Tour Down Under 2020, stage two – full results and standings: Caleb Ewan takes overall lead after uphill sprint victory

Caleb Ewan won stage two at the Tour Down Under on Wednesday as the Lotto-Soudal rider took the overall leader's jersey off the shoulders off fellow sprinter Sam Bennett in the opening WorldTour race of the season.

Ewan displayed immense power on the uphill sprint to the finish to stage in 3hr 27min 31sec, ahead of defending champion Daryl Impey (Mitchelton-Scott) at the end of the 135.8 kilometre stage from Woodside to Stirling. Nathan Haas ( Cofidis, Solutions Crédits) while promising young sprinter Jasper Philipsen ( UAE-Team Emirates) was fourth.

Bennett (Deceuninck-Quick Step), who won Tuesday's opening stage, finished in 13th spot on the same time as Ewan, but the Australian's 10-second time bonus and the fact that he finished in seventh spot on the previous stage saw him leapfrog the Irishman in the early general classification.

Impey moved into a challenging position, only a second behind the race leader while Philpsen is fourth, 4sec behind Ewan.

"I'm super happy with that," Ewan said. "Yesterday things didn't go to plan and I think we spoke for about an hour in the room about what we can do better. The boys did absolutely perfect today, they did everything I asked for and I headed to the line in perfect position."

A crash within two kilometres of the line fractured the peloton, leaving around only 25 riders in contention but Ewan stayed out of trouble and was left perfectly placed to unleash his sprint.

"You can't do it on your own and I said to [the team] yesterday if I'm going to win today's stage it's a tough one and I'm going to need all the help I can get," Ewan said.

Bennett also avoided the late pile-up and was in a strong position heading towards the finish but he did not have Ewan's late acceleration.

"In top form I know I can do a finish like this but in January it's just good to be here," Bennett said. "To have these legs already in the season is pretty good. At 200 metres to go I thought this could be a good day but I got off the saddle and there's nothing there."

The Tour Down Under continues on Thursday with the 131km third stage from Unley to Paracomb and concludes on Sunday on Willunga Hill.