The 118km 2nd road stage of the Herald Sun Tour saw a bunch sprint decide the victor with Caleb Ewan (Orica-Greenedge) being first across the line. Steele van Hoff (Australia) and Samuel Witmitz (Budget Forklifts) would claim 2nd and 3rd respectively. Cameron Meyer (Orica-Greenedge) held on to the yellow jersey.
Team MTN-Qhubeka p/b Samsung had another good day out as Tyler Farrar featured prominently in the 3 man break of the day. Farrar was joined by Will Clarke (Drapac) and Michael Cumming (JLT Condor) after 40km of racing. The bunch was a bit nervous to give the trio too much of a gap even though they were all 20 minutes down on GC and held them around the 3 minute mark before starting the chase. Tyler would pick up the points on offer at both the KOM and Sprint primes along the route.
With 10km to go, it was only Tyler and Clarke remaining in the front but the peloton had the escapees in their sights. A big bunch sprint followed with all 6 MTN-Qhubeka p/b Samsung riders arriving at finish safely despite a small crash in the final 10 meters of the race. Tyler picked up the most aggressive rider prize for his exploits in the break.
Michel Cornelisse – Sport Director
“In the first hour of racing there were a lot of attacks and we were in every move. Then Tyler went with Clarke, the winner of the prologue and one other rider. Greenedge let them go and they got up to 3 minutes. It was pretty normal heading to the finish and looking good for our team but then United Healthcare started chasing, I don’t know why. Tyler was brought back with 6km to go and then for the sprint Gossy was alone and out of position in the last corner.”
Tyler Farrar – Rider
“After a crazy day yesterday and so many riders down on GC we thought there was a chance the break could stay away. So the plan was for all 5 of us who were out of the GC to give it a bash. I was the one that ended up in the move and at one point thought we could really make it. In the end it was something different for me and ended up being a good day’s training for the classics.”
Nic Dougall – Rider
“The team rode really well today, we were in everything at the start because we wanted someone in the move, eventually Tyler went away. It looked like they were going to make it but a couple teams started chasing at the end. Matt Brammeier, Matt Goss and myself had a crack at the sprint, we were positioned well but the last corner was pretty crazy with a crash at 100m to go (another happened just before line). We will definitely give it another go tomorrow in the break or the sprint, depending on how the race turns out. We will also protect Serge as much as we can for Sunday’s hill top finale.”
