German cyclist Marius Mayrhofer has won the Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race in a stunning sprint finish.
After a dramatic crash took out three riders inside the last few hundred metres at Geelong, Mayrhofer was the upset winner of the 176.6km race.
WATCH THE VIDEO ABOVE: Marius Mayrhofer’s epic finish in Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race.
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The 22-year-old team DSM rider was in tears after his first win at World Tour 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.
Dutch rider Taco van der Hoorn made a solo break that lasted until just after the second of the four climbs up Challambra Crescent, with just less than 40km left.
Despite a series of attacks, there was a group of more than 20 riders in contention for the last climb up Challambra with 10km to go.
Van der Hoorn’s Norwegian Intermarche teammate Sven Erik Bystrom broke away and was joined by Swiss Mauro Schmid (Soudal Quck-Step).
They opened up a gap of 10 seconds with 5km left and were not caught until inside the last kilometre, with a group of about 20 riders contesting the finish.
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Source: 7News