Marius Mayrhofer takes absolute shocker with sprint win at Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race

The Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race saw a thrilling finale with a late catch leading to a sprint, and it was Team DSM's Marius Mayrhofer who took the first win of his career in what was a massive surprise.

The race saw the breakaway reeled in early and the action also kick off early as the ascent of the Challambra Crescent frequently doing some damage in the peloton. In the penultimate lap there were fireworks off the front in both ascents and the pace ramped up afterwards with several attacks splitting the peloton in two.

However as they entered the final lap the two groups united. In the final ascent of Challambra UAE initally pushed the pace, and Sven Erik Bystrom put in a blistering attack towards the summit, going clear. Mauro Schmid went off the front over the summit, joining the Norwegian at the bottom of the descent.

UAE and Jayco united to chase in the final hilltop and run-up to the finish line as they tried to shut down the gap which grew to 10 seconds at it's maximum. The catch seemed unlikely until Luke Plapp put in a big dig inside the final kilometer, closing the gap.

A crash in the final sprint saw a lot of drama, but more was to come as the most renowned sprinters didn't make it to the front, and the sprint was won by Marius Mayrhofer who burst into tears after the finish, Hugo Page and Simon Clarke rode to second and third as both Michael Matthews and Caleb Ewan settled for secondary results.