Germany’s Nikias Arndt won the Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race on Sunday after a tight sprint to the finish line that saw him narrowly beat Australians Simon Gerrans and Cameron Meyer.
Arndt (SUN) took the third edition of the 174-kilometre (108-mile) race in Geelong, Victoria, in four hours, 19 minutes and 15 seconds.
Local stars Gerrans (ORS) and Meyer (AUS) finished second and third respectively on the same time.
It was the first triumph for 25-year-old Arndt since he won a stage of the Giro d’Italia in May last year.
Meyer attacked with about 800 metres to go and Arndt said he was not sure if he could catch the 29-year-old West Australian.
“I got in the slipstream and I felt I could go faster, but 250 metres to go I am not sure if I would catch him,” Arndt told host broadcaster Channel Seven after the race.
“The last metres I got really close and could go over.”
Gerrans said the final sprint was tricky with the headwind.
“No one had team-mates left… Everyone was just ducking for wheels and trying to get out of the wind,” Gerrans told Channel Seven.
“Yeah, Nicholas went a long way out. He did the whole sprint in the seat and in the end I had nothing left and couldn’t get past him.”
Three-time Tour de France champion Chris Froome finished 43 seconds behind Arndt.
Dutch rider Annemiek van Vleuten (ORS) won the women’s race on Saturday with a time of three hours, four minutes and 13 seconds. –Â Agence France-Presse
