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Viviani wins Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race

First one-day WorldTour race of the season

January 26, 2019
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Deceuninck-Quick Step’s Elia Viviani earned his second win of the season on Sunday, both coming in Australia. Viviani was the fastest at the Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race around Geelong in the Australian state of Victoria.

The Course
The 164-km route started with a coastal loop, at first flat and then hilly as it turned inland. The second phase consisted of four 17-km circuits around Geelong, each with the climb of Challambra Crescent (1-km of 10%). The race tends to be won in a reduced sprint. Last year Jay McCarthy (Australia/Bora-Hansgrohe) beat out Viviani and Daryl Impey (South Africa/Mitchelton-Scott) from a group of 24. All three were back for 2019’s edition.

The Breakaway

A trio scampered away to be the day’s rabbits. Nathan Elliott (KordaMentha Real Estate Australian National Team) took the first intermediate sprint of the day and the three had a gap of almost 4:00 by the time Astana’s Laurens De Vreese (Belgium) claimed the first KOM.

De Vreese was first over the first passage of the Challambra Crescent climb, with the peloton +2:40. Elliott nabbed Intermediate Sprint #2. The field wasn’t much closer as De Vreese snapped up Challambra 2 before going solo. Nic Dlamini (Dimension Data) and Astana’s Davide Ballerini bolted from the field at the beginning of the penultimate lap.

Endgame

De Vreese topped Challambra for the second time with teammate Ballerini his closest pursuer.

Ballerini went solo after a brief period with De Vreese. He heard the bell with a minute’s gap. Bora-Hansgrohe had the whip hand in the peloton.

The final ascent of Challambra trimmed Ballerini’s lead and the Italian was brought back with 9-km to go. No attacks on the Challambra meant that a group of 60 would contest the win, although another Astana fellow, LL Sanchez, tried his luck with 5-km to go and Richie Porte gave it go with 3-km remaining.

Viviani hit 75.2-km/h on his way to the win. Caleb Ewan was second and Impey rounded out the podium.

Michael Woods was 31st.

The WorldTour now takes a month long break until the UAE Tour from February 24 to March 2.

2019 Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race
1) Elia Viviani (Italy/Deceuninck-Quick Step) 3:54:35
2) Caleb Ewan (Australia/Lotto-Soudal) s.t.
3) Daryl Impey (South Africa/Mitchelton-Scott) s.t.
31) Michael Woods (Canada/EF Education First) s.t.