With the memories still fresh from missing his target of a repeat Tour Down Under podium, Jay McCarthy (Bora-Hansgrohe) bounced back in style on Sunday with a clinical Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race victory.
'Exploding' on Willunga Hill, McCarthy dropped from third overall to 18th, and then 19th by the end of the season-opening stage race last Sunday. But, as in politics, a week is a long time in cycling and, seven days on from Adelaide, McCarthy stood atop the podium as the winner of a thrilling finale to WorldTour racing over the Australian summer. The Tour Down Under was consigned to history.
It wasn't all due to McCarthy, though, with two new recruits for Bora-Hansgrohe, Peter Kennaugh and Daniel Oss, emptying themselves on the roads around Geelong to set up the win. The victory closed out a successful January for the team, who also enjoyed a Tour Down Under stage win via Peter Sagan and Race Melbourne victory with Sam Bennett.
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"It is a one-day WorldTour race now. It was awesome to win at Tour Down Under a couple of years ago and today is awesome as well," said McCarthy, referencing his Stirling stage win of 2016. "I knew I was having a good pre-season leading into this summer and to finish with the win today is the best."
While the 25-year-old clearly had the required form and condition to take the win, he admitted that his hotel room at the Novotel above the finish line also played its part.
"Looking out the window the last few days, my balcony at the hotel overlooks the finish line. I knew coming in that if it was going to be a small kick I knew where I needed to go so I went there," he said. Perhaps like Joaquim Rodríguez in the Ardennes, McCarthy will be requesting the same hotel room each time he lines out in Geelong.
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