Phil Bauhaus wins crash-marred stage 1 of Tour Down Under

The second stage, stage 1, of this year's Tour Down Under was expected to end in a sprint and the fast men didn't disappoint. Bahrain - Victorious' Phil Bauhaus took the win on what was a chaotic and tight final sprint.

The stage saw the breakaway calmly controlled, and within the final half hour of racing the peloton fully swarmed the road, which then led to a very chaotic finale as teams spent a lot of energy to stay towards the front. A crash inside the final kilometer saw the list of sprinters reduced.

Team Jayco AlUla did the best leadout, with Phil Bauhaus launching his sprint first. In what seemed like a slow motion sprint, Bauhaus stayed in front as Caleb Ewan surged to second place and Michael Matthews held for third.

The stage was marked by the crashes and the consequent abandon of Patrick Bevin, and the late crash meant that Alberto Bettiol kept his race lead.