Lasse Norman Hansen (Aqua Blue Sport) made it to the podium at the Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race today after claiming the KOM title. The Danish rider made it into the break of the day and mopped up points on the climbs during the day. The race was won by Australian Jay McCarthy (Bora Hansgrohe) who beat Elia Viviani and Daryl Impey in a select bunch sprint in the city of Geelong.
The fourth edition of the 164-kilometre UCI World Tour one day race – got underway in sweltering conditions, with the temperatures rising to 40ºc.
Despite the heat, the Dane was amongst the first to react as the flag dropped and quickly found himself at the front with a solid five minutes gap alongside four other riders – Pavel Kochetkov (Team Katusha Alpecin), Robbert de Greef (Roompot-Nederlandse Loterij) Alexander Porter and Samuel Welsford (both representing the Australia Team).
The quartet worked well with Norman Hansen as the group wound its way through Barwon Heads extending the advantage to nearly seven minutes.
At the first KOM at Bells Beach, Norman Hansen took maximum points and he proved again to be the strongest uphill on the Challambra Crescent (1km climb at 10%). He managed to take maximum points on the three first ascents sealing the King of the Mountains classification, just as teammate Conor Dunne had done in the 2017 edition.
“We attacked from the gun and got a massive gap quickly,” said Lasse Norman Hansen. “We were dictating the speed all day and took it relatively easy until we hit the circuit.”
“We were quickly down to three riders but I felt strong and sprinted for some mountain points and got them all. In the end I got the Mountains jersey and I’m super happy about that. I don’t think anyone in the break thought we could hold off the peloton, we just rode as hard as we could and I think we were all surprised with how far we made it into the race.
“All the team did a super job even if some of the guys struggled a bit in the heat. I did as well but had a big advantage before I started to suffer because I had six minutes to give.”
With 30 kilometres remaining, only Norman Hansen and Kochetkov remained at the front with the gap dwindling to under two minutes. The duo were eventually swept up by the charging peloton with 15km remaining to the finish after a long, hard day in the saddle.
A group of nine riders, led by Team LottoNL-Jumbo’s George Bennett, pushed clear on the final ascent of the Challambra shattering the peloton, but the move was eventually caught within the final metres of the finishing straight.
Jay McCarthy (Bora Hansgrohe) became the first Australian to win the Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race when he edged Italian Elia Viviani (Quick-Step Floors) and South African Daryl Impey (Michelton-SCOTT) in a select bunch sprint in Geelong.
Australian Calvin Watson was the best placed Aqua Blue Sport rider on the GC, crossing the line in 46th place, two minutes and 39 seconds off the winner.
