Ian Stannard claimed Team Sky’s third win of the 2017 Herald Sun Tour into Kinglake after a late attack from the breakaway. Race leader Damien Howson (Orica-Scott) matched the last lap attacks of Chris Froome (Team Sky) to seal his first professional victory.
The win is Howson's first of his career and ensures the Australian team claims one of the three big races on home soil after second places at nationals, Tour Down Under and Cadel Evans race.
In the race for the stage, Stannard's early celebration almost saw him lose the victory on the finish line with Aaron Gate (Aqua Blue Sport) and Taco van der Hoorn (Rompot-Nederlandse Loterij) almost catching him on the line due to a relaxed celebration. Howson crossed the line in 20th place with his hands in the air to signify his overall victory.
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"It's a big sigh of relief now. It's been an amazing week and to finish it off the way we did, I couldn't be happier," Howson said.
"I knew that as long as I had Esteban [Chaves] with me on that final climb, it was going to be pretty simple to control and maintain the overall lead. That is what happened today and everyone just went further than they needed to and made my day as easy as possible which was fantastic."
Having overcome a late puncture on stage 2 that almost ended his dreams of yellow, Howson then survived two near crashes on stage 3. A somewhat stress-free day on stage 4 followed with Howson's number 13 dossard proving not to be an unlucky omen.
How it unfolded
You can read more at Cyclingnews.com
via Cyclingnews Latest Race Results http://ift.tt/2ld9Eyr
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