try and get Alberto there for the sprint. Michael and Jai were good together in the front of the peloton and Jai’s yellow jersey was well protected. Alberto rode well to get over the climb and be there for the finish, and we narrowly missed out on another stage win in the sprint. It was a good job from the guys and we can be happy we could defend the yellow jersey on such a difficult day.”

Complete Results:

88 starters, 8 abandons, 80 classified finishers

178.1 kilometers raced at an average speed of 43.185 km/hr

1	GROVES Kaden	Mitchelton-Scott	4hr 7min 27sec
2	DAINESE Alberto	Team Sunweb	s.t.
3	RAIM Mihkel	Israel Start-Up Nation	s.t.
4	HOFLAND Moreno	EF Pro Cycling	s.t.
5	RICE Michael	ARA-Sunshine Coast	s.t.
6	FREIBERG Michael	ARA-Sunshine Coast	@ 2sec
7	MCCORMICK Hayden	Black Spoke	s.t.
8	GOLDSTEIN Omer	Israel Start-Up Nation	s.t.
9	SLATTERY Godfrey	KordaMentha-Australia	s.t.
10	JENNER Samuel	BridgeLane	s.t.
11	POWLESS Neilson	EF Pro Cycling	s.t.
12	GUARDIOLA Salvador	Kinan	s.t.
13	HINDLEY Jai	Team Sunweb	s.t.
14	SCOTT Ari	Black Spoke	s.t.
15	WHELAN James	EF Pro Cycling	s.t.
16	HOWSON Damien	Mitchelton-Scott	s.t.
17	TOOVEY Ayden	BridgeLane	s.t.
18	HEANEY Alex	St George Continental	s.t.
19	EWART Jesse	Team Sapura Cycling	s.t.
20	LEBAS Thomas	Kinan	s.t.
21	CAVANAGH Ryan	St George Continental	s.t.
22	SCHUNK Conor	Aevolo	s.t.
23	SCULLY Tom	EF Pro Cycling	s.t.
24	STORER Michael	Team Sunweb	s.t.
25	REARDON Connor	St George Continental	s.t.
26	CARMAN Ben	Nero Continental	s.t.
27	DAVIDS Brendon	Oliver's Real Food	s.t.
28	GARCIA Marcos	Kinan	s.t.
29	BERWICK Sebastian	St George Continental	s.t.
30	PORTER Rudy	KordaMentha-Australia	s.t.
31	CHRETIEN Charles-Etienne	Aevolo	s.t.
32	HILL Samuel	BridgeLane	s.t.
33	ORAM James	Black Spoke	s.t.
34	VINE Jay	Nero Continental	s.t.
35	CATAFORD Alexander	Israel Start-Up Nation	s.t.
36	METCALFE Ben	BridgeLane	0:08
37	MORTON Lachlan	EF Pro Cycling	s.t.
38	BOIVIN Guillaume	Israel Start-Up Nation	s.t.
39	RUTSCH Jonas	EF Pro Cycling	s.t.
40	WHITE Calan	KordaMentha-Australia	s.t.
41	CULEY Marcus	Team Sapura Cycling	0:15
42	SMITH Dion	Mitchelton-Scott	0:20
43	MEYER Cameron	Mitchelton-Scott	0:27
44	O'BRIEN Mark	KordaMentha-Australia	s.t.
45	POTTER Michael	ARA-Sunshine Coast	0:34
46	DOCKER Mitchell	EF Pro Cycling	0:37
47	PICCOLI James	Israel Start-Up Nation	0:44
48	PERRY Ben	Israel Start-Up Nation	s.t.
49	YATES Simon	Mitchelton-Scott	0:46
50	MCKENNA Dylan	Nero Continental	1:02
51	YATES Joel	St George Continental	2:08
52	MCGILL Scott	Aevolo	s.t.
53	PRESLEY Sebastian	Oliver's Real Food	s.t.
54	THOMAS Ryan	ARA-Sunshine Coast	s.t.
55	KANTER Max	Team Sunweb	s.t.
56	MUDGWAY Luke	Black Spoke	s.t.
57	WHITE Liam	Oliver's Real Food	4:26
58	NAKAJIMA Yasuharu	Kinan	s.t.
59	COYLE Jesse	Nero Continental	s.t.
60	YAMAMOTO Genki	Kinan	s.t.
61	LYONS Angus	Oliver's Real Food	s.t.
62	DOWSETT Alex	Israel Start-Up Nation	s.t.
63	KRAGH ANDERSEN Asbjørn	Team Sunweb	s.t.
64	TURNBULL Carter	KordaMentha-Australia	s.t.
65	FLEMING Riley	Oliver's Real Food	s.t.
66	STORK Florian	Team Sunweb	s.t.
67	MILLER Christopher	Nero Continental	s.t.
68	BOLTON Thomas	Oliver's Real Food	s.t.
69	TSUBAKI Hiroshi	Kinan	s.t.
70	MURTAGH Conor	Oliver's Real Food	s.t.
71	BARRETT Sebastian	ARA-Sunshine Coast	8:27
72	WILLIAMS David	KordaMentha-Australia	s.t.
73	MACKAY Ashley	ARA-Sunshine Coast	s.t.
74	STITES Tyler	Aevolo	s.t.
75	BATT Ethan	Black Spoke	s.t.
76	POWER Robert	Team Sunweb	s.t.
77	KENCH Josh	Black Spoke	s.t.
78	HILL Benjamin	BridgeLane	s.t.
79	SCHULTZ Nick	Mitchelton-Scott	12:05
80	BEWLEY Sam	Mitchelton-Scott	s.t.

GC after stage 3:

416.4 kilometers raced so far at an average speed of 42.310 km/hr

1	HINDLEY Jai	Team Sunweb	9hr 50min 30sec
2	HOWSON Damien	Mitchelton-Scott	@ 4sec
3	BERWICK Sebastian	St George Continental	0:06
4	POWLESS Neilson	EF Pro Cycling	0:23
5	STORER Michael	Team Sunweb	0:47
6	EWART Jesse	Team Sapura Cycling	0:59
7	WHELAN James	EF Pro Cycling	1:08
8	VINE Jay	Nero Continental	1:11
9	LEBAS Thomas	Kinan	1:15
10	PORTER Rudy	KordaMentha-Australia	1:39
11	ORAM James	Black Spoke	1:52
12	CHRETIEN Charles-Etienne	Aevolo	2:20
13	CATAFORD Alexander	Israel Start-Up Nation	2:21
14	GARCIA Marcos	Kinan	s.t.
15	RUTSCH Jonas	EF Pro Cycling	2:32
16	MORTON Lachlan	EF Pro Cycling	2:54
17	MCCORMICK Hayden	Black Spoke	3:00
18	GOLDSTEIN Omer	Israel Start-Up Nation	s.t.
19	JENNER Samuel	BridgeLane	3:57
20	SCOTT Ari	Black Spoke	4:49
21	SCHUNK Conor	Aevolo	6:07
22	DAVIDS Brendon	Oliver's Real Food	6:10
23	HILL Samuel	BridgeLane	s.t.
24	DOCKER Mitchell	EF Pro Cycling	6:12
25	STORK Florian	Team Sunweb	6:29
26	YATES Simon	Mitchelton-Scott	6:52
27	TURNBULL Carter	KordaMentha-Australia	7:20
28	GUARDIOLA Salvador	Kinan	9:07
29	O'BRIEN Mark	KordaMentha-Australia	9:16
30	POWER Robert	Team Sunweb	9:44
31	PRESLEY Sebastian	Oliver's Real Food	11:13
32	SCULLY Tom	EF Pro Cycling	11:19
33	FREIBERG Michael	ARA-Sunshine Coast	s.t.
34	BOIVIN Guillaume	Israel Start-Up Nation	11:24
35	CULEY Marcus	Team Sapura Cycling	11:32
36	SMITH Dion	Mitchelton-Scott	11:37
37	CARMAN Ben	Nero Continental	11:55
38	PERRY Ben	Israel Start-Up Nation	12:19
39	WHITE Calan	KordaMentha-Australia	12:52
40	TOOVEY Ayden	BridgeLane	14:55
41	MEYER Cameron	Mitchelton-Scott	15:20
42	LYONS Angus	Oliver's Real Food	15:41
43	HOFLAND Moreno	EF Pro Cycling	16:18
44	RAIM Mihkel	Israel Start-Up Nation	s.t.
45	RICE Michael	ARA-Sunshine Coast	16:22
46	REARDON Connor	St George Continental	16:24
47	STITES Tyler	Aevolo	16:50
48	POTTER Michael	ARA-Sunshine Coast	16:56
49	PICCOLI James	Israel Start-Up Nation	17:06
50	THOMAS Ryan	ARA-Sunshine Coast	17:17
51	MCKENNA Dylan	Nero Continental	17:24
52	SCHULTZ Nick	Mitchelton-Scott	17:40
53	DAINESE Alberto	Team Sunweb	19:19
54	GROVES Kaden	Mitchelton-Scott	s.t.
55	DOWSETT Alex	Israel Start-Up Nation	s.t.
56	SLATTERY Godfrey	KordaMentha-Australia	19:37
57	HEANEY Alex	St George Continental	s.t.
58	METCALFE Ben	BridgeLane	19:43
59	CAVANAGH Ryan	St George Continental	19:55
60	MILLER Christopher	Nero Continental	20:48
61	KANTER Max	Team Sunweb	21:43
62	YATES Joel	St George Continental	s.t.
63	BOLTON Thomas	Oliver's Real Food	24:01
64	TSUBAKI Hiroshi	Kinan	s.t.
65	FLEMING Riley	Oliver's Real Food	s.t.
66	MCGILL Scott	Aevolo	24:46
67	MACKAY Ashley	ARA-Sunshine Coast	24:49
68	BARRETT Sebastian	ARA-Sunshine Coast	s.t.
69	NAKAJIMA Yasuharu	Kinan	25:42
70	YAMAMOTO Genki	Kinan	25:49
71	KENCH Josh	Black Spoke	26:16
72	KRAGH ANDERSEN Asbjørn	Team Sunweb	26:50
73	MUDGWAY Luke	Black Spoke	27:51
74	WILLIAMS David	KordaMentha-Australia	28:02
75	WHITE Liam	Oliver's Real Food	28:27
76	BATT Ethan	Black Spoke	29:41
77	COYLE Jesse	Nero Continental	31:25
78	HILL Benjamin	BridgeLane	34:05
79	MURTAGH Conor	Oliver's Real Food	35:10
80	BEWLEY Sam	Mitchelton-Scott	38:09

---

Thursday, February 6: Stage 2, Beechworth - Falls Creek, 117.6 km

Jai Hindley wins the stage and takes over the GC lead.

The race: Here's the report from winner Jai Hindley's Team Sunweb.

The second day of racing at the Jayco Herald Sun Tour saw the peloton faced with the first summit finish of the race; the almost 30 kilometre long climb of Falls Creek.

Rolling out from the start town of Beechworth, Alberto Dainese looked resplendent in the race leader’s jersey after his and the team’s success on the opening stage. It didn’t take long for the break of the day to form with a strong group of seven riders escaping the peloton. Quickly building up their advantage, the gap grew to over three minutes before the team came to the front and started to chase along with some of the other GC contenders’ teams.

On the lower slopes of Falls Creek the remnants of the breakaway were caught and the pace continued to ramp up as the kilometres ticked by. The team were well represented with Jai Hindley, Michael Storer, Florian Stork and Robert Power all in the reduced peloton as the stage entered the final ten kilometres.

With the peloton on the limit, Stork came to the front of the bunch and increased the pace and reduced the bunch even further. After a strong effort, Stork swung off and Storer took over and continued to put the hurt on. As the head of the race passed three kilometres to go, it was just Hindley and Power left in a group of five before the attacks began to fly.

In an incredibly tactical battle, no-one was able to escape on the run-in to the line and the day was decided in a three-up sprint. Hindley was able to come off the wheels as he delivered a good kick, surging home across the finish line, claiming his first win for the team.

As a result, Hindley moves into the lead of the race ahead of tomorrow’s stage. The great team performance was rounded off with Storer finishing in fifth and Power holding on for tenth place; both occupying the same positions on GC.

“The guys did a super job on the climb today, they set it up perfectly,” beamed Hindley after the stage. “It was pretty touch and go at the finish, hats off to Damian and Seb, they were super strong and I just couldn’t shake them. I saw the 300 metres to go sign and I probably went a bit early but I then backed off. Seb then went and I could follow and come round him at the line. I’m just stoked to finish off all the hard work the guys did today. I trained really hard for the Aussie summer and I was a bit disappointed with my own personal results at the Tour Down Under, so I was really motivated to get some good results here.”

Team Sunweb coach Luke Roberts continued: “We had to take control of the race today with Alberto being in the yellow jersey. With the big 30 kilometre climb to the line it was going to be impossible for Alberto to keep the jersey but we wanted to do our best to keep it in the team, so we set the climb up for Jai and Rob. The guys came really well into the final climb and we were able to put some pressure on with Florian and Michael. We saw some of the other teams started to show some weaknesses after that. Jai was feeling really good and he went on the attack in the final. He went to the line with a few other guys but he had the best legs and could take the sprint. Two wins in two days for us; we couldn’t have started the Jayco Herald Sun Tour any better.”

Complete Results:

94 starters, 2 abandons, 3 out of time, 89 classified finishers

117.6 kilometers raced at an average speed of 37.8 km/hr

1	HINDLEY Jai	Team Sunweb	3hr 6min 29sec
2	HOWSON Damien	Mitchelton-Scott	s.t.
3	BERWICK Sebastian	St George Continental	s.t.
4	POWLESS Neilson	EF Pro Cycling	@ 13sec
5	STORER Michael	Team Sunweb	0:37
6	EWART Jesse	Sapura Cycling	0:49
7	WHELAN James	EF Pro Cycling	1:01
8	VINE Jay	Nero Continental	s.t.
9	LEBAS Thomas	Kinan	1:05
10	POWER Robert	Team Sunweb	1:09
11	PORTER Rudy	KordaMentha-Australia	1:29
12	ORAM James	Black Spoke	1:44
13	STORK Florian	Team Sunweb	1:55
14	CATAFORD Alexander	Israel Start-Up Nation	2:11
15	GARCIA Marcos	Kinan	s.t.
16	RUTSCH Jonas	EF Pro Cycling	2:16
17	CHRETIEN Charles-Etienne	Aevolo	s.t.
18	MORTON Lachlan	EF Pro Cycling	2:38
19	TURNBULL Carter	KordaMentha-Australia	2:46
20	MCCORMICK Hayden	Black Spoke	2:50
21	GOLDSTEIN Omer	Israel Start-Up Nation	s.t.
22	JENNER Samuel	BridgeLane	3:47
23	SCOTT Ari	Black Spoke	4:39
24	SCHULTZ Nick	Mitchelton-Scott	5:27
25	DOCKER Mitchell	EF Pro Cycling	s.t.
26	SCHUNK Conor	Aevolo	5:57
27	YATES Simon	Mitchelton-Scott	5:58
28	DAVIDS Brendon	Oliver's Real Food	6:00
29	HILL Samuel	BridgeLane	s.t.
30	STITES Tyler	Aevolo	8:15
31	O'BRIEN Mark	KordaMentha-Australia	8:41
32	GUARDIOLA Salvador	Kinan	8:57
33	PRESLEY Sebastian	Oliver's Real Food	s.t.
34	SMITH Dion	Mitchelton-Scott	11:09
35	SCULLY Tom	EF Pro Cycling	s.t.
36	BOIVIN Guillaume	Israel Start-Up Nation	s.t.
37	PERRY Ben	Israel Start-Up Nation	s.t.
38	FREIBERG Michael	ARA-Sunshine Coast	s.t.
39	LYONS Angus	Oliver's Real Food	s.t.
40	CULEY Marcus	Sapura Cycling	s.t.
41	CARMAN Ben	Nero Continental	11:45
42	WHITE Calan	KordaMentha-Australia	12:36
43	MEYER Cameron	Mitchelton-Scott	14:45
44	DOWSETT Alex	Israel Start-Up Nation	s.t.
45	THOMAS Ryan	ARA-Sunshine Coast	s.t.
46	TOOVEY Ayden	BridgeLane	s.t.
47	MILLER Christopher	Nero Continental	16:14
48	MCKENNA Dylan	Nero Continental	s.t.
49	BARRETT Sebastian	ARA-Sunshine Coast	s.t.
50	REARDON Connor	St George Continental	s.t.
51	MACKAY Ashley	ARA-Sunshine Coast	s.t.
52	HOFLAND Moreno	EF Pro Cycling	s.t.
53	RICE Michael	ARA-Sunshine Coast	s.t.
54	RAIM Mihkel	Israel Start-Up Nation	s.t.
55	POTTER Michael	ARA-Sunshine Coast	s.t.
56	PICCOLI James	Israel Start-Up Nation	s.t.
57	KENCH Josh	Black Spoke	17:41
58	DAINESE Alberto	Team Sunweb	19:27
59	NIQUET-OLDEN Bentley	Nero Continental	s.t.
60	KANTER Max	Team Sunweb	s.t.
61	FLEMING Riley	Oliver's Real Food	s.t.
62	HEANEY Alex	St George Continental	s.t.
63	BOLTON Thomas	Oliver's Real Food	s.t.
64	SLATTERY Godfrey	KordaMentha-Australia	s.t.
65	METCALFE Ben	BridgeLane	s.t.
66	YATES Joel	St George Continental	s.t.
67	GROVES Kaden	Mitchelton-Scott	s.t.
68	CAVANAGH Ryan	St George Continental	s.t.
69	WILLIAMS David	KordaMentha-Australia	s.t.
70	TSUBAKI Hiroshi	Kinan	s.t.
71	BATT Ethan	Black Spoke	21:06
72	NAKAJIMA Yasuharu	Kinan	21:08
73	YAMAMOTO Genki	Kinan	21:15
74	KRAGH ANDERSEN Asbjørn	Team Sunweb	22:16
75	BICKMORE Cade	Aevolo	22:30
76	MCGILL Scott	Aevolo	s.t.
77	LEAHY Conor	KordaMentha-Australia	23:53
78	WHITE Liam	Oliver's Real Food	s.t.
79	ARASHIRO Yudai	Kinan	24:34
80	BEWLEY Sam	Mitchelton-Scott	25:38
81	HILL Benjamin	BridgeLane	s.t.
82	STEWART Myles	Nero Continental	s.t.
83	DI DOMENICO Daniel	ARA-Sunshine Coast	s.t.
84	COYLE Jesse	Nero Continental	s.t.
85	MUDGWAY Luke	Black Spoke	s.t.
86	WIGGINS Craig	St George Continental	25:52
87	WHITE Alexander	Black Spoke	26:12
88	MCELROY Sean	Aevolo	27:18
89	MURTAGH Conor	Oliver's Real Food	s.t.

GC after stage 2:

238.3 kilometers raced so far at an average speed of 41.683 km/hr

1	HINDLEY Jai	Team Sunweb	5hr 43min 1sec
2	HOWSON Damien	Mitchelton-Scott	@ 4sec
3	BERWICK Sebastian	St George Continental	0:06
4	POWLESS Neilson	EF Pro Cycling	0:23
5	STORER Michael	Team Sunweb	0:47
6	EWART Jesse	Sapura Cycling	0:59
7	WHELAN James	EF Pro Cycling	1:11
8	VINE Jay	Nero Continental	s.t.
9	LEBAS Thomas	Kinan	1:15
10	POWER Robert	Team Sunweb	1:19
11	PORTER Rudy	KordaMentha-Australia	1:39
12	ORAM James	Black Spoke	1:54
13	STORK Florian	Team Sunweb	2:05
14	CATAFORD Alexander	Israel Start-Up Nation	2:21
15	GARCIA Marcos	Kinan	s.t.
16	CHRETIEN Charles-Etienne	Aevolo	2:25
17	RUTSCH Jonas	EF Pro Cycling	2:26
18	MORTON Lachlan	EF Pro Cycling	2:48
19	TURNBULL Carter	KordaMentha-Australia	2:56
20	MCCORMICK Hayden	Black Spoke	3:00
21	GOLDSTEIN Omer	Israel Start-Up Nation	s.t.
22	JENNER Samuel	BridgeLane	3:57
23	SCOTT Ari	Black Spoke	4:49
24	SCHULTZ Nick	Mitchelton-Scott	5:37
25	DOCKER Mitchell	EF Pro Cycling	s.t.
26	SCHUNK Conor	Aevolo	6:07
27	YATES Simon	Mitchelton-Scott	6:08
28	DAVIDS Brendon	Oliver's Real Food	6:10
29	HILL Samuel	BridgeLane	s.t.
30	STITES Tyler	Aevolo	8:25
31	O'BRIEN Mark	KordaMentha-Australia	8:51
32	GUARDIOLA Salvador	Kinan	9:07
33	PRESLEY Sebastian	Oliver's Real Food	s.t.
34	LYONS Angus	Oliver's Real Food	11:17
35	SCULLY Tom	EF Pro Cycling	11:19
36	SMITH Dion	Mitchelton-Scott	s.t.
37	BOIVIN Guillaume	Israel Start-Up Nation	s.t.
38	CULEY Marcus	Sapura Cycling	s.t.
39	FREIBERG Michael	ARA-Sunshine Coast	s.t.
40	PERRY Ben	Israel Start-Up Nation	11:37
41	CARMAN Ben	Nero Continental	11:55
42	WHITE Calan	KordaMentha-Australia	12:46
43	TOOVEY Ayden	BridgeLane	14:55
44	MEYER Cameron	Mitchelton-Scott	s.t.
45	DOWSETT Alex	Israel Start-Up Nation	s.t.
46	THOMAS Ryan	ARA-Sunshine Coast	15:11
47	HOFLAND Moreno	EF Pro Cycling	16:20
48	RAIM Mihkel	Israel Start-Up Nation	16:24
49	RICE Michael	ARA-Sunshine Coast	s.t.
50	REARDON Connor	St George Continental	s.t.
51	MCKENNA Dylan	Nero Continental	s.t.
52	MACKAY Ashley	ARA-Sunshine Coast	s.t.
53	PICCOLI James	Israel Start-Up Nation	s.t.
54	MILLER Christopher	Nero Continental	s.t.
55	POTTER Michael	ARA-Sunshine Coast	s.t.
56	BARRETT Sebastian	ARA-Sunshine Coast	s.t.
57	KENCH Josh	Black Spoke	17:51
58	DAINESE Alberto	Team Sunweb	19:27
59	GROVES Kaden	Mitchelton-Scott	19:31
60	SLATTERY Godfrey	KordaMentha-Australia	19:37
61	BOLTON Thomas	Oliver's Real Food	s.t.
62	KANTER Max	Team Sunweb	s.t.
63	NIQUET-OLDEN Bentley	Nero Continental	s.t.
64	METCALFE Ben	BridgeLane	s.t.
65	HEANEY Alex	St George Continental	s.t.
66	TSUBAKI Hiroshi	Kinan	s.t.
67	FLEMING Riley	Oliver's Real Food	s.t.
68	YATES Joel	St George Continental	s.t.
69	WILLIAMS David	KordaMentha-Australia	s.t.
70	CAVANAGH Ryan	St George Continental	19:55
71	BATT Ethan	Black Spoke	21:16
72	NAKAJIMA Yasuharu	Kinan	21:18
73	YAMAMOTO Genki	Kinan	21:25
74	KRAGH ANDERSEN Asbjørn	Team Sunweb	22:26
75	BICKMORE Cade	Aevolo	22:37
76	MCGILL Scott	Aevolo	22:40
77	LEAHY Conor	KordaMentha-Australia	24:03
78	WHITE Liam	Oliver's Real Food	s.t.
79	ARASHIRO Yudai	Kinan	24:44
80	HILL Benjamin	BridgeLane	25:41
81	MUDGWAY Luke	Black Spoke	25:45
82	STEWART Myles	Nero Continental	25:48
83	DI DOMENICO Daniel	ARA-Sunshine Coast	s.t.
84	WIGGINS Craig	St George Continental	26:01
85	BEWLEY Sam	Mitchelton-Scott	26:06
86	WHITE Alexander	Black Spoke	26:22
87	COYLE Jesse	Nero Continental	27:01
88	MCELROY Sean	Aevolo	27:28
89	MURTAGH Conor	Oliver's Real Food	30:46

---

Wednesday, February 5: Stage 1, Nagambie - Shepparton, 120.7 km

Alberto Dainese snags the first stage.

The race: Here's the report from winner Alberto Dainese's Team Sunweb.

The Jayco Herald Sun Tour got underway today with an almost pancake-flat 121 kilometre long stage from Nagambie to Shepparton. A fierce pace was set at the head of the peloton after the flag dropped as teams looked to form the day’s breakaway, before a group of five riders escaped after 20 kilometres of action.

The race then settled into a rhythm with the gap to the breakaway plateauing at three minutes and 30 seconds once the peloton began to chase. Michael Storer contributed to the effort at the head of the bunch alongside the other WorldTour teams and the gap slowly started to dwindle throughout the afternoon.

After a valiant effort the breakaway was eventually caught inside the last ten kilometres and the team worked well to move Alberto Dainese towards the front of the group ahead of the sprint finish. It was a hectic run in with a big fight for position within the bunch, as riders surged to the front of the peloton.

Coming into the final corner Dainese was in the wheel of Max Kanter. Moving out and producing a powerful sprint, he charged his way to the line to claim his first victory for the team and the Men’s program’s first win of the year. As a result, Dainese moves into the lead of both the GC and young rider’s jerseys, as well as the lead of the points jersey ahead of tomorrow’s second stage.

“The guys did a perfect job today,” praised Dainese after the finish. “We controlled the breakaway all day long and Storer did a great job on the front of the bunch. The rest of the guys did a good job in the last five kilometres and we almost did the perfect lead out. I went into the last corner in around fifth or sixth wheel behind Max. I waited a little bit in the sprint because it was a bit messy and into a headwind but in the end it I managed to take the win.”

Complete results:

120.7 kilometers raced at an average speed of 46.2 km/hr

1	DAINESE Alberto	Team Sunweb	2hr 36min 42sec
2	GROVES Kaden	Mitchelton-Scott	s.t.
3	HOFLAND Moreno	EF Pro Cycling	s.t.
4	RAIM Mihkel	Israel Start-Up Nation	s.t.
5	SLATTERY Godfrey	KordaMentha-Australia	s.t.
6	RICE Michael	ARA-Sunshine Coast	s.t.
7	EEFTING Roy	Sapura Cycling	s.t.
8	NAKAJIMA Yasuharu	Kinan	s.t.
9	SCULLY Tom	EF Pro Cycling	s.t.
10	BOLTON Thomas	Oliver's Real Food	s.t.
11	MUDGWAY Luke	Black Spoke	s.t.
12	MCGILL Scott	Aevolo	s.t.
13	STITES Tyler	Aevolo	s.t.
14	WHELAN James	EF Pro Cycling	s.t.
15	POWLESS Neilson	EF Pro Cycling	s.t.
16	CARMAN Ben	Nero Continental	s.t.
17	MCCORMICK Hayden	Black Spoke	s.t.
18	WIGGINS Craig	St George Continental	s.t.
19	STEWART Myles	Nero Continental	s.t.
20	JENNER Samuel	BridgeLane	s.t.
21	TOOVEY Ayden	BridgeLane	s.t.
22	DUYVESTEYN Kees	BridgeLane	s.t.
23	BICKMORE Cade	Aevolo	s.t.
24	KANTER Max	Team Sunweb	s.t.
25	YATES Simon	Mitchelton-Scott	s.t.
26	SMITH Dion	Mitchelton-Scott	s.t.
27	GUARDIOLA Salvador	Kinan	s.t.
28	POWER Robert	Team Sunweb	s.t.
29	BOIVIN Guillaume	Israel Start-Up Nation	s.t.
30	HINDLEY Jai	Team Sunweb	s.t.
31	GOLDSTEIN Omer	Israel Start-Up Nation	s.t.
32	TURNBULL Carter	KordaMentha-Australia	s.t.
33	LEAHY Conor	KordaMentha-Australia	s.t.
34	VINE Jay	Nero Continental	s.t.
35	HOWSON Damien	Mitchelton-Scott	s.t.
36	EWART Jesse	Sapura Cycling	s.t.
37	NIQUET-OLDEN Bentley	Nero Continental	s.t.
38	MCELROY Sean	Aevolo	s.t.
39	HILL Benjamin	BridgeLane	s.t.
40	CATAFORD Alexander	Israel Start-Up Nation	s.t.
41	SCOTT Ari	Black Spoke	s.t.
42	BATT Ethan	Black Spoke	s.t.
43	ORAM James	Black Spoke	s.t.
44	ARASHIRO Yudai	Kinan	s.t.
45	MEYER Cameron	Mitchelton-Scott	s.t.
46	SCHUNK Conor	Aevolo	s.t.
47	CHRETIEN Charles-Etienne	Aevolo	s.t.
48	WHITE Calan	KordaMentha-Australia	s.t.
49	PORTER Rudy	KordaMentha-Australia	s.t.
50	METCALFE Ben	BridgeLane	s.t.
51	SCHULTZ Nick	Mitchelton-Scott	s.t.
52	WHITE Alexander	Black Spoke	s.t.
53	KENCH Josh	Black Spoke	s.t.
54	LEBAS Thomas	Kinan	s.t.
55	REARDON Connor	St George Continental	s.t.
56	TSUBAKI Hiroshi	Kinan	s.t.
57	HEANEY Alex	St George Continental	s.t.
58	WHITE Liam	Oliver's Real Food	s.t.
59	BERWICK Sebastian	St George Continental	s.t.
60	MORTON Lachlan	EF Pro Cycling	s.t.
61	PRESLEY Sebastian	Oliver's Real Food	s.t.
62	GARCIA Marcos	Kinan	s.t.
63	STORER Michael	Team Sunweb	s.t.
64	MCNEIL Aidan	Aevolo	s.t.
65	PICCOLI James	Israel Start-Up Nation	s.t.
66	DAVIDS Brendon	Oliver's Real Food	s.t.
67	YAMAMOTO Genki	Kinan	s.t.
68	RUTSCH Jonas	EF Pro Cycling	s.t.
69	POTTER Michael	ARA-Sunshine Coast	s.t.
70	MACKAY Ashley	ARA-Sunshine Coast	s.t.
71	CULEY Marcus	Sapura Cycling	s.t.
72	MCKENNA Dylan	Nero Continental	s.t.
73	DOCKER Mitchell	EF Pro Cycling	s.t.
74	GANDY Daniel	St George Continental	s.t.
75	STORK Florian	Team Sunweb	s.t.
76	MILLER Christopher	Nero Continental	s.t.
77	HILL Samuel	BridgeLane	s.t.
78	O'BRIEN Mark	KordaMentha-Australia	s.t.
79	YATES Joel	St George Continental	s.t.
80	WILLIAMS David	KordaMentha-Australia	s.t.
81	BARRETT Sebastian	ARA-Sunshine Coast	s.t.
82	AJIS Muhammad	Sapura Cycling	s.t.
83	FREIBERG Michael	ARA-Sunshine Coast	s.t.
84	FLEMING Riley	Oliver's Real Food	s.t.
85	DI DOMENICO Daniel	ARA-Sunshine Coast	s.t.
86	LYONS Angus	Oliver's Real Food	s.t.
87	DOWSETT Alex	Israel Start-Up Nation	s.t.
88	KRAGH ANDERSEN Asbjørn	Team Sunweb	s.t.
89	BEWLEY Sam	Mitchelton-Scott	0:18
90	PERRY Ben	Israel Start-Up Nation	s.t.
91	THOMAS Ryan	ARA-Sunshine Coast	s.t.
92	CAVANAGH Ryan	St George Continental	s.t.
93	COYLE Jesse	Nero Continental	1:13
94	MURTAGH Conor	Oliver's Real Food	3:18
95	WHITE Nicholas	BridgeLane	s.t.

GC after stage 1:

1	DAINESE Alberto	Team Sunweb	2hr 36min 32sec
2	GROVES Kaden	Mitchelton-Scott	@ 4sec
3	HOFLAND Moreno	EF Pro Cycling	0:06
4	EEFTING Roy	Sapura Cycling	0:07
5	HILL Benjamin	BridgeLane	s.t.
6	WIGGINS Craig	St George Continental	0:09
7	CHRETIEN Charles-Etienne	Aevolo	s.t.
8	RAIM Mihkel	Israel Start-Up Nation	0:10
9	SLATTERY Godfrey	KordaMentha-Australia	s.t.
10	RICE Michael	ARA-Sunshine Coast	s.t.
11	NAKAJIMA Yasuharu	Kinan	s.t.
12	SCULLY Tom	EF Pro Cycling	s.t.
13	BOLTON Thomas	Oliver's Real Food	s.t.
14	MUDGWAY Luke	Black Spoke	s.t.
15	MCGILL Scott	Aevolo	s.t.
16	STITES Tyler	Aevolo	s.t.
17	WHELAN James	EF Pro Cycling	s.t.
18	POWLESS Neilson	EF Pro Cycling	s.t.
19	CARMAN Ben	Nero Continental	s.t.
20	MCCORMICK Hayden	Black Spoke	s.t.
21	STEWART Myles	Nero Continental	s.t.
22	JENNER Samuel	BridgeLane	s.t.
23	TOOVEY Ayden	BridgeLane	s.t.
24	DUYVESTEYN Kees	BridgeLane	s.t.
25	BICKMORE Cade	Aevolo	s.t.
26	KANTER Max	Team Sunweb	s.t.
27	YATES Simon	Mitchelton-Scott	s.t.
28	SMITH Dion	Mitchelton-Scott	s.t.
29	GUARDIOLA Salvador	Kinan	s.t.
30	POWER Robert	Team Sunweb	s.t.
31	BOIVIN Guillaume	Israel Start-Up Nation	s.t.
32	HINDLEY Jai	Team Sunweb	s.t.
33	GOLDSTEIN Omer	Israel Start-Up Nation	s.t.
34	TURNBULL Carter	KordaMentha-Australia	s.t.
35	LEAHY Conor	KordaMentha-Australia	s.t.
36	VINE Jay	Nero Continental	s.t.
37	HOWSON Damien	Mitchelton-Scott	s.t.
38	EWART Jesse	Sapura Cycling	s.t.
39	NIQUET-OLDEN Bentley	Nero Continental	s.t.
40	MCELROY Sean	Aevolo	s.t.
41	CATAFORD Alexander	Israel Start-Up Nation	s.t.
42	SCOTT Ari	Black Spoke	s.t.
43	BATT Ethan	Black Spoke	s.t.
44	ORAM James	Black Spoke	s.t.
45	ARASHIRO Yudai	Kinan	s.t.
46	MEYER Cameron	Mitchelton-Scott	s.t.
47	SCHUNK Conor	Aevolo	s.t.
48	WHITE Calan	KordaMentha-Australia	s.t.
49	PORTER Rudy	KordaMentha-Australia	s.t.
50	METCALFE Ben	BridgeLane	s.t.
51	SCHULTZ Nick	Mitchelton-Scott	s.t.
52	WHITE Alexander	Black Spoke	s.t.
53	KENCH Josh	Black Spoke	s.t.
54	LEBAS Thomas	Kinan	s.t.
55	REARDON Connor	St George Continental	s.t.
56	TSUBAKI Hiroshi	Kinan	s.t.
57	HEANEY Alex	St George Continental	s.t.
58	WHITE Liam	Oliver's Real Food	s.t.
59	BERWICK Sebastian	St George Continental	s.t.
60	MORTON Lachlan	EF Pro Cycling	s.t.
61	PRESLEY Sebastian	Oliver's Real Food	s.t.
62	GARCIA Marcos	Kinan	s.t.
63	STORER Michael	Team Sunweb	s.t.
64	MCNEIL Aidan	Aevolo	s.t.
65	PICCOLI James	Israel Start-Up Nation	s.t.
66	DAVIDS Brendon	Oliver's Real Food	s.t.
67	YAMAMOTO Genki	Kinan	s.t.
68	RUTSCH Jonas	EF Pro Cycling	s.t.
69	POTTER Michael	ARA-Sunshine Coast	s.t.
70	MACKAY Ashley	ARA-Sunshine Coast	s.t.
71	CULEY Marcus	Sapura Cycling	s.t.
72	MCKENNA Dylan	Nero Continental	s.t.
73	DOCKER Mitchell	EF Pro Cycling	s.t.
74	GANDY Daniel	St George Continental	s.t.
75	STORK Florian	Team Sunweb	s.t.
76	MILLER Christopher	Nero Continental	s.t.
77	HILL Samuel	BridgeLane	s.t.
78	O'BRIEN Mark	KordaMentha-Australia	s.t.
79	YATES Joel	St George Continental	s.t.
80	WILLIAMS David	KordaMentha-Australia	s.t.
81	BARRETT Sebastian	ARA-Sunshine Coast	s.t.
82	AJIS Muhammad	Sapura Cycling	s.t.
83	FREIBERG Michael	ARA-Sunshine Coast	s.t.
84	FLEMING Riley	Oliver's Real Food	s.t.
85	DI DOMENICO Daniel	ARA-Sunshine Coast	s.t.
86	LYONS Angus	Oliver's Real Food	s.t.
87	DOWSETT Alex	Israel Start-Up Nation	s.t.
88	KRAGH ANDERSEN Asbjørn	Team Sunweb	s.t.
89	THOMAS Ryan	ARA-Sunshine Coast	0:26
90	BEWLEY Sam	Mitchelton-Scott	0:28
91	PERRY Ben	Israel Start-Up Nation	s.t.
92	CAVANAGH Ryan	St George Continental	s.t.
93	COYLE Jesse	Nero Continental	1:23
94	WHITE Nicholas	BridgeLane	3:26
95	MURTAGH Conor	Oliver's Real Food	3:28