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Brit Kennaugh wins Evans cycle race

31st January, 2016
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Peter Kennaugh’s outstanding solo attack gave the British national cycling champion victory in the Cadel Evans Great Ocean Rd race.

The Sky rider held off a chase group of about 20 riders to take out the 174km race at Geelong.

Australian Leigh Howard (IAM Cycling) won the bunch sprint for second, a handful of seconds behind Kennaugh, and Italian Nicolo Bonnifazio (Trek) was third.

Pre-race favourite Simon Gerrans (Orica-GreenEDGE) finished fifth.

Kennaugh was a deserved winner after he launched his attack inside the last 15km, getting as much as 20 seconds clear and still had enough time to raise his arms in triumph at the finish.

The two top sprinters in the race, British star Mark Cavendish (Dimension Data) and Caleb Ewan (Orica-GreenEDGE), pulled out before the finish.

Orica-GreenEDGE had a painful start to the race when Mitch Docker and then Ewan were involved in separate crashes.

They managed to return to the peloton.

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A chase group of six riders built a lead of more than six minutes on the loop that took the race through landmarks such as the Great Ocean Rd and Bells Beach.

By the time they were on the first of three laps of the hilly 20km finishing circuit, Australian Pat Lane (Avanti IsoWhey) and Italian Assendro De Marchi (BMC) had the lead.

De Marchi did a superb job in support of Swiss Danilo Wyss, who briefly joined him at the front as the race situation changed rapidly.

By the start of the last lap, Australian Cam Meyer (Dimension Data), Italian Salvatore Puccio (BMC) and Spaniard Rafael Valls (Lotto Soudal) had a 16-second lead over a chase group of four, with the peloton only 30 seconds off the pace.

Valls attacked on the steep Chalambra climb and was joined by Kennaugh, who quickly took the lead by himself.

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