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United States | Southeast | Virginia >> Jay McCarthy wins the Cadel Evans Road Race in a thrilling finale

Jay McCarthy wins the Cadel Evans Road Race in a thrilling finale

BORA - hansgrohe's Jay McCarthy won the 164 km WorldTour race ahead of Elia Viviani and Daryl Impey

The fourth edition of the Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race saw some of the toughest racing of the season so far. With the mercury hitting 40 degrees, conditions were testing, particularly during the last third of the course, which featured several short yet steep climbs. The race came down to the wire, with a small group of riders escaping in the final kilometres, and Jay McCarthy emerging victorious from this reduced group.

Jay McCarthy wins the Cadel Evans Road Race in a thrilling finale - Photo Credit: © BORA - hansgrohe / Bettiniphoto

Of the 164 km long route, the first 105 km took the riders through a large coastal loop around Barwon Heads, Torquay and Bells Beach, before heading back in the direction of Geelong and ending with three 16.7 km long laps of the finishing circuit in Geelong. The course, which bears similarity to the one which was used during the 2010 UCI Road World Championships, started out fairly flat, yet became gradually more challenging and undulating. The hilly parcours also featured the famed Challambra Crescent climb, a 900-metre long ascent with a maximum gradient of 22%, which the riders had to face a total of four times.

Given how the last three editions of the race panned out, it was widely expected that the winner would come from a reduced group or even be a rider who managed to escape from a select group towards the finish. In the earlier part of the course around the coast, there were no climbs that were expected to be of sufficient difficulty to cause a split in the field. However, it was anticipated that the wind could potentially come into play between Barwon Heads and Bells Beach. One crucial point in the race was also likely to be the Challambra Crescent climb, which is where Peter Kennaugh made a decisive move in the 2016 edition of the race that arguably won him the day. For riders and their teams still in the mix at this point, it would be important to keep a watch on this crucial part of the race to avoid seeing their chances of victory slip away on the climb.

Jay McCarthy wins the Cadel Evans Road Race in a thrilling finale - Photo Credit: © BORA - hansgrohe / Bettiniphoto

It was a day of fast-paced racing straight from the start. Right from the get-go, the attacks came thick and fast, with a select group of 5 riders escaping from the peloton. They worked together well and quickly built up a significant advantage within the first few kilometres of racing, with their lead stretching to 6:40 minutes at one point. After the chase was put on in earnest by the peloton, the gap was reduced to approximately 2 minutes with 25 km remaining. As the breakaway came closer to being caught, several riders jumped off the front of the peloton during the last 20 km, yet to no avail. The break was ultimately caught with 15km remaining. A small group of riders subsequently escaped from the bunch in the final few kilometres, with Jay McCarthy ultimately surpassing E. Viviani and D. Impey in the final stretch to take the win for BORA-hansgrohe at the end of a very testing and hot day in the saddle.

Jay McCarthy wins the Cadel Evans Road Race in a thrilling finale - Photo Credit: © BORA - hansgrohe / Bettiniphoto

 

2018 Cadel Evans Ocean Road Race Results Top 10

1 Jay McCarthy (Aus) Bora - Hansgrohe 4:04:00 
2 Elia Viviani (Ita) Quick - Step Floors   
3 Daryl Impey (RSA) Mitchelton-Scott   
4 Dries Devenyns (Bel) Quick - Step Floors   
5 Simon Gerrans (Aus) BMC Racing Team   
6 Nikias Arndt (Ger) Team Sunweb   
7 Steele von Hoff (Aus) Kordamentha Real Estate -Australia   
8 Maurits Lammertink (Ned) Team Katusha Alpecin   
9 Enrico Battaglin (Ita) Team Lotto Nl - Jumbo   
10 Lars Bak Ytting (Den) Lotto Soudal 

VIDEO: Cadel Evans Ocean Road Race