Down Under king Welsford beaten by Lund Andresen in lightning-fast echelon edition of Surf Coast Classic

It was a chaotic edition of the Australian one-day race, with the pace blisteringly high from start to finish. The race itself is not the most demanding and is usually one for the sprinters. However, the climb of Silk Hill in the opening ten kilometers already caused some early tension, as many teams were eager to make the race hard—partly because the wind was expected to play a role later in the day.

And so, the tempo skyrocketed. In the end, the predictions came true as echelons formed, turning the race into a battle against the wind. Several riders tried to break away to avoid a sprint, including Mauro Schmid (Jayco AlUla) and Geraint Thomas (INEOS Grenadiers). Despite numerous attacks, a reduced group of about 30 riders remained in the final, setting up a sprint. In that decisive dash to the line, Lund Andresen proved to be the strongest. The intense race saw an average speed of over 48 km/h!

The 22-year-old Dane took revenge for his disappointing Tour Down Under, where he was denied a sprint opportunity by Danny van Poppel, who was later relegated for it. But with full freedom this time, he showed what he’s capable of. "It was an amazing day for us," he said later on his team’s website. "We’ve worked really hard for this over the past few days. We stayed at the front all day, and when the first selection happened, we had six guys up there."

"It was tough and fast, but with the support of my team, it honestly felt pretty fun. I’m really happy I could turn the guys’ trust in me into a victory. Let’s do it again on Sunday," the Dane said, referring to the Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race. There, he will once again face Sam Welsford and Bryan Coquard, who finished sixth on Thursday.