Image 1 of 12 Nathan Haas celebrates a long awaited win (Image credit: Mark Gunter) Image 2 of 12 The race started on Geelong's pier (Image credit: Mark Gunter) Image 3 of 12 Will Clarke and Pat Lane make a late attack with 4km to go (Image credit: Mark Gunter) Image 4 of 12 The peloton make their way to Ballarat (Image credit: Mark Gunter) Image 5 of 12 Simon Clarke and the rest of the peloton on the climb. (Image credit: Mark Gunter) Image 6 of 12 Haas takes the lead after stage 1 (Image credit: Mark Gunter) Image 7 of 12 Nathan Haas in the sprinters jersey (Image credit: Mark Gunter) Image 8 of 12 Thomas Dekker (Garmin Sharp) celebrates with Haas (Image credit: Mark Gunter) Image 9 of 12 Jack Bauer was doing plenty on the front after the climb (Image credit: Mark Gunter) Image 10 of 12 Alberto Bettiol climbing some steep gradient (Image credit: Mark Gunter) Image 11 of 12 The days break make their move (Image credit: Mark Gunter) Image 12 of 12 Hot and dry was the order of the day (Image credit: Mark Gunter)

An elated Nathan Haas (Garmin Sharp) pipped Matt Goss (Orica-GreenEdge) and a fast finishing Jonathan Cantwell (Drapac) to victory on Stage 1 of the Jayco Herald Sun Tour and doing so, is back in yellow at the race he won in 2011. Despite planning to lead out Steele von Hoff for the win, who had claimed the national criterium championships on the same road a month ago, Haas continued his fine run of form with a fast finish on the slight uphill of Sturt St which also saw him claim precious bonus seconds.

"This is the race where it all started for me and to come back to the race and be back in yellow…today is actually a bigger day for me than taking yellow. It's my first win as a professional with Garmin Sharp," Haas said after the race.

"I didn't quite believe that I actually won. I went over the line double checking that there was no one there and the tears came pretty quick after that."

"He (von Hoff) was going to take my wheel through that final section but one of the great things about Steel is that he thinks about the bigger picture in the sprints and obviously he saw the door open for me and dint get on which left a gap for me and I went."

Haas described that the day's Cat 1 was the decisive factor in causing a split in the field and helped him to the win.

"The steep climb, we noticed that GreenEdge were trying to control it and we really felt the wind getting up and I think Avanti had done some recon so I noticed that they were also moving up and we knew that it was going to be smack down.

"It turned into a group of 20 and we rode it for a while but it wasn't meant to be and I think peoples legs were pretty tired after that."

Haas will look to keep the jersey until the conclusion of the race on Sunday and has a strong team to help him do so. "With a prologue were everyone is within a second of each other going down to 80th its an imperative to get that time on the line if you want to stay in the jersey or even if you want to take control for the gc of the race," he said.

How it unfolded

The early pace was set by UnitedHealthcare as the riders headed out of the portside town of Geelong which hosted the 2010 road world championships. A three man group formed which contained Thomas Hamilton (Jayco Australian U23 team), Nathan Elliot (African Wildlife Safaris) and Alberto Bettiol (Cannondale).

The group's lead went out to a touch of three minutes as Garmin were controlling the chase back in the main bunch. Bettoil claimed maximum points at the intermediate sprint point which also gave him the most aggressive prize for the day.

The race kicked into life on the cat 1 climb of the day as the breakaway's lead had been cut down to 1:20 at the base of the climb and it was Hamilton who put the hammer down to crest the ascent first which would land him the KOM jersey.

Bettiol was 10 seconds behind Hamilton and Elliot was 10 seconds off Bettiol when he came over and with no descent, the flat windy roads didn't give Elliot an opportunity to catch the now leading duo.

Garmin and Avanti had decided to make the climb a little bit harder for the bunch and caused an 18 man selection that soon caught the leaders on the road.

The large group contained Jonathan Cantwell (Aus) Drapac Pro Cycling, Thomas Moses (GBr) Rapha Condor JLT, Jack Bauer (NZl) Garmin Sharp, Neil Van Der Ploeg (Aus) Avanti Cycling Team, John Anderson (Aus) Drapac Pro Cycling, Nathan Haas (Aus) Garmin Sharp, Steele von Hoff (Aus) Garmin Sharp, Jack Haig (Aus) Avanti Cycling Team, Mark O'Brien (Aus) Avanti Cycling Team, Robert Power (Aus) Jayco Australian U23, Lachlan Norris (Aus) Drapac Pro Cycling, Mitch Docker (Aus) Orica-GreenEdge, Matthew Goss (Aus) Orica-GreenEdge, William Clarke (Aus) Drapac Pro Cycling, Simon Gerrans (Aus) Orica-GreenEdge, Alberto Bettiol (Ita) Cannondale Pro Cycling and Thomas Hamilton (Aus) Jayco Australian U23.

The group swelled to a size of 50 riders as Garmin and Orica-GreenEdge came to the front to set it up their sprinters. In the final 4km Will Clarke (Drapac) and Pat Lane (Synergy Baku) tried their luck with an escape but it was all brought back together for Haas to take the stage honours, the points jersey and coveted yellow jersey.

Results

Stage 1 result # Rider Name (Country) Team Result 1 Nathan Haas (Aus) Garmin Sharp 3:04:12 2 Matthew Goss (Aus) Orica-GreenEdge 3 Jonathan Cantwell (Aus) Drapac Pro Cycling 4 Simon Clarke (Aus) Orica-GreenEdge 5 Neil Van Der Ploeg (Aus) Avanti Cycling Team 6 Pat Shaw (Aus) Kordamentha Real Estate - Team Australia 7 Guillaume Boivin (Can) Cannondale Pro Cycling 8 Simon Gerrans (Aus) Orica-GreenEdge 9 Patrick Bevin (NZl) New Zealand Team 10 Anthony Giacoppo (Aus) Avanti Cycling Team 11 Mitch Docker (Aus) Orica-GreenEdge 12 Steele von Hoff (Aus) Garmin Sharp 13 Jordan Kerby (Aus) Drapac Pro Cycling 14 Glenn O’Shea (Aus) Kordamentha Real Estate - Team Australia 15 Cameron Meyer (Aus) Orica-GreenEdge 16 Shaun O’Callaghan (Aus) African Wildlife Safaris 17 Jack Haig (Aus) Avanti Cycling Team 18 Calvin Watson (Aus) Kordamentha Real Estate - Team Australia 19 Darren Lapthorne (Aus) Drapac Pro Cycling 20 Alex Clements (Aus) Jayco Australian U23 21 William Clarke (Aus) Drapac Pro Cycling 22 John Anderson (Aus) Drapac Pro Cycling 23 Lachlan Norris (Aus) Drapac Pro Cycling 24 George Bennett (NZl) Cannondale Pro Cycling 25 Michael Vink (NZl) Team Budget Forklifts 26 Cameron Wurf (Aus) Cannondale Pro Cycling 27 Patrick Lane (Aus) Synergy Baku Cycling 28 Harry Carpenter (Aus) Jayco Australian U23 29 Robert Power (Aus) Jayco Australian U23 30 Rhys Gillett (Aus) African Wildlife Safaris 31 Timothy Roe (Aus) Team Budget Forklifts 32 Eric Sheppard (Aus) OCBC Singapore Team 33 Thomas Dekker (NED) Garmin Sharp 34 James Oram (NZl) New Zealand Team 35 Mark O’Brien (Aus) Avanti Cycling Team 36 Lachlan Morton (Aus) Garmin Sharp 37 Matthew Clarke (Aus) Kordamentha Real Estate - Team Australia 38 Jack Bauer (NZl) Garmin Sharp 39 Thomas Hamilton (Aus) Jayco Australian U23 0:00:15 40 Damien Howson (Aus) Orica-GreenEdge 0:00:18 41 Alberto Bettiol (Ita) Cannondale Pro Cycling 0:00:20 42 Rohan Dennis (Aus) Garmin Sharp 0:01:25 43 Richard Handley (GBr) Rapha Condor JLT 0:02:26 44 Tural Isgandarov (Aze) Synergy Baku Cycling 45 Kristian Juel (Aus) Team Budget Forklifts 46 Hugh Carth (GBr) Rapha Condor JLT 47 Davide Frattini (Ita) UnitedHealthcare 0:06:46 48 Jeremy Cameron (Aus) African Wildlife Safaris 49 Scott Davies (GBr) Great Britain National Team 50 Hayden McCormick (NZl) New Zealand Team 51 Benjamin Day (Aus) UnitedHealthcare 52 Jeffry Louder (NZl) UnitedHealthcare 53 Matthias Krizek (Aut) Cannondale Pro Cycling 54 Dion Smith (NZl) New Zealand Team 55 Karl Menzies (Aus) UnitedHealthcare 56 Samuel Horgan (NZl) Team Budget Forklifts 57 Joseph Cooper (NZl) Avanti Cycling Team 58 Chris Jory (Aus) Kordamentha Real Estate - Team Australia 59 James Rendall (Aus) African Wildlife Safaris 60 Michael Cuming (GBr) Rapha Condor JLT 61 Samuel Spokes (Aus) Jayco Australian U23 62 Nathan Elliott (Aus) African Wildlife Safaris 63 Joshua Prete (Aus) Team Budget Forklifts 64 Campbell Flakemore (Aus) Avanti Cycling Team 65 Matej Mahoric (Slo) Cannondale Pro Cycling 0:09:47 66 Matty Lloyd (Aus) Kordamentha Real Estate - Team Australia 67 Samuel Witmitz (Aus) Team Budget Forklifts 68 Jason Spencer (Aus) African Wildlife Safaris 69 Bradley White (NZl) UnitedHealthcare 70 Ji Wen Low (Sin) OCBC Singapore Team 71 Robert-John McCarthy (Aus) Jayco Australian U23 72 Christopher Lawless (GBr) Great Britain National Team 73 Thomas Moses (GBr) Rapha Condor JLT 74 Felix English (Irl) Rapha Condor JLT 75 Germain Burton (GBr) Great Britain National Team 76 Tom Scully (NZl) New Zealand Team 77 Adrian Hegyvary (NZl) UnitedHealthcare 78 Elchin Asadov (Aze) Synergy Baku Cycling 79 Cameron Bayly (Aus) OCBC Singapore Team 80 Thomas Rabou (NED) OCBC Singapore Team 81 Rico Rogers (Aus) OCBC Singapore Team 0:14:29 82 Harrif Saleh (Mas) Terengganu Team 83 Umardi Rosdi (Mas) Terengganu Team 84 Oliver Wood (GBr) Great Britain National Team 85 Daniel Klemme (Ger) Synergy Baku Cycling 86 Christopher Latham (GBr) Great Britain National Team 87 Zamri Saleh (Mas) Terengganu Team 88 Christoph Schweizer (Ger) Synergy Baku Cycling 89 Luke Davison (Aus) Synergy Baku Cycling 90 Shahrul Mat Amin (Mas) Terengganu Team 91 Ying Hon Ronald Yeung (Hkg) OCBC Singapore Team 92 Christopher Opie (GBr) Rapha Condor JLT 93 Hamish Schreurs (NZl) New Zealand Team 94 Fakhruddin Makuzi (Mas) Terengganu Team 95 Jacob Ragan (GBr) Great Britain National Team 0:17:54 DNF Anuar Manan (Mas) Terengganu Team

Sprint point 1 - Anakie # Rider Name (Country) Team Result 1 Alberto Bettiol (Ita) Cannondale Pro Cycling 6 pts 2 Thomas Hamilton (Aus) Jayco Australian U23 4 3 Nathan Elliott (Aus) African Wildlife Safaris 2

Sprint point 2 -Finish line # Rider Name (Country) Team Result 1 Nathan Haas (Aus) Garmin Sharp 10 pts 2 Matthew Goss (Aus) Orica-GreenEdge 8 3 Jonathan Cantwell (Aus) Drapac Pro Cycling 6 4 Simon Clarke (Aus) Orica-GreenEdge 4 5 Neil Van Der Ploeg (Aus) Avanti Cycling Team 2

King of the mountains 1 - Glenmore # Rider Name (Country) Team Result 1 Thomas Hamilton (Aus) Jayco Australian U23 24 pts 2 Alberto Bettiol (Ita) Cannondale Pro Cycling 16 3 Nathan Elliott (Aus) African Wildlife Safaris 8

King of the mountains 2 - Mount Edgerton # Rider Name (Country) Team Result 1 Nathan Haas (Aus) Garmin Sharp 6 pts 2 Simon Clarke (Aus) Orica-GreenEdge 4 3 Lachlan Norris (Aus) Drapac Pro Cycling 2

Young rider classification # Rider Name (Country) Team Result 1 Harry Carpenter (Aus) Jayco Australian U23 3:07:19 2 Jordan Kerby (Aus) Drapac Pro Cycling 3:07:20 3 Shaun O’Callaghan (Aus) African Wildlife Safaris 4 Patrick Bevin (NZl) New Zealand Team 3:07:21 5 Jack Haig (Aus) Avanti Cycling Team 6 James Oram (NZl) New Zealand Team 3:07:23 7 Alex Clements (Aus) Jayco Australian U23 3:07:24 8 Matthew Clarke (Aus) Kordamentha Real Estate - Team Australia 3:07:25 9 Michael Vink (NZl) Team Budget Forklifts 3:07:26 10 Robert Power (Aus) Jayco Australian U23 3:07:27 11 Eric Sheppard (Aus) OCBC Singapore Team 12 Patrick Lane (Aus) Synergy Baku Cycling 3:07:28 13 Thomas Hamilton (Aus) Jayco Australian U23 3:07:38 14 Kristian Juel (Aus) Team Budget Forklifts 3:09:52 15 Hugh Carth (GBr) Rapha Condor JLT 3:09:53 16 Tural Isgandarov (Aze) Synergy Baku Cycling 3:10:05 17 Campbell Flakemore (Aus) Avanti Cycling Team 3:14:05 18 Samuel Spokes (Aus) Jayco Australian U23 19 Hayden McCormick (NZl) New Zealand Team 3:14:08 20 Dion Smith (NZl) New Zealand Team 3:14:12 21 Joshua Prete (Aus) Team Budget Forklifts 22 Scott Davies (GBr) Great Britain National Team 3:14:14 23 Jeremy Cameron (Aus) African Wildlife Safaris 3:14:18 24 Felix English (Irl) Rapha Condor JLT 3:17:01 25 Germain Burton (GBr) Great Britain National Team 3:17:05 26 Christopher Lawless (GBr) Great Britain National Team 3:17:06 27 Robert-John McCarthy (Aus) Jayco Australian U23 3:17:11 28 Thomas Moses (GBr) Rapha Condor JLT 3:17:12 29 Christopher Latham (GBr) Great Britain National Team 3:21:53 30 Hamish Schreurs (NZl) New Zealand Team 31 Daniel Klemme (Ger) Synergy Baku Cycling 3:21:54 32 Oliver Wood (GBr) Great Britain National Team 3:21:58 33 Umardi Rosdi (Mas) Terengganu Team 3:22:04 34 Fakhruddin Makuzi (Mas) Terengganu Team 3:22:12 35 Jacob Ragan (GBr) Great Britain National Team 3:25:23

Team classification # Rider Name (Country) Team Result 1 Garmin Sharp 9:21:44 2 Drapac Professional Cycling 0:10:00 3 Orica-Green Edge 0:11:00 4 Avanti Cycling Team 5 Jayco Australian U23 National Team 0:00:18 6 Cannondale Pro Cycling 0:00:22 7 Korda Mentha Real Estate - Team Australia 0:00:26 8 Team Budget Forklifts 0:02:49 9 New Zealand National Team 0:06:59 10 African Wildlife Safaris Cycling Team 0:07:07 11 Rapha Condor JLT 0:11:57 12 Synergy Baku Cycling Project 0:12:46 13 OCBC Singapore Continental Cycling 0:20:08 14 United Healthcare Pro Cycling 0:20:37 15 Great Britain National Team 0:26:37 16 Terengganu Cycling Team 0:44:28

Most aggressive Rider Name (Country) Team Alberto Bettiol (Ita) Cannondale Pro Cycling

General classification after Stage 1 # Rider Name (Country) Team Result 1 Nathan Haas (Aus) Garmin Sharp 3:07:05 2 Jack Bauer (NZl) Garmin Sharp 0:00:07 3 William Clarke (Aus) Drapac Pro Cycling 0:00:09 4 Matthew Goss (Aus) Orica-GreenEdge 5 Steele von Hoff (Aus) Garmin Sharp 0:00:11 6 Simon Clarke (Aus) Orica-GreenEdge 0:00:12 7 Neil Van Der Ploeg (Aus) Avanti Cycling Team 8 Jonathan Cantwell (Aus) Drapac Pro Cycling 9 Simon Gerrans (Aus) Orica-GreenEdge 0:00:13 10 Anthony Giacoppo (Aus) Avanti Cycling Team 11 Glenn O’Shea (Aus) Kordamentha Real Estate - Team Australia 0:00:14 12 Cameron Meyer (Aus) Orica-GreenEdge 13 Lachlan Norris (Aus) Drapac Pro Cycling 14 Harry Carpenter (Aus) Jayco Australian U23 15 Mitch Docker (Aus) Orica-GreenEdge 0:00:15 16 Jordan Kerby (Aus) Drapac Pro Cycling 17 Shaun O’Callaghan (Aus) African Wildlife Safaris 18 Cameron Wurf (Aus) Cannondale Pro Cycling 19 Patrick Bevin (NZl) New Zealand Team 0:00:16 20 Jack Haig (Aus) Avanti Cycling Team 21 Timothy Roe (Aus) Team Budget Forklifts 22 Thomas Dekker (NED) Garmin Sharp 23 Darren Lapthorne (Aus) Drapac Pro Cycling 0:00:17 24 Rhys Gillett (Aus) African Wildlife Safaris 25 George Bennett (NZl) Cannondale Pro Cycling 0:00:18 26 James Oram (NZl) New Zealand Team 27 Alex Clements (Aus) Jayco Australian U23 0:00:19 28 Guillaume Boivin (Can) Cannondale Pro Cycling 0:00:20 29 Pat Shaw (Aus) Kordamentha Real Estate - Team Australia 30 John Anderson (Aus) Drapac Pro Cycling 31 Lachlan Morton (Aus) Garmin Sharp 32 Matthew Clarke (Aus) Kordamentha Real Estate - Team Australia 33 Michael Vink (NZl) Team Budget Forklifts 0:00:21 34 Robert Power (Aus) Jayco Australian U23 0:00:22 35 Eric Sheppard (Aus) OCBC Singapore Team 36 Calvin Watson (Aus) Kordamentha Real Estate - Team Australia 0:00:23 37 Patrick Lane (Aus) Synergy Baku Cycling 38 Thomas Hamilton (Aus) Jayco Australian U23 0:00:33 39 Mark O’Brien (Aus) Avanti Cycling Team 0:00:34 40 Damien Howson (Aus) Orica-GreenEdge 0:00:37 41 Alberto Bettiol (Ita) Cannondale Pro Cycling 0:00:40 42 Rohan Dennis (Aus) Garmin Sharp 0:01:37 43 Richard Handley (GBr) Rapha Condor JLT 0:02:45 44 Kristian Juel (Aus) Team Budget Forklifts 0:02:47 45 Hugh Carth (GBr) Rapha Condor JLT 0:02:48 46 Tural Isgandarov (Aze) Synergy Baku Cycling 0:03:00 47 Joseph Cooper (NZl) Avanti Cycling Team 0:07:00 48 Campbell Flakemore (Aus) Avanti Cycling Team 49 Samuel Spokes (Aus) Jayco Australian U23 50 Karl Menzies (Aus) UnitedHealthcare 0:07:01 51 Davide Frattini (Ita) UnitedHealthcare 0:07:03 52 Hayden McCormick (NZl) New Zealand Team 53 Jeffry Louder (NZl) UnitedHealthcare 54 Samuel Horgan (NZl) Team Budget Forklifts 55 Matthias Krizek (Aut) Cannondale Pro Cycling 0:07:04 56 James Rendall (Aus) African Wildlife Safaris 0:07:06 57 Nathan Elliott (Aus) African Wildlife Safaris 58 Benjamin Day (Aus) UnitedHealthcare 0:07:07 59 Dion Smith (NZl) New Zealand Team 60 Joshua Prete (Aus) Team Budget Forklifts 61 Michael Cuming (GBr) Rapha Condor JLT 62 Scott Davies (GBr) Great Britain National Team 0:07:09 63 Chris Jory (Aus) Kordamentha Real Estate - Team Australia 64 Jeremy Cameron (Aus) African Wildlife Safaris 0:07:13 65 Tom Scully (NZl) New Zealand Team 0:09:55 66 Felix English (Irl) Rapha Condor JLT 0:09:56 67 Germain Burton (GBr) Great Britain National Team 0:10:00 68 Christopher Lawless (GBr) Great Britain National Team 0:10:01 69 Bradley White (NZl) UnitedHealthcare 0:10:03 70 Jason Spencer (Aus) African Wildlife Safaris 71 Samuel Witmitz (Aus) Team Budget Forklifts 0:10:05 72 Robert-John McCarthy (Aus) Jayco Australian U23 0:10:06 73 Thomas Rabou (NED) OCBC Singapore Team 74 Thomas Moses (GBr) Rapha Condor JLT 0:10:07 75 Matej Mahoric (Slo) Cannondale Pro Cycling 0:10:08 76 Cameron Bayly (Aus) OCBC Singapore Team 77 Adrian Hegyvary (NZl) UnitedHealthcare 0:10:09 78 Ji Wen Low (Sin) OCBC Singapore Team 0:10:13 79 Elchin Asadov (Aze) Synergy Baku Cycling 0:10:15 80 Matty Lloyd (Aus) Kordamentha Real Estate - Team Australia 0:10:28 81 Luke Davison (Aus) Synergy Baku Cycling 0:14:47 82 Christopher Latham (GBr) Great Britain National Team 0:14:48 83 Christopher Opie (GBr) Rapha Condor JLT 84 Hamish Schreurs (NZl) New Zealand Team 85 Daniel Klemme (Ger) Synergy Baku Cycling 0:14:49 86 Christoph Schweizer (Ger) Synergy Baku Cycling 0:14:51 87 Rico Rogers (Aus) OCBC Singapore Team 0:14:53 88 Oliver Wood (GBr) Great Britain National Team 89 Harrif Saleh (Mas) Terengganu Team 0:14:56 90 Umardi Rosdi (Mas) Terengganu Team 0:14:59 91 Shahrul Mat Amin (Mas) Terengganu Team 0:15:01 92 Ying Hon Ronald Yeung (Hkg) OCBC Singapore Team 93 Zamri Saleh (Mas) Terengganu Team 0:15:03 94 Fakhruddin Makuzi (Mas) Terengganu Team 0:15:07 95 Jacob Ragan (GBr) Great Britain National Team 0:18:18

Points classification # Rider Name (Country) Team Result 1 Nathan Haas (Aus) Garmin Sharp 10 pts 2 Matthew Goss (Aus) Orica-GreenEdge 8 3 Alberto Bettiol (Ita) Cannondale Pro Cycling 6 4 Jonathan Cantwell (Aus) Drapac Pro Cycling 6 5 Simon Clarke (Aus) Orica-GreenEdge 4 6 Thomas Hamilton (Aus) Jayco Australian U23 4 7 Neil Van Der Ploeg (Aus) Avanti Cycling Team 2 8 Nathan Elliott (Aus) African Wildlife Safaris 2

King of the mountains # Rider Name (Country) Team Result 1 Thomas Hamilton (Aus) Jayco Australian U23 24 pts 2 Alberto Bettiol (Ita) Cannondale Pro Cycling 16 3 Nathan Elliott (Aus) African Wildlife Safaris 8 4 Nathan Haas (Aus) Garmin Sharp 6 5 Simon Clarke (Aus) Orica-GreenEdge 4 6 Lachlan Norris (Aus) Drapac Pro Cycling 2