Swiss champion Mauro Schmid delivered Team Jayco AlUla their first men’s team victory at the one-day WorldTour classic, the Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race, in classy style.
Schmid, known for his relentless style of attacking, launched away solo on the final lap, hanging a nerve-wracking eight seconds ahead of a fiercely chasing reduced peloton.
The 25-year-old dug deep and managed to hold off the chase to take a special and well-deserved victory in Geelong, his first one-day UCI WorldTour win.
How it happened:
The Australian team dominated the final of the race, battling scorching temperatures over 37 degrees with Chris Harper leading the race solo in the final 30km. Harper opened a gap up of over 40 seconds, but as the final ascent of the steep Challambra climb approached, the chasers were hot on his tail behind.
The rider from Adelaide was eventually caught on the steepest part of the climb after a brave effort but the squad remained calm, with teammate Schmid positioned near the front of the reduced group and ready to pounce.
On the descent, with just seven kilometres remaining, Schmid made his signature move with a stinging attack and continued to dangle ahead as the kilometres ticked down.
With the finish line in his sight, the Swiss powerhouse continued to maintain a small lead and pushed on with his head down to claim an important and classy solo victory, in front of Team Owner Gerry Ryan. The win concludes a busy and successful Australian summer campaign for both men’s and women’s squads.
Mauro Schmid – Winner
“This is my first one-day WorldTour race victory, so it is very special for me, and it is an important race for the team, so I am super happy.
Chris Harper did an amazing ride, and he was a big part of this win because I could just sit back and then when we caught him on the climb, I knew that now was the moment to go. I saw everybody was on the limit and I still had quite good legs on that final climb.
I did a similar attack in this race before and got caught with 300 metres to go, so I knew that I had to just go super deep and that helped me today.
The whole team was super motivated for this one, already in the Surf Coast Classic we were riding really well but didn’t get the result, so to win today is very special for us.”
Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race Results:
Mauro Schmid (Team Jayco AlUla) 4:26:07
Aaron Gate +0:03
Laurence Pithie ST
