January 31, 2019 (Victoria, Australia) – In windy, blustery conditions Michael Woods (EF Education First) secured a narrow 4 second advantage over fellow WorldTour pro Richie Porte (Trek-Segafredo).

The pair went head to head on the final climb and descended like demons into the finish at Churchill. The slender lead comes via time bonuses received on the line in Thule Stage 2, taking the Jayco Herald Sun leaders jersey from team mate and Appselec Stage 1 winner Dan McLAY.

Frenchman Kenny Ellisonde (Team Sky) was third on the day.

The final ascent included nearly 2 kilometres of gravel and was always going to be a wild-card for the riders.

“I felt really great putting my hand up in the air and celebrating that win especially after all the hard work my team mates did today, we’ve been riding really well, and it was nice to already have yellow with McLay leading from yesterday… now we get to keep it for another day.

“I knew that I had to launch on the last section of the pavement before the gravel started because once you get in the gravel it’s pretty tough to come around a guy and when you dictate pace on the gravel you can have a lot more control so that’s what I needed to do and it worked great,” said Woods.

Richie Porte commented, “Obviously we’ve done it before in the Giro and things like that, I think it’s something different, obviously in road racing you don’t want to do too much but I think John Trevorrow has done a fantastic job with the course today, it was a great finish, no one knew about the climb, he’s probably grown up around this area and that was his old training ground.”

“When you’re climbing it was quite steep there actually, it was probably around 12% or something like that, so it’s different climbing on that you kind of have to pick a bigger gear and try and sit in the saddle, which I was doing, but Woodsy was dancing out of the saddle, so he is obviously done a bit more on the gravel than I have I think it’s nice in races, it wasn’t, it wasn’t dangerous, I think it was a great day,” Porte concluded.

The race was split early with six riders establishing a breakaway and soaking up sprint points, before the peloton chased them down. Luke Rowe (SKY) led his team to the front and split the group again. With 30 kilometres to go a crash brought down the rear of the bunch, and a number of riders may be doubtful to start tomorrow.

The Tour continues tomorrow with an undulating stage from Sale to Warragul.

Results

1. Michael Woods (Can) EF Education First Pro Cycling 2:55:44
2. Richie Porte (Aus) Trek-Segafredo
3. Kenny Elissonde (Fra) Team Sky 0:17
4. Dylan van Baarle (Ned) Team Sky 0:19
5. Lucas Hamilton (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott
6. Pavel Sivakov (Rus) Team Sky 0:43
7. Chris Harper (Aus) Team Bridgelane
8. Damien Howson (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott
9. Nicholas Schultz (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott
10. Robert Stannard (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott 1:54
11. Dylan Sunderland (Aus) Team Bridgelane
12. Sam Jenner (Aus) KordaMentha Australian Team
13. Jarlinson Pantano Gomez (Col) Trek-Segafredo
14. Lachlan Morton (Aus) EF Education First Pro Cycling
15. Peter Stetina (USA) Trek-Segafredo
16. Daniel Whitehouse (Aus) EvoPro Racing 2:22
17. Nicholas White (Aus) Team Bridgelane
18. Benjamin Dyball (Aus) Team Sapura Cycling
19. Cyrus Monk (Aus) EvoPro Racing 3:56
20. Freddy Ovett (Aus) Pro Racing Sunshine Coast
21. Michael Freiberg (Aus) Pro Racing Sunshine Coast
22. Alistair Donohoe (Aus) Pro Racing Sunshine Coast
23. Dion Smith (Nzl) Mitchelton-Scott
24. Marcus Culey (Aus) Team Sapura Cycling 5:23
25. Jesse Featonby (Aus) Oliver’s Real Food Racing 6:04
26. Carter Turnbull (Aus) KordaMentha Australian Team 7:19
27. Christian Knees (Ger) Team Sky 7:37
28. Ryan Mullen (Irl) Trek-Segafredo 7:43
29. Brenton Jones (Aus) KordaMentha Australian Team
30. Liam White (Aus) Drapac Cannondale Holistic
31. Jesse Ewart (Aus) Team Sapura Cycling
32. Kristoffer Halvorsen (Nor) Team Sky
33. Owain Doull (Gbr) Team Sky
34. Koen de Kort (Ned) Trek-Segafredo
35. Luke Rowe (Gbr) Team Sky
36. Muhammad Zawawi Azman (Mas) Team Sapura Cycling
37. Hayden Mccormick (Nzl) Team Bridgelane
38. Muhamad Nur Aiman Mohd Zariff (Mas) Team Sapura Cycling
39. Dylan Newbery (Aus) Futuro-Maxxis Pro Cycling
40. Ayden Toovey (Aus) Team Bridgelane
41. Patrick Burt (Aus) Drapac Cannondale Holistic
42. James Whelan (Aus) EF Education First Pro Cycling
43. Mitchell Docker (Aus) EF Education First Pro Cycling
44. Benjamin Andrews (Aus) Oliver’s Real Food Racing
45. Muhsin Al Redha Misbah (Mas) Team Sapura Cycling 8:31
46. Theodore Yates (Aus) Drapac Cannondale Holistic 9:37
47. Tom Scully (Nzl) EF Education First Pro Cycling
48. Neil Van Der Ploeg (Aus) Team Bridgelane 0:10:34
49. William Clarke (Aus) Trek-Segafredo
50. Sebastian Presley (Aus) Oliver’s Real Food Racing
51. Tom Mcfarlane (Aus) KordaMentha Australian Team
52. Corbin Strong (Aus) St George Continental
53. Thomas Hubbard (Aus) St George Continental
54. David Williams (Aus) KordaMentha Australian Team
55. Liam Magennis (Aus) Drapac Cannondale Holistic
56. Jason Lea (Aus) Team Bridgelane
57. Craig Wiggins (Aus) St George Continental
58. Aaron Gate (Aus) EvoPro Racing
59. Conor Murtagh (Aus) Oliver’s Real Food Racing
60. Michael Potter (Aus) Pro Racing Sunshine Coast
61. Ryan Cavanagh (Aus) St George Continental
62. Taj Jones (Aus) Pro Racing Sunshine Coast
63. Jonathon Noble (Aus) Pro Racing Sunshine Coast
64. Sam Bewley (Nzl) Mitchelton-Scott
65. Nathan Elliot (Aus) KordaMentha Australian Team
66. Daniel Mclay (Gbr) EF Education First Pro Cycling
67. Harrison Sweeny (Aus) EvoPro Racing
68. Ashley Mackay (Aus) Pro Racing Sunshine Coast
69. Luke Mudgway (Aus) EvoPro Racing
70. Michael Vink (Nzl) St George Continental
71. Callum Scotson (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott
72. Oliver Martin (Aus) Drapac Cannondale Holistic
73. Alex Frame (Nzl) Trek-Segafredo 0:19:02
74. Thomas Coates (Aus) Futuro-Maxxis Pro Cycling
75. Wouter Wippert (Aus) EvoPro Racing 0:19:19
76. Karl Michelin-Beard (Aus) Oliver’s Real Food Racing 0:19:42
77. Tom Kaesler (Aus) Drapac Cannondale Holistic
78. Timothy Cameron (Aus) St George Continental
79. Angus Lyons (Aus) Oliver’s Real Food Racing
80. Zachary Johnson (Aus) Drapac Cannondale Holistic 0:21:09
81. Shane Archbold (Aus) EvoPro Racing 0:24:44
82. Cameron Layton (Aus) Futuro-Maxxis Pro Cycling 0:25:24
83. Rowan Dever (Aus) Oliver’s Real Food Racing 0:26:21
84. Christopher Williams (Aus) Futuro-Maxxis Pro Cycling
DNF Rudy Porter (Aus) KordaMentha Australian Team
DNF Nick Miller (Nzl) Futuro-Maxxis Pro Cycling
DNF Carter Bettles (Aus) Futuro-Maxxis Pro Cycling
DNF Rhys Robotham (Aus) Futuro-Maxxis Pro Cycling

GC after Stage 2

1. Michael Woods (Can) EF Education First Pro Cycling 5:12:32
2. Richie Porte (Aus) Trek-Segafredo 4
3. Kenny Elissonde (Fra) Team Sky 0:27
4. Lucas Hamilton (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott 0:29
5. Dylan van Baarle (Ned) Team Sky 0:33
6. Pavel Sivakov (Rus) Team Sky 0:53
7. Chris Harper (Aus) Team Bridgelane 0:57
8. Damien Howson (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott
9. Nicholas Schultz (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott
10. Robert Stannard (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott 2:04
11. Dylan Sunderland (Aus) Team Bridgelane 2:08
12. Jarlinson Pantano Gomez (Col) Trek-Segafredo
13. Peter Stetina (USA) Trek-Segafredo
14. Sam Jenner (Aus) KordaMentha Australian Team
15. Lachlan Morton (Aus) EF Education First Pro Cycling
16. Nicholas White (Aus) Team Bridgelane 2:36
17. Daniel Whitehouse (Aus) EvoPro Racing
18. Benjamin Dyball (Aus) Team Sapura Cycling 2:44
19. Dion Smith (Nzl) Mitchelton-Scott 4:06
20. Alistair Donohoe (Aus) Pro Racing Sunshine Coast 4:10
21. Freddy Ovett (Aus) Pro Racing Sunshine Coast
22. Michael Freiberg (Aus) Pro Racing Sunshine Coast
23. Cyrus Monk (Aus) EvoPro Racing 4:59
24. Marcus Culey (Aus) Team Sapura Cycling 5:45
25. Jesse Featonby (Aus) Oliver’s Real Food Racing 6:18
26. Carter Turnbull (Aus) KordaMentha Australian Team 7:41
27. Ayden Toovey (Aus) Team Bridgelane 7:45
28. Kristoffer Halvorsen (Nor) Team Sky 7:47
29. Christian Knees (Ger) Team Sky 7:49
30. Owain Doull (Gbr) Team Sky 7:53
31. Brenton Jones (Aus) KordaMentha Australian Team 7:57
32. Hayden Mccormick (Nzl) Team Bridgelane
33. Luke Rowe (Gbr) Team Sky
34. Liam White (Aus) Drapac Cannondale Holistic 8:01
35. James Whelan (Aus) EF Education First Pro Cycling 8:04
36. Jesse Ewart (Aus) Team Sapura Cycling 8:05
37. Muhammad Zawawi Azman (Mas) Team Sapura Cycling
38. Ryan Mullen (Irl) Trek-Segafredo
39. Muhamad Nur Aiman Mohd Zariff (Mas) Team Sapura Cycling
40. Koen de Kort (Ned) Trek-Segafredo
41. Mitchell Docker (Aus) EF Education First Pro Cycling
42. Patrick Burt (Aus) Drapac Cannondale Holistic 8:12
43. Benjamin Andrews (Aus) Oliver’s Real Food Racing
44. Muhsin Al Redha Misbah (Mas) Team Sapura Cycling 9:05
45. Theodore Yates (Aus) Drapac Cannondale Holistic 9:47
46. Tom Scully (Nzl) EF Education First Pro Cycling
47. Daniel Mclay (Gbr) EF Education First Pro Cycling 0:10:34
48. Tom Mcfarlane (Aus) KordaMentha Australian Team 0:10:48
49. Craig Wiggins (Aus) St George Continental
50. Jason Lea (Aus) Team Bridgelane
51. Aaron Gate (Aus) EvoPro Racing
52. Michael Vink (Nzl) St George Continental
53. Corbin Strong (Aus) St George Continental 0:10:56
54. Liam Magennis (Aus) Drapac Cannondale Holistic
55. William Clarke (Aus) Trek-Segafredo
56. Sebastian Presley (Aus) Oliver’s Real Food Racing
57. Neil Van Der Ploeg (Aus) Team Bridgelane
58. Ashley Mackay (Aus) Pro Racing Sunshine Coast
59. Conor Murtagh (Aus) Oliver’s Real Food Racing
60. Michael Potter (Aus) Pro Racing Sunshine Coast
61. Ryan Cavanagh (Aus) St George Continental
62. Sam Bewley (Nzl) Mitchelton-Scott
63. Nathan Elliot (Aus) KordaMentha Australian Team
64. Oliver Martin (Aus) Drapac Cannondale Holistic
65. Taj Jones (Aus) Pro Racing Sunshine Coast 0:11:14
66. Jonathon Noble (Aus) Pro Racing Sunshine Coast
67. Dylan Newbery (Aus) Futuro-Maxxis Pro Cycling 0:11:17
68. David Williams (Aus) KordaMentha Australian Team 0:11:58
69. Harrison Sweeny (Aus) EvoPro Racing 0:12:18
70. Luke Mudgway (Aus) EvoPro Racing
71. Callum Scotson (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott
72. Thomas Hubbard (Aus) St George Continental 0:16:44
73. Alex Frame (Nzl) Trek-Segafredo 0:19:16
74. Wouter Wippert (Aus) EvoPro Racing 0:19:25
75. Angus Lyons (Aus) Oliver’s Real Food Racing 0:24
76. Karl Michelin-Beard (Aus) Oliver’s Real Food Racing 0:28
77. Timothy Cameron (Aus) St George Continental 0:20:11
78. Tom Kaesler (Aus) Drapac Cannondale Holistic 0:21:25
79. Shane Archbold (Aus) EvoPro Racing 0:25:35
80. Christopher Williams (Aus) Futuro-Maxxis Pro Cycling 0:26:50
81. Rowan Dever (Aus) Oliver’s Real Food Racing 0:26:52
82. Zachary Johnson (Aus) Drapac Cannondale Holistic 0:29:05
83. Cameron Layton (Aus) Futuro-Maxxis Pro Cycling 0:31:34
84. Thomas Coates (Aus) Futuro-Maxxis Pro Cycling 0:31:38