German Marius Mayrhofer and unheralded Dutch cyclist Loes Adegeest won the Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Races in Geelong on Saturday January 28 and Sunday January 29.
After a dramatic crash inside the last few hundred metres at Geelong took out three riders, Mayrhofer was the upset winner of the 176.6km elite men’s race.
The team DSM rider was in tears after his first win at WorldTour level.
Hugo Page of France finished second and Australian Simon Clarke was third.
The top Australian sprinters were unable to overtake Mayhofer at the finish, with Michael Matthews fourth and Caleb Ewan sixth.
“It feels great,” Mayrhofer said.
“Straight after the finish, I was completely done emotionally and I couldn’t believe it. Now I’m fine again and happy to take the win.
“It’s a great result. It’s a WorldTour race – of course there’s the strongest riders of the world here. If you want to win, you need to be up there. It feels great.”
Adegeest beat Australian star Amanda Spratt to win the elite women’s event.
Adegeest and Spratt broke clear on the second and final climb up Challambra Crescent with 10km left in the 143km event at Geelong.
In her first WorldTour season, Adegeest was too quick for Spratt at the finish as they finished four seconds clear of their chasers.
Another Dutch rider, Nina Buijsman, won the sprint for third place.
