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Australian cycling star Simon Clarke, not Simon Gerrans, has taken the Herald Sun Tour lead as Orica-GreenEDGE wrested control from rival team Garmin-Sharp.
Clarke won a tough 163km second stage from Ballarat to Bendigo on Friday and has an eight-second lead over compatriot Cameron Wurf (Cannondale) with two stages left.
He took the race lead from in-form Garmin-Sharp rider Nathan Haas, who was not in the key breakaway and is now a minute and nine seconds behind in fourth place.
Clarke’s teammate Gerrans, the pre-race favourite, appears out of contention in seventh place overall, another nine seconds behind Haas.
But that means nothing to Orica-GreenEDGE so long as one of their riders wins the tour title.
After Friday’s successful counterattack they will now put all their energy into protecting Clarke’s lead.
“It was a very hard day out there, we had to just try and give it to Garmin,” Clarke said.
“We really had to go out on the front foot and try and put them on the back foot and we managed to do that.”
Garmin-Sharp had taken the initiative in the tour after Jack Bauer won the prologue time trial and Haas won the first road stage.
But stage two belonged to Orica-GreenEDGE.
Clarke, Wurf and fellow Australian Jack Haig (Avanti) were in an initial break of 17 riders that formed 20km into the stage, which featured hot conditions.
Clarke’s team-mate Mitch Docker was also at the front and he worked hard to ensure the break stayed clear.
The decisive move came on the day’s main climb at Mt Alexander, 48km from the finish.
“The group through the day wasn’t working ideally, so on the climb there at Mt Alexander we had to try and buy a lottery ticket,” Clarke said.
“Fortunately Cam Wurf was there, who is just as strong as an ox, so I said to the other boys when we were near to the top to make sure we wait for him and as you saw he was of great value to the breakaway and pretty much the reason we stayed away.”
Clarke, Wurf and Haig eventually went clear on their own and finished the stage more than four minutes ahead of the second group.
Haig, who won the young rider category at last month’s Tour Down Under, is third overall at 11 seconds.
Gerrans won the sprint for fourth place and Haas was seventh on the same time.
Forecast heatwave conditions have prompted race organisers to start Saturday’s third stage an hour early.
The 156km stage from Mitchelton Winery to Nagambie will now set off at 9.30am AEDT.
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