While most of the international peloton left immediately after the Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race on the last weekend in January, Chris Froome (Israel Premier Tech) did not, heading to the highlands of Victoria for additional training in the Australian summer and headed to.

Then, on the eve of the Melbourne to Warrnambool, the news came that Chris Froome, a four-time Tour de France winner with high status in the country's cycling world, would line up in the peloton.

Just before the race, Froome flew into the Avalon airport, a convenient starting point, in a small plane with little room for anything but himself and his bicycle; he flew out fully equipped and was quickly ushered to the start of this 267-km challenge, where the first event was held in 1895 .

Froom was joined by about 125 riders, mostly from National Road Series teams, for the race.

Froome is an unorthodox and most envied pro cyclist. Indeed, for Froome, this was the last day of an extremely solid block of training for his return to Europe.

"I came here looking for hard training and that's exactly what I got. I finished completely blind on the finish line. It was a great race," Froome said in Warrnambool.

The race from Melbourne to Warrnambool is often a race where the early moves are caught up with and legs burnt after a long day at the front, as riders who have been on the back of the pack move up to the front. In particular, there was a strong headwind for the racers from Avalon to western Victoria.

However, the early braking was still there as they entered the Great Ocean Road at Port Campbell, three-quarters of the way through the race, for the final spurt to Warnambool.

"I didn't expect such a big group to go early," said Froome. "Everyone told me to ride conservatively for the first 100km, 150km, but after the first 20km it was like the race was over: a group of 20 went up with all the teams represented, so there wasn't a lot of chasing behind."

But that was something Froome tried to change, and while others in the peloton may have had teammates up front, he was riding alone.

"After about 200 km we coasted and six guys got away from the front of the peloton and started closing the gap. Then two got out but couldn't get back in front. He has recently turned his attention to triathlon, but having finished second in 2020, he knows what it takes to do well in this race.

While they were on the move, Chloe Hosking, who is competing in Sunday's women's cycling classic, the Warrnambool Cycling Classic, tweeted on Twitter (opens in new tab).

Hosking was well aware of the strength of the fellow Canberra-based cyclists.

The two had pulled back considerably, with the peloton finishing 14 minutes behind lone winner Tristan Sanders (Team Bridge Lane), while Hill and Froome had closed the gap by about 9 minutes.

Hill finished in 8th place, 4:51 behind Sanders, and Froome finished in 12th place, 5:14 behind.

"Congratulations to the first finishers! I actually couldn't see that far ahead," said Froome as he crossed the finish line at Warrnambool on Raglan Parade. ." said Froome as he crossed the finish line at Warrnambool in the Raglan Parade.