Will Clarke is the first to don the yellow leader jersey at the Jayco Herald Sun Tour with his powerful Prologue win this evening in downtown Melbourne. Clarke records Drapac’s second win this season with sprinter Brenton Jones taking third.

“I felt good and I went full gas. This is a short prologue and there is no room to let up. I knew I had to stay focused, work on the corners and power on the straights,” Clarke said. “I am happy for the win and it puts our team in a good position.”

Jones, who earlier today received the Victoria Cycling Male Rider of the Year award, was elated about his performance tonight.

“I felt good and am pleased with my ride. It’s nice to know the hard work has been rewarded with my first result/podium for the year, “Jones said. “Very happy for the team, as with two on the podium, it doesn’t get much better than that."

“Explosive acceleration out of the corners helps a lot,” he explained. “But when you see the finish line, as a sprinter, you have white line fever. You look at the finish line and you give it everything until you cross it.”

Sam Bewley (Orica GreenEdge) set the fastest time early on in the evening with a time of 2:37.19 minutes. Jones, who had a slower time at half way, closed the last km with sensational speed to take over the top seat. All eyes were then set on Caleb Ewan (Orica GreenEdge), the sprinter, who then bestest Jones by .77 seconds with a time of 2:36.42 minutes.

However, the technician Clarke studied the course and rode through it with fine analysis to better his third place from 2014. Clarke, who was 5th last to leave, quickly took control of the course. He had the leading time at the halfway point and crossed the finish at 2:35.53, .89 seconds ahead of Ewan.

“I am happy to move to the top of the podium as I have thought about this for the last 12 months and I knew that the first couple turns were going to be critical to keep speed. I went over the course quite a few times to get a good feel for it.

"I've been thinking about it for 12 months so I've had some time to go over it and think about where I could make up a bit of ground. So, as always in a short prologue, it’s always close and just under a second to Caleb. It’s just about driving it as hard as you can the whole time.

"The start is a bit different so I went over it four of five times just to get it in my mind how to take the corners. It's a bit different at race pace but you still get an idea of how to take it.

"[I didn't win the race] in the corners because Caleb is such a fast guy through the corners so I knew I had to go as fast as I could through the corners and then just power through the straights.

"I knew Caleb would be right up there. It's only a two-and-a half minute effort and he’s one of the up and coming sprinters so to ride a good prologue you normally have to be a good combination of fast and not bad at time trialling."

“Great start to the tour which it enables us to set up with a solid strategy for tomorrow. The boys rode an excellent race. Both boys didn’t panic and rode to plans,” Agostino Giramondo, Sports Director said. “With tomorrow’s stage being hilly we will go on the attack utilizing our climbers to put them in a good position for the next few days.

"I'm probably not the GC rider for Drapac but we have some strong climbers and BJ [Jones] can sprint so hopefully I can help him out on the sprint stages and maybe I can look for a breakaway for myself," Clarke said.

Stage 1 starts from the iconic Mt Macedon Hotel and proceed down the mountain and do an 8 km loop before climbing back up past the hotel for the first hill climb of what will be a tough opening road stage for the event. Mount Alexander will again provide a tough challenge before a fast and furious finale into Bendigo where race will do a six km loop which will allow the spectators a double opportunity to witness the action.

Last year the stage into Bendigo proved the most decisive of the Tour and it should again be won by a strong rider who is able to negotiate the tough climbs and survive the fast finale.