Tobias Lund Andresen confidently predicted he’d win and rival Matthew Brennan’s mistake made sure that prophecy came true.
The difference in body language between the two sprinters told the story after Sunday’s Cadel Evans Great Ocean Race.
Andresen was bursting with excitement, having claimed the Geelong race for the first time. Brennan’s shoulders slumped when he tried a quick escape from the podium presentation, only for journalists to ask for a comment.
Brennan mistimed his sprint at the end of the 183.8km race, ensuring fellow recent Tour Down Under stage winner Lund Andresen would come over the top and relegate him to second place.
Australian Brady Gilmore continued an excellent start to his debut WorldTour season by finishing third.
It’s the third time that Lund Andresen’s Australian team boss Luke Roberts has orchestrated a win in the men’s Cadel Evans race.
“The timing of the (final) sprint is crucial,” was Roberts’ classic understatement.
Brennan, a WorldTour revelation last season, said he simply got his wrong.
“I thought the finish line was 100m closer – I thought it was 200 to go, but when I read it, it was 300,” the British rider said.
“Once you go, you just have to commit. I need to get my eyes tested, let’s say that.”
As always, the race came down to four laps of the 21.4km Geelong finishing circuit, punctuated by the steep Challambra Crescent climb.
Andresen, Brennan and Gilmore were in a front group of 21 for the last few kilometres.
Andresen and Roberts were surprised – and delighted – when Brennan’s bright-yellow Visma-Lease A Bike jersey hit the front so early in the final sprint.
“I feel like he didn’t have to, but … I would have done the same. It’s just a small mistake by him,” Andresen said.
“For me, it was pretty nice.”
But for the Dane, winning was no accident after a power of work from his Decathlon teammates.
“I told the guys with one lap to go, if they put me in the perfect position … I will win the race,” he said.
“I was feeling good and I put myself out there. It worked out.”
It was also a big day for Gilmore, whose venerated NSN teammate and compatriot Simon Clarke raced for the last time.
They have been roommates since a November training camp and Gilmore said Clarke’s influence has been “massive”.
“It was a bit of an emotional morning actually, just knowing he’s not going to be racing with us any more,” Gilmore said.
“A guy who’s been pro for that long, he’s the sort of guy that when he learns something, he analyses it as well.
“He’s probably the most underrated bike rider in the peloton and he’s probably also one of the craftiest.”
Gilmore also had a refresher mid-race that cycling is a contact sport.
He said he was hit in the face by a Uno X-Mobility rider after a misunderstanding at a feed zone, with more words between them at the finish.
“I don’t know whose fault it was,” Gilmore said.
“But I was just trying to follow my teammates and he wanted to get the bottle. He basically smacked me in the face and then he had a go at me.
“So I was like ‘come and see me after the race’. Then he came up to me and I was like ‘what was that?’
“It was just a couple of words exchanged. It was all an accident … bike racing.”
Defending champion Mauro Schmid was fourth, ending a tough domestic campaign for the Australian Jayco AlUla team.
