British champion Peter Kennaugh (Team Sky) timed his attack to perfection on the final lap to win the 2016 Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race by 6 seconds from Australian Leigh Howard (IAM Cycling) who won the sprint for second place ahead of Niccolò Bonifazio (Trek-Segafredo) in third. Simon Gerrans (Orica-GreenEdge) and Nathan Haas (Dimension Data) were fifth and sixth.
The 2016 Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race started with a threat of rain on the radar and grey skies above but as the lead group of 6 riders including Pat Lane (Avanti Isowhey), Kristian House (ONE Pro Cycling) and Alessandro De Marchi (BMC Racing Team) were approaching the KOM out of Bells Beach the sun was shining and the break had a 6 minute gap to the peloton. Pat Lane won the KOM at Bells Beach and would end the day winning both the overall KOM and Sprint titles spending most of the day in the break.
Pat Lane attacked his breakaway companions on the fist lap of the finishing circuit and only De Marchi could follow. Behind those two the peloton was closing fast and as the race came back together on the penultimate lap Rafael Valls attacked opening a small gap to be joined by Cam Meyer (Data Dimension) and Sal Puccio (Team Sky).
The three riders led by 12 seconds into Challambra for the final time and as Meyer and Puccio fell back to the bunch it was Peter Kennaugh bridging across to Valls then attacking on his own to lead over the KOM with 12km left to race. After the descent to Queens Park bridge Kennaugh had opened a 22 second lead with 9.6km to race including the Melville Avenue climb. The peloton with Orica-GreenEdge and Katusha leading the chase hardly made an impression as Kennaugh went under the 1km to go banner still with a huge lead of 14 seconds and had time to sit up and celebrate winning the 2016 Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race.
Team Sky rider Peter Kennaugh wins Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race https://t.co/ysndlBZEY5 pic.twitter.com/mIBf8BiDjh
— Sky Sports Cycling (@SkyCycling) January 31, 2016
Results of the 2016 Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race
| Place | Rider Name (Country) Team | Time |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Peter Kennaugh (GBr) Team Sky | 4:04:59 |
| 2 | Leigh Howard (Aus) IAM Cycling | +:06 |
| 3 | Niccolò Bonifazio (Ita) Trek-Segafredo | |
| 4 | Pim Ligthart (Ned) Lotto – Soudal | |
| 5 | Simon Gerrans (Aus) Orica GreenEdge | |
| 6 | Nathan Haas (Aus) Dimension Data | |
| 7 | Alexey Tsatevich (Rus) Team Katusha | |
| 8 | Ben Swift (GBr) Team Sky | |
| 9 | Enrico Battaglin (Ita) Team LottoNL – Jumbo | |
| 10 | Dion Smith (NZl) ONE Pro Cycling | |
| 11 | Steele von Hoff (Aus) ONE Pro Cycling | |
| 12 | Reinardt Janse Van Rensburg (Rsa) Dimension Data | |
| 13 | Luke Rowe (GBr) Team Sky | |
| 14 | Steven Lampier (GBr) JLT Condor | |
| 15 | Jonathan Clarke (Aus) UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling Team | |
| 16 | Nathan Earle (Aus) Drapac Professional Cycling | |
| 17 | Tiago Machado (Por) Team Katusha | |
| 18 | Floris Gerts (Ned) BMC Racing Team | |
| 19 | Michael Storer (Aus) Australia | |
| 20 | James Oram (NZl) ONE Pro Cycling | |
| 21 | Sergey Lagutin (Rus) Team Katusha | +:11 |
| 22 | Rafael Valls Ferri (Esp) Lotto – Soudal | |
| 23 | Adam Hansen (Aus) Lotto – Soudal | |
| 24 | Aleksejs Saramotins (Lat) IAM Cycling | |
| 25 | Jarlinson Pantano Gomez (Col) IAM Cycling | |
| 26 | Gert Dockx (Bel) Lotto – Soudal | |
| 27 | Cameron Meyer (Aus) Dimension Data | +:15 |
| 28 | Mathew Hayman (Aus) Orica GreenEdge | +:38 |
| 29 | Jack Haig (Aus) Orica GreenEdge | +:58 |
| 30 | Danilo Wyss (Sui) BMC Racing Team | +1:03 |
| 31 | Bernard Sulzberger (Aus) Drapac Professional Cycling | +2:14 |
| 32 | Fumiyuki Beppu (Jpn) Trek-Segafredo | |
| 33 | Robbie Hucker (Aus) Avanti IsoWhey Sport | |
| 34 | Jason Christie (NZl) Kenyan Riders Downunder | |
| 35 | Damien Howson (Aus) Orica GreenEdge | |
| 36 | Rein Taaramäe (Est) Team Katusha | +3:07 |
| 37 | Anthony Giacoppo (Aus) Avanti IsoWhey Sport | +3:19 |
| 38 | Alistair Donohoe (Aus) Australia | +3:39 |
| 39 | Maxim Belkov (Rus) Team Katusha | |
| 40 | Sebastian Henao Gomez (Col) Team Sky | |
| 41 | Salvatore Puccio (Ita) Team Sky | |
| 42 | Maarten Tjallingii (Ned) Team LottoNL – Jumbo | |
| 43 | Jack Bobridge (Aus) Trek-Segafredo | |
| 44 | Neil Van Der Ploeg (Aus) Avanti IsoWhey Sport | |
| 45 | Marcel Aregger (Sui) IAM Cycling | |
| 46 | Adam Phelan (Aus) Drapac Professional Cycling | |
| 47 | Patrick Lane (Aus) Avanti IsoWhey Sport | |
| 48 | Joseph Cooper (NZl) Avanti IsoWhey Sport | |
| 49 | Lars Ytting Bak (Den) Lotto – Soudal | +6:09 |
| 50 | Vladimir Isaychev (Rus) Team Katusha | |
| 51 | Samuel Spokes (Aus) Drapac Professional Cycling | |
| 52 | Rick Zabel (Ger) BMC Racing Team | |
| 53 | Chris Harper (Aus) State Of Matter / MAAP | |
| 54 | Saxon Irvine (Aus) Data#3 Cisco Racing Team p/b Scody | |
| 55 | Thomas De Gendt (Bel) Lotto – Soudal | |
| 56 | Dylan Sunderland (Aus) State Of Matter / MAAP | |
| 57 | Angus Lyons (Aus) Australia | |
| 58 | Ryan Cavanagh (Aus) State Of Matter / MAAP | |
| 59 | Simon Pellaud (Sui) IAM Cycling | |
| 60 | Damiano Cunego (Ita) Nippo – Vini Fantini | |
| 61 | Scott Ambrose (NZl) Team Novo Nordisk | |
| 62 | Joshua Hunt (GBr) ONE Pro Cycling | |
| 63 | Patrick Shaw (Aus) Avanti IsoWhey Sport | |
| 64 | Hayden McCormick (NZl) ONE Pro Cycling | |
| 65 | Ian Boswell (USA) Team Sky | +6:24 |
| 66 | Ryder Hesjedal (Can) Trek-Segafredo | |
| 67 | Rohan Dennis (Aus) BMC Racing Team | +6:38 |
| 68 | Peter Velits (Slo) BMC Racing Team | |
| 69 | Martijn Keizer (Ned) Team LottoNL – Jumbo | |
| 70 | Richard Handley (GBr) ONE Pro Cycling | |
| 71 | Bert-Jan Lindeman (Ned) Team LottoNL – Jumbo | +6:41 |
| 72 | Alessandro De Marchi (Ita) BMC Racing Team | |
| 73 | Ben Hill (Aus) Attaque Team Gusto | +9:32 |
| 74 | Jai Hindley (Aus) Attaque Team Gusto | |
| 75 | Suleiman Kangangi (Ken) Kenyan Riders Downunder | |
| 76 | Patrick Sharpe (Aus) St George Merida Cycling Team | |
| 77 | Brian Kamstra (Ned) Team Novo Nordisk | |
| 78 | Mathew Ross (Aus) Australia | |
| 79 | Luke Parker (Aus) State Of Matter / MAAP | |
| 80 | Alexander Smyth (Aus) State Of Matter / MAAP | |
| 81 | Samuel Jenner (Aus) Australia | |
| 82 | Sean Lake (Aus) Avanti IsoWhey Sport | |
| 83 | Gavin Mannion (USA) Drapac Professional Cycling | |
| 84 | Conor Dunne (Irl) JLT Condor | |
| 85 | Alistair Slater (GBr) JLT Condor | |
| 86 | George Bennett (NZl) Team LottoNL – Jumbo | +12:27 |
| 87 | Christopher Lawless (GBr) JLT Condor | |
| 88 | Jacobus Venter (Rsa) Dimension Data | |
| 89 | Yuma Koishi (Jpn) Nippo – Vini Fantini | |
| 90 | Thomas Hubbard (NZl) Data#3 Cisco Racing Team p/b Scody | |
| 91 | Tyler Farrar (USA) Dimension Data | |
| 92 | John Murphy (USA) UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling Team | |
| DNF | Egor Silin (Rus) Team Katusha | |
| DNF | Caleb Ewan (Aus) Orica GreenEdge | |
| DNF | Sam Bewley (NZl) Orica GreenEdge | |
| DNF | Mitchell Docker (Aus) Orica GreenEdge | |
| DNF | Gregory Henderson (NZl) Lotto – Soudal | |
| DNF | Eugenio Alafaci (Ita) Trek-Segafredo | |
| DNF | Julien Bernard (Fra) Trek-Segafredo | |
| DNF | Laurent Didier (Lux) Trek-Segafredo | |
| DNF | Songezo Jim (Rsa) Dimension Data | |
| DNF | Mark Cavendish (GBr) Dimension Data | |
| DNF | Adrian Hegyvary (USA) UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling Team | |
| DNF | Tyler Magner (USA) UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling Team | |
| DNF | Karl Menzies (Aus) UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling Team | |
| DNF | Daniel Summerhill (USA) UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling Team | |
| DNF | Tanner Putt (USA) UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling Team | |
| DNF | Kristian House (GBr) ONE Pro Cycling | |
| DNF | Travis Meyer (Aus) Drapac Professional Cycling | |
| DNF | Thomas Scully (NZl) Drapac Professional Cycling | |
| DNF | Corentin Cherhal (Fra) Team Novo Nordisk | |
| DNF | Gerd De Keijzer (Ned) Team Novo Nordisk | |
| DNF | James Glasspool (Aus) Team Novo Nordisk | |
| DNF | Christopher Williams (Aus) Team Novo Nordisk | |
| DNF | Giacomo Berlato (Ita) Nippo – Vini Fantini | |
| DNF | Daniele Colli (Ita) Nippo – Vini Fantini | |
| DNF | Nicolas Marini (Ita) Nippo – Vini Fantini | |
| DNF | Kazushige Kuboki (Jpn) Nippo – Vini Fantini | |
| DNF | Michael Cuming (GBr) State Of Matter / MAAP | |
| DNF | Joshua Taylor (Aus) State Of Matter / MAAP | |
| DNF | Adam Allen (Aus) Data#3 Cisco Racing Team p/b Scody | |
| DNF | Kyle Bridgwood (Aus) Data#3 Cisco Racing Team p/b Scody | |
| DNF | Samuel Volkers (Aus) Data#3 Cisco Racing Team p/b Scody | |
| DNF | Alex Grunke (Aus) Data#3 Cisco Racing Team p/b Scody | |
| DNF | Craig Evers (Aus) Data#3 Cisco Racing Team p/b Scody | |
| DNF | Russell Downing (GBr) JLT Condor | |
| DNF | Jonathan Mould (GBr) JLT Condor | |
| DNF | George Atkins (GBr) JLT Condor | |
| DNF | Cameron Bayly (Aus) Attaque Team Gusto | |
| DNF | Sam Dobbs (NZl) Attaque Team Gusto | |
| DNF | Shao Hsuan Lu (Tpe) Attaque Team Gusto | |
| DNF | Guy Kalma (Aus) Attaque Team Gusto | |
| DNF | Timothy Guy (Aus) Attaque Team Gusto | |
| DNF | Jay Dutton (Aus) St George Merida Cycling Team | |
| DNF | Nicholas Woods (Aus) St George Merida Cycling Team | |
| DNF | Daniel Bonello (Aus) St George Merida Cycling Team | |
| DNF | Brodie Talbot (Aus) St George Merida Cycling Team | |
| DNF | Josh Berry (Aus) St George Merida Cycling Team | |
| DNF | Harrison Wiles (Aus) St George Merida Cycling Team | |
| DNF | Nick Miller (NZl) Kenyan Riders Downunder | |
| DNF | Nathan Elliott (Aus) Kenyan Riders Downunder | |
| DNF | Joseph Gichora Kamau (Ken) Kenyan Riders Downunder | |
| DNF | Morgan Smith (NZl) Kenyan Riders Downunder | |
| DNF | Geoffrey Kiprotich Langat (Ken) Kenyan Riders Downunder | |
| DNF | Ben Dyball (Aus) Australia | |
| DNF | Nicholas Schultz (Aus) Australia |
Race report – TBL – The Bike Lane
