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Orica-Scott shine on the second day of Bay Crits

Orica-Scott riders Amanda Spratt and Michael Hepburn solo'ed racing to respective wins on the second day of racing at the Mitchelton Bay Cycling Classic

British rider Ian Bibby (JLT Condor) finished second to hold a comfortable six-point lead heading into Tuesday's third and final round at suburban Williamstown.

Spratt solo's to Victory

Spratt soloed to victory on day two in Portarlington with team-mates Jenelle Crooks and Annemiek van Vleuten following to complete a sweep of the podium by Orica-Scott.

“I have done 12 or 13 ‘Bay Crits’ now,” Spratt said. “This is my favourite course and I have been trying to win here every year and never have. Finally, I have.

“Every year I come here and say ‘this is the year for Portarlington’ and it has never happened so I am happy it came together today.”

After missing out on the win on the first day of racing, Spratt said the plan was to be aggressive on the tougher circuit.

“We wanted to come out here, show that we are a unit and can work well together,” Spratt said. We were all really focussed for today to improve on our mistakes from yesterday and we definitely did that.

“I was really happy, particularly to see Jenelle get up there in second. Our two young riders have both had a podium now that shows the depth we have in the team.”

Mitchelton Bay Womens Race Stage 2 Results

1 Amanda Spratt (Orica-Scott) 45min 14sec
2 Jenelle Crooks (Orica-Scott) 0:01:37
3 Annemiek Van Vleuten (Orica-Scott) 0:01:38
4 Peta Mullens (Hagens Berman-Supermint) 0:01:38
5 Yumi Kajihara (Novotel Geelong-Japan) 0:01:38
6 Valentina Scandolara (Alé Cycling) 0:01:40
7 Sarah Roy (Orica-Scott) 0:01:40
8 Minami Uwano (Novotel Geelong-Japan) 0:01:40
9 Shannon Malseed 0:01:40
10 Jessica Allen (Orica-Scott) 0:01:40

Michael Hepburn wins with late attack with Bibby still top Overall

Orica-Scott quickly put Caleb Ewan's race-one crash behind them with Michael Hepburn righting the ship for the WorldTour team in attacking style.

An Australian Olympic silver medallist, Hepburn posted his first Mitchelton Bay Cycling Classic win by using his time trial talents to claim the Portarlington round.

“The plan today was quite open,” Hepburn said. “The opportunity was there for a few guys to go up the road and be aggressive and I’m thankful that I had the form and legs to go on with it.

“I was away with Ian Bibby and Jesse Kerrison, Jesse, who is a pretty fast finisher, so I wanted to go to the line by myself."

“I threw a couple of attacks in and couldn’t get rid of them but then I decided to attack through the start/finish line, which you don’t normally do here, but just tried to catch them off guard and I was lucky I got a gap and could go on with it.”

British rider Ian Bibby (JLT Condor) finished second to hold a comfortable six-point lead heading into Tuesday's third and final round at suburban Williamstown.

Bibby’s team-mate Matthew Gibson rounded out the day two result for third while another JLT Condor rider, Brenton Jones, finished fourth.

The result means there is no chance of a third overall victory for Orica-Scott and Ewan and Bibby is likely to be one of the few European raiders to win the series.

Mitchelton Bay Mens Race Race 2 result

1 Michael Hepburn (Orica-Scott) 1hr 00min 23sec
2 Ian Bibby (JLT Condor) 0:00:06
3 Mathew Gibson (JLT Condor) 0:00:6
4 Brenton Jones (JLT Condor) 0:00:08
5 Caleb Ewan (Orica-Scott) 0:00:08
6 Samuel Spokes (Total Rush) 0:00:08
7 Anthony Giacoppo (IsoWhey Sports SwissWellness) 0:00:08
8 Benjamin Hill (GTR) 0:00:09
9 Cameron Bayly (IsoWhey Sports SwissWellness) 0:00:09
10 Nathan Haas (VTWO Team) 0:00:09