The elite men’s race at the third annual Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race came down to a near-photo finish with German sprinter Nikias Arndt (Team Sunweb) just edging former Australian champions Simon Gerrans (Orica-Scott) and Cameron Meyer (KordaMentha Real Estate Australian National Team) at the line in Geelong, Australia on Sunday.
Both Arndt and Gerrans had to reel in Meyer who surprised the remaining group of 20 riders with a slingshot attack with less than a kilometer to go in the 174km WorldTour road race named after Evans, who in 2011 became the first Australian to win the Tour de France.
The 25-year-old 2016 Giro d’Italia stage winner had just enough to overtake Meyer and keep a surging Gerrans at bay and claim his seventh ProTour victory of his career and Sunweb’s first win of the season.
“I thought it is not possible to come back … but I just didn’t stop fighting and I just pushed,” said Arndt. “I saw a teammate after the last climb – Wilko Kelderman. He pushed me and he was there doing a big, big pull and I thought, ‘Okay if he did such a big pull you also have to come back. You cannot give up now.’ I continued and suddenly, I have to say, the group in front slowed down a little bit and that was to my advantage to come back.”
Arndt said he had also been inspired by the performances of players in the Australian Open tennis tournament in Melbourne: “We saw some tennis matches and they also said, ‘Never give up, focus and try again, try again.’ That was actually good motivation for today.”
The win will also serve Arndt well for the European one-day classic season. “It gives me a lot of motivation towards the classics,” he said.
Results
1. Nikias ARNDT, TEAM SUNWEB, in 4:19:15
2. Simon GERRANS, ORICA-SCOTT, at :00
3. Cameron MEYER, KORDA MENTHA REAL ESTATE AUSTRALIA, at :00
4. Jhonatan RESTREPO VALENCIA, KATUSHA-ALPECIN, at :00
5. Luke ROWE, TEAM SKY, at :00
6. Petr VAKOC, QUICK-STEP FLOORS, at :00
7. Nathan HAAS, DIMENSION DATA, at :00
8. Gianluca BRAMBILLA, QUICK-STEP FLOORS, at :00
9. Jay MCCARTHY, BORA-HANSGROHE, at :00
10. Paul MARTENS, TEAM LOTTONL-JUMBO, at :00
11. Robert GESINK, TEAM LOTTONL-JUMBO, at :00
12. Rafael VALLS FERRI, LOTTO SOUDAL, at :00
13. Sven erik BYSTRØM, KATUSHA-ALPECIN, at :00
14. Lucas HAMILTON, KORDA MENTHA REAL ESTATE AUSTRALIA, at :00
15. Michael WOODS, CANNONDALE-DRAPAC, at :00
16. Jai HINDLEY, KORDA MENTHA REAL ESTATE AUSTRALIA, at :00
17. Domenico POZZOVIVO, AG2R La MONDIALE, at :00
18. Michael STORER, KORDA MENTHA REAL ESTATE AUSTRALIA, at :00
19. Javier Alexis ACEVEDO COLLE, UNITEDHEALTHCARE, at :00
20. Brendan CANTY, CANNONDALE-DRAPAC, at :00
21. Richie PORTE, BMC RACING, at :00
22. Sergio Luis HENAO MONTOYA, TEAM SKY, at :00
23. Dries DEVENYNS, QUICK-STEP FLOORS, at :00
24. Jack BAUER, QUICK-STEP FLOORS, at :18
25. Baptiste PLANCKAERT, KATUSHA-ALPECIN, at :37
26. Edward THEUNS, TREK-SEGAFREDO, at :37
27. Aaron GATE, AQUA BLUE SPORT, at :37
28. Gregor MÜHLBERGER, BORA-HANSGROHE, at :37
29. James SHAW, LOTTO SOUDAL, at :37
30. Patrick BEVIN, CANNONDALE-DRAPAC, at :37
31. Lars Ytting BAK, LOTTO SOUDAL, at :37
32. Tom-Jelte SLAGTER, CANNONDALE-DRAPAC, at :37
33. Damiano CARUSO, BMC RACING, at :37
34. Pavel BRUTT, GAZPROM-RUSVELO, at :37
35. Sjoerd VAN GINNEKEN, ROOMPOT-NEDERLANDSE LOTERIJ, at :37
36. Alexey VERMEULEN, TEAM LOTTONL-JUMBO, at :37
37. Danilo WYSS, BMC RACING, at :37
38. Mitch DOCKER, ORICA-SCOTT, at :37
39. Clement CHEVRIER, AG2R LA MONDIALE, at :37
40. Tiago MACHADO, KATUSHA-ALPECIN, at :37
41. Matteo MONTAGUTI, AG2R LA MONDIALE, at :37
42. Jonathan CLARKE, UNITEDHEALTHCARE, at :37
43. Sander ARMEE, LOTTO SOUDAL, at :37
44. Lachlan NORRIS, UNITEDHEALTHCARE, at :37
45. Enrico BATTAGLIN, TEAM LOTTONL-JUMBO, at :37
46. José GONÇALVES, KATUSHA-ALPECIN, at :37
47. Koen DE KORT, TREK-SEGAFREDO, at :42
48. Simon GESCHKE, TEAM SUNWEB, at :42
49. Chris FROOME, TEAM SKY, at :43
50. Jarlinson PANTANO GOMEZ, TREK-SEGAFREDO, at :43
51. Wilco KELDERMAN, TEAM SUNWEB, at :43
52. Damien HOWSON, ORICA-SCOTT, at :45
53. Luke DURBRIDGE, ORICA-SCOTT, at :47
54. Jhoan Esteban CHAVES RUBIO, ORICA-SCOTT, at :54
55. Cameron BAYLY, KORDA MENTHA REAL ESTATE AUSTRALIA, at 1:14
56. Julien BERARD, AG2R LA MONDIALE, at 1:56
57. Peter STETINA, TREK-SEGAFREDO, at 1:57
58. Jesper ASSELMAN, ROOMPOT-NEDERLANDSE LOTERIJ, at 2:11
59. Leigh HOWARD, AQUA BLUE SPORT, at 2:11
60. Scott BOWDEN, KORDA MENTHA REAL ESTATE AUSTRALIA, at 2:11
61. Lawrence WARBASSE, AQUA BLUE SPORT, at 2:11
62. Jeroen MEIJERS, ROOMPOT-NEDERLANDSE LOTERIJ, at 2:11
63. Travis MCCABE, UNITEDHEALTHCARE, at 2:11
64. Michael HEPBURN, ORICA-SCOTT, at 2:11
65. Koen BOUWMAN, TEAM LOTTONL-JUMBO, at 3:47
66. Mads PEDERSEN, TREK-SEGAFREDO, at 4:18
67. Maurits LAMMERTINK, KATUSHA-ALPECIN, at 5:22
68. Kenny ELISSONDE, TEAM SKY, at 5:32
69. SEBASTIAN HENAO GOMEZ, TEAM SKY, at 5:32
70. Ben O’CONNOR, DIMENSION DATA, at 5:49
71. Peter KONING, AQUA BLUE SPORT, at 5:49
72. Chris HAMILTON, TEAM SUNWEB, at 5:49
73. Rüdiger SELIG, BORA-HANSGROHE, at 5:49
74. Sam BENNETT, BORA-HANSGROHE, at 5:49
75. Thomas DE GENDT, LOTTO SOUDAL, at 5:49
76. Jacques Willem JANSE VAN RENSBURG, DIMENSION DATA, at 5:49
77. Alexander PORTER, KORDA MENTHA REAL ESTATE AUSTRALIA, at 5:49
78. Ben GASTAUER, AG2R LA MONDIALE, at 7:02
79. Taco VAN DER HOORN, ROOMPOT-NEDERLANDSE LOTERIJ, at 7:02
80. Tim ARIESEN, ROOMPOT-NEDERLANDSE LOTERIJ, at 7:02
81. Bert-Jan LINDEMAN, TEAM LOTTONL-JUMBO, at 7:02
82. Nick VAN DER LIJKE, ROOMPOT-NEDERLANDSE LOTERIJ, at 7:02
83. Sergey NIKOLAEV, GAZPROM-RUSVELO, at 7:02
84. François BIDARD, AG2R LA MONDIALE, at 7:02
85. Alex HOWES, CANNONDALE-DRAPAC, at 7:02
86. Martijn TUSVELD, ROOMPOT-NEDERLANDSE LOTERIJ, at 7:02
87. Conor DUNNE, AQUA BLUE SPORT, at 7:02
88. Martin VELITS, QUICK-STEP FLOORS, at 7:02
89. Robert Thomas WAGNER, TEAM LOTTONL-JUMBO, at 7:02
90. Lennard HOFSTEDE, TEAM SUNWEB, at 7:02
91. Michel KREDER, AQUA BLUE SPORT, at 7:02
92. Enric MAS NICOLAU, QUICK-STEP FLOORS, at 7:02
93. AMAEL MOINARD, BMC RACING, at 7:02
94. Tanner PUTT, UNITEDHEALTHCARE, at 7:02
95. Miles SCOTSON, BMC RACING, at 7:02
96. Rohan DENIS, BMC RACING, at 7:02
97. Lukas PÖSTLBERGER, BORA-HANSGROHE, at 11:07
98. Lachlan MORTON, DIMENSION DATA, at 11:07
99. Calvin WATSON, AQUA BLUE SPORT, at 12:38
100. Ivan SAVITSKIY, GAZPROM-RUSVELO, at 12:38
101. Artur ERSHOV, GAZPROM-RUSVELO, at 12:38
102. Jaco VENTER, DIMENSION DATA, at 12:38
103. Jan BAKELANTS, AG2R LA MONDIALE, at 14:30
DNF Francisco Jose VENTOSO ALBERDI, BMC RACING
DNF Pascal ACKERMANN, BORA-HANSGROHE
DNF Michal KOLÁR, BORA-HANSGROHE
DNF Tyler FARRAR, DIMENSION DATA
DNF Mark RENSHAW, DIMENSION DATA
DNF Sean DE BIE, LOTTO SOUDAL
DNF Adam HANSEN, LOTTO SOUDAL
DNF Ángel VICIOSO ARCOS, KATUSHA-ALPECIN
DNF Danny VAN POPPEL, TEAM SKY
DNF Ian STANNARD, TEAM SKY
DNF Phil BAUHKORDA MENTHA REAL ESTATE AUSTRALIA, TEAM SUNWEB
DNF Johannes FRÖHLINGER, TEAM SUNWEB
DNF Rúben GUERREIRO, TREK-SEGAFREDO
DNF Laurent DIDIER, TREK-SEGAFREDO
DNF William CLARKE, CANNONDALE-DRAPAC
DNF Tom VAN ASBROECK, CANNONDALE-DRAPAC
DNF Eros CAPECCHI, QUICK-STEP FLOORS
DNF Sam BEWLEY, ORICA-SCOTT
DNF Kirill SVESHNIKOV, GAZPROM-RUSVELO
DNF Aleksei TCATEVICH, GAZPROM-RUSVELO
DNF Nikolay TRUSOV, GAZPROM-RUSVELO
DNF Adrian HEGYVARY, UNITEDHEALTHCARE
DNF Greg HENDERSON, UNITEDHEALTHCARE
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