Simon Gerrans out-sprints star pair to win thrilling road race at National Championship Simon Gerrans was too good in a sprint finish in Ballarat. Picture: Michael Klein Source: News Limited AUSTRALIA'S greatest one-day rider, Simon Gerrans, has beaten the nation's two best Grand Tour riders in Cadel Evans and Richie Porte to be crowned national champion for the second time today. Gerrans produced his trademark late kick, which won him his first national title and Milan-San Remo in 2012, to out-sprint the star pair in front of the biggest crowd Buninyong has ever seen for the event. The 183.6km race was also widely hailed as the greatest ever national championship, with the cream of Australian cycling fighting it out on a frantic final lap of the gruelling circuit. Gerrans had support from his Orica-GreenEDGE teammate Cameron Meyer in the last few kilometres but it was left to him to time his jump to perfection to come around Evans and Porte and take the win. It's a huge honour to be crowned Australian champion for the next 12 months. I guess it shows the depth we have in Australian cycling when I've got Richie Porte and Cadel Evans at my side on the podium," Gerrans said. But really when it comes down to it I can't thank my Orica-GreenEDGE teammates enough. The plan was always to try to have it together for me in the last lap if the race was in any way under threat. And the guys committed to that, they brought it back together for me and Cameron Meyer worked tirelessly for me on that final lap. Gerrans said his burst of speed at the finish - which he used to win the Willunga Hill stage of last year's TDU - was a handy weapon to have. "Very nice, and that's something I work hard on," he said. To come into the finish with a small group like that and have a little sprint up my sleeve always comes in very handy. I'm not going to rank this win and compare it to any of my others, every single win is special in its own way. But to win in front of an Australian crowd like this, for an Australian WorldTour team is very, very special. Evans's silver medal marked his first appearance at the national championships since 2005, and he did himself and his BMC team proud with a gutsy effort in front of an adoring Victorian crowd. The public, the crowd, the weather and the town, I say thank you. It was a fantastic experience and the quality of the racing and so on," Evans said. It was a little bit hard in January because if I line up at the world championships at the end of the year, at the end of the race they're probably going to be asking what's the matter with me. It's a long season ahead and that side makes it a little bit difficult but the crowd and enthusiasm was a fantastic race. I might have left my run a bit late but (with a) headwind, I was pretty legless there at the end. I really expected that group of 17 to go away after 30ks, so I spent a lot of energy trying to be there but no matter what I did in this race there was either someone on my wheel or closing to me. That left me a bit legless in the final, I had the perfect position but just lacked one more jump. Team Sky's Porte, who fought just as hard as Evans and unleashed a flutter of late attacks in the final, was pleased with his performance and praised the two other men on the podium. "I had a bit longer off-season than I thought but I've worked hard the last few weeks," Porte said. I'm very happy to be on the podium and full credit to Simon, I think when he attacked on the last climb he showed he was head-and-shoulders the strongest rider in the race. If I had the legs I would have gone a little bit earlier ... but he's certainly in some great form and going into Tour Down Under he's in a great position. GreenEDGE full credit to them, Drapac took it to them and they didn't panic at all. At the end of the day they deserve the win and they got it. There were constant early attacks by Drapac in the race and the red-hot pace brought some riders unstuck. A world-class group of 17 had formed by the third lap, which remarkably included Allan Iacuone who was still racing aggressively 20 years after he won the national title. Orica-GreenEDGE had Simon Clarke, Luke Durbridge, Mitch Docker in the escape group and were only slightly out-numbered by Drapac which had Adam Phelan, Will Clarke, Wes Sulzberger and Bernie Sulzberger. Other teams were represented by Adam Hansen, Steele Von Hoff, Will Walker, Rhys Gillett, Nathan Elliott, Chris Jory, Josh Prete, Josh Taylor and man-of-the-moment Brenton Jones who won the Bay Cycling Classic and is gunning for a spot in the Tour Down Under. Avanti went to the front of the peloton to try to contain the break which extended its lead to 3min 9secs after five of the 18 laps. By lap six its lead was out to 3:42 but they were kept at bay by the bunch which trailed by 2:47 inside the final 100km. With seven laps to go, Budget Forklifts went to the front of the peloton and the breakaway began to dwindle. Sensing the pack was closing in on them, Simon Clarke kicked more than once up the climb on lap 16 and 17 but he was followed by Drapac's Will Clarke, Garmin's Von Hoff and Lotto's Adam Hansen. The bunch was together as they got the bell for the final lap and Cameron Meyer and Jack Bobridge flexed their muscles up the back straight before Evans, Porte and Gerrans took over to fight it out for the win. The Orica-GreenEDGE rider outsprinted fellow Tour de France stars Cadel Evans and Richie Porte for his second national title in three years. It was a dream finish for race organisers after a superb 183.6km race on the tough 10km circuit at Buninyong, near Ballarat. Gerrans also won this race two years ago. Orica-GreenEDGE have won the title every time since their inception, with Luke Durbridge taking out last year's title. Evans was second and Porte finished third to show they are also in strong form ahead of the January 19-26 Tour Down Under, the first WorldTour race of the season. Evans and Porte were able to post big results despite the weight of numbers of the Orica-GreenEDGE and Drapac teams. The race came down to those three and Gerrans' teammate Cameron Meyer, who had started the decisive attack on the last climb. Those four came together inside the last 5km and Gerrans launched a withering sprint on the home straight to take the title, with Meyer finishing fourth. ``When Simon went, he kicked like a mule ... the best man won today," Porte said. The race came down to a front group of 18 on the last lap. A breakaway group of 10 had gone clear on the second of 18 laps and it grew to 17. They dominated for more than half the race, but never built a lead of more than four minutes. The remnants of the break were caught on the second-last lap.