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Meyer wins stage to take lead at Herald Sun Tour

5th February, 2015
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Australian cycling star Cameron Meyer and his Orica-GreenEDGE teammates have stamped their authority on the Herald Sun Tour.

Meyer won stage one of the Tour on Thursday and Australia’s top cycling team will now work to defend his four-second overall lead through to the last stage on Sunday at Arthurs Seat.

Orica-GreenEDGE played their cards perfectly, putting three men into a 21-rider breakaway that went clear early and gained a whopping 21 minutes on the peloton.

Meyer and Avanti rival Joe Cooper then broke away with 10km left in the 146.2km stage from Mt Macedon to Bendigo.

While angry that the New Zealander would not contribute to their two-man escape, Meyer had enough at the finish to sprint clear for the win.

He gained the four precious seconds on Cooper as the time bonus for winning the stage.

It is a similar scenario to last year, when Meyer’s teammate Simon Clarke also won stage two and went on to win the Jayco Tour.

“A hard week now – Simon Clarke did it last year and we’d love to do it again,” said Meyer, who won the 2011 Tour Down Under.

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“It’s going to be a hard bike race (and) it’s still on the overall standings.

“I went and checked out Arthurs Seat, I know that’s a hard hill, but I’m looking forward to the challenge.”

Meyer admitted that while he was angry with Cooper during their break, the New Zealander had to sit on because he had teammates chasing them.

It was a perfect scenario for Meyer, who first made his name as a six-time world champion on the track – three of them in the points race.

“I love that sort of race – 20 guys, just like it used to be on the track with the points race,” Meyer said.

“Trying to judge when to make that move and I made the right one.

“I brought an Avanti guy, which was perfect.

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“He didn’t want to give me a turn in the last 10km, which I got a little bit angry with, but I still managed to have enough in the end to win.”

Meyer also admitted it was an overdue win for Orica-GreenEDGE, who have had a series of near misses this summer since Caleb Ewan dominated the Bay Classic series.

“I knew the pressure was on us to get results – we’ve had heaps of seconds – and the team rode fantastic today as well,” he said.

“It’s not said from the team, but we know ourselves.

“We were just looking for that elusive win and it will start the ball rolling now.”

Wednesday’s prologue time trial winner Will Clarke (Drapac) lost the race lead when he did not feature in the breakaway.

The race continues on Friday with the 117.9km stage from Bendigo to Nagambie, which is expected to be one for the sprinters.

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