Arizona sprinter Travis McCabe has taken the victory on Stage 3 of the Jayco Herald Sun Tour after navigating his way through the crash-marred final kilometres to finish close to two bike lengths ahead of Mitch Docker (ORICA-Scott) and Leigh Howard (Aqua Blue Sport) with a group of just 16 riders contesting the win at Mitchelton Winery.
Overall leader Damien Howson (ORICA-Scott) was spared from having his advantage diminish after he was caught behind the crashes, with the commissaires awarding him the same time as the group he was in. Howson maintains his 38 second lead over Jai Hindley (KordaMentha Australian National Team) with Kenny Elissonde (Team Sky) a further 15 seconds back.
The UnitedHealthcare sprinter had targeted the stage and had finished in the top 10 at the Prologue on Wednesday night and his team were keen to add to the stage win they had taken in the 2016 edition of the race.
“Mitch attacked at 200 metres to go and I just knew I had the legs and so I went as soon as he did and held it to the line with a fairly decent gap so I’m really happy,” said McCabe, who is in his first year with the team and so was pleased to deliver a win so early in the season.
Nervousness in the peloton in the final kilometres, ahead of the technical finale, contributed to the two crashes that occurred inside the last five kilometres. The incidents also ruled out some of the pre-stage contenders even being in with a chance of attempting the win, including Danny van Poppel (Team Sky) and Brenton Jones (JLT Condor).
“The crash was unfortunate,” McCabe admitted. “It came down to a sprint but a lot of guys weren’t really there for it because of that crash. It would have been nice to see how my legs hold up against the true sprinters.”
The 27-year-old, who said that today’s win was on par with his victory at last year’s Tour of Utah, paid tribute to the efforts of his team for their navigation over the latter part of the 167.7km stage.
“It was about staying safe and out of trouble,” McCabe explained. “You are so close to everyone and everyone’s head butting and everyone’s fighting. I think the heat and that little climb took a lot of energy out of the legs. I think guys weren’t fully aware of what they were doing and caused the crash. Once I made it out of that and I came into that [final] corner third wheel behind Mitch Docker I knew I had a really good chance of winning.”
For Howson, it was a second straight day of high-stress racing after his mechanical nearly put an end to his stint in the yellow jersey on Friday.
“It was another nervous day,” he said. “The sprinters had their chance today and everyone was fighting and jostling for position in that final five kilometres. It made for some dangerous, exciting racing but I’m happy to get through unscathed.”
