Caleb Ewan (Orica-GreenEDGE) proved that he is much more than a sprinter when he won the dramatic and surprisingly selective second stage of the Herald Sun Tour. After a late climb and crosswinds had split the field, he joined a six-rider group in the finale and then beat Tanner Putt (Unitedhealthcare) and race leader Peter Kennaugh (Sky) in the sprint while the latter extended his overall lead.

Caleb Ewan has had a fantastic start to the 2016 season and remains unbeaten in bunch sprints. However, all his victories have been based on his impressive burst of speed and this has led to the suggestion that he is only a sprinter.

However, Ewan has proved at the U23 level that he actually climbs pretty well and he needed those skills when the second stage of the Herald Sun Tour turned out to be harder and more selective than expected. However, Ewan was always on top of things and managed to follow the GC riders in the finale before winning a six-rider sprint, continuing his dream start to the year.

Avanti had created the first selection on the hardest climb at the midpoint of the mostly flat stage and then windy conditions made things hectic in the finale. The final three-rider break was caught with 10km to go just before the riders hit a small climb in the finale and Sky and Orica-GreenEDGE were battling each other in the windy conditions. The combination of wind and the late climb created a huge selection and as they hit the ramp, it was Jack Bobridge (Trek) and race leader Peter Kennaugh (Sky) going on the offensive.

Over the top of the climb, a six-rider group was formed as Ewan, Jack Haig (Orica-GreenEDGE), Chris Froome (Sky) and Tanner Putt (Unitedhealthcare) had joined the two attackers. With 2km to go, they had 22 seconds on the first peloton and it was evident that they would stay away.

Inside the final kilometre, Kennaugh tried to attack but Ewan never gave him an inch and then opened his sprint to easily ride to victory, holding off Putt. Kennaugh rolled across the line in third 3 seconds later while Froome and Bobridge were five seconds behind, with Haig at 14 seconds. Nicciolo Bonifazio (Trek) won the sprint for seventh from a small 27-rider group.

With the splits in the finale and bonus seconds, Kennaugh extended his lead over Froome to 13 seconds while Bobridge moves into third at 31 seconds. He needs to get safely through another flat stage tomorrow as stage 3 only contains two mall category 3 climbs in the first half. However, the final part of the stage takes place along the coast which could create some splits before what is expected to be a bunch sprint finish.

A lumpy finale

After the hilly opening road stage, the terrain was flatter in stage 2 which brought the riders over 144.2km from Yarra Glen to Moe. After a flat start, the riders tackled two category 3 and one category 2 climb at the midpoint before they descended to the finishing city. Here they ended the stage by doing one lap of a 14.9km finishing circuit that included a small climb at the midpoint.

It was a sunny day in Australia when the riders headed out for their 4.1km neutral ride. All 94 riders that finished yesterday’s stage were present.

Bobridge takes off

Unlike yesterday, it was a very fast start to the stage as lots of riders wanted to join the early break. After 14km of racing, it was still all together and when three riders briefly got clear, they were quickly brought back.

Travis Meyer (Drapac), Nick Miller (Kenyan Riders) and birthday boy Ben Hill (Attaque Team) were the first riders to get a bigger gap but they were brought back before they got to the first intermediate sprint. This set Jack Bobridge (Trek) up for a solo move and the Australian champion quickly built a 29-second advantage as he headed to the sprint.

Two riders get clear

Bobridge reached the sprint in first position before Anthony Giacoppo (Avanti) beat his teammate Patrick Shaw and race leader Kennaugh in the battle for second place. Moments later, he sat up and was brought back.

After the sprint, Chris Harper (State of Matter) and Yuma Koishi (Nippo) escaped and this was a perfect situation which finally slowed down and allowed the gap to go out to more than a minute in just a few kilometres. At the 44km, the pair had pushed it out to 3.37.

Harper goes solo

Sky took control of the peloton but were in no hurry as they went up the first climb where the gap had gone out to 4.57. At the top of the climb, Koishi beat Harper in the KOM sprint while Froome sprinted clear to take third 4.00 later.

Harper decided to go solo and as he approached the top of the second climb, he had already distanced Koishi by 1.10. Behind, the Avanti team was splitting the peloton into two bigger groups by setting a brutal pace. This time Froome missed out on third-place point as he was beaten by Ben Dyball and Michael Storer from the Australian team.

Van der Ploeg attacks

The peloton accelerated hard on this climb and as they headed onto the final ascent, they brought Koishi back. At the top, Harper was again first before Froome beat Giacoppo in the sprint for second.

The gap was down to just 1.10 as Harper made his way down the descent and he was quickly brought back. This was the signal for Avanti to ride aggressively and after they had first made a failed attack that was shut down by Sky and Orica-GreenEDGE, Neil van der Ploeg escaped in a solo move.

Jason Christie (Kenyan Riders and Cameron Bayly (Attaque Team) took off in pursuit and they managed to rejoin the lone Australian. Meanwhile, Sky and Trek were chasing in the peloton but they allowed the trio to push the gap out to more than a minute.

The break is caught

Nippo-Vini Fantini briefly hit the front before Sky and Orica-GreenEDGE accelerated. With 20km to go, the gap was down to just 30 seconds.

As the riders hit some windy conditions, Orica-GreenEDGE strung things out. Van der Ploeg led Christie and Bayly across the finish line to win the final intermediate sprint at the start of the 14.9km finishing circuit, with the peloton following just 20 seconds later.

Christie attacked from the break and dropped his companions but it was all back together with 10km to go. Moments later, the six-rider group got clear to set up the exciting finale