Valiant riding fails to net top result for BORA - hansgrohe at the Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race
BORA-hansgrohe concluded the Australian summer of racing today with the Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race. After the solo break was caught, a group including Jai Hindley and Marco Haller was able to go clear. The Australian tried to attack several times on the last brutal climb, but was quickly caught by the chasers. Afterwards, a duo managed to break away, but their efforts also remained unsuccessful. In the end, this year's race was decided in a sprint from a group of 25 riders including Jai, Marco and Maximilian Schachmann. M. Mayrhofer took the victory, while Max finished in the same time as the winner, in 18th position, the best-placed rider of the squad from Raubling.
Results
01 M. Mayrhofer 4:15:11
02 H. Page +0:00
03 S. Clarke +0:00
18 M. Schachmann +0:00
From the Finish Line
"It was a pretty crazy day until we came to the circuits. We tried before reaching that point to attack but in the end it wasn't successful, because the wind conditions weren't quite suitable for that. We came into the circuit and it was pretty stressful. It was pretty hard going on the climb each time we went up. However, I think we did a good job as a team to always be present in the front groups and cover all the moves. We were hoping for Jordi if it came to a bunch sprint or for Marco if it came to a reduced sprint. The finale came down to a group of around 25 riders. I was there with Max and Marco, but in the end despite all our best efforts, we weren't really able to get involved in the sprint finish". - Jai Hindley
"Today, we wanted to transform the upwards trend that we observed at the Tour Down Under into results. We went into the race with an attitude of riding 100 per cent for the victory. Therefore, we already hoped for a difficult race ahead of the final lap, which was to be contested four times. The weather forecast had predicted strong winds. Yet unfortunately, in the end it wasn't as windy as expected. Nevertheless, the guys tried to bring about a preselection in the crosswinds, which unfortunately didn't work out. Jai and also Marco were then active on the final laps and repeatedly made it into some quite dangerous groups. In the end it came down to a sprint from a relatively big group. Max tried to launch Marco into the sprint, but unfortunately it didn't work out. In the end, we leave Australia without a result and I have to say that we're somewhat disappointed with that." - Christian Pömer, Sports Director