Thursday, 24 January 2019:
Cycling's famed Wolfpack has thrived in brutal blast furnace conditions to dominate Race Melbourne.
Italian sprint ace Elia Viviani led the way for Deceuninck-Quick Step on Thursday as the temperature remained in the high 30s for the Albert Park circuit race.
Earlier, the mercury peaked at 40 as Finn Lotta Lepisto and the Trek-Segafredo team took out the women's race.
Race Melbourne this year went from a standard criterium to a teams-based format.
It was effectively a points race transplanted from the track onto the road but with a teams focus.
Deceucinck-Quick Step, whose motto is the Wolf Pack, showed again why they are pro cycling's most powerful team with a polished performance.
They scored 95 points and Jumbo-Visma were well behind on 57.
Viviani, who won the opening stage of last week's Tour Down Under, took out the individual sprint category by six points.
It reaffirms the Italian as one of the favourites for Sunday's Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road race, where he was runner-up a year ago.
Viviani said the heat on Thursday was a concern.
"Everyone was worried this morning when we saw the new format because it's not like an easy criterium - a normal race with a final sprint," he said.
"It was not easy to manage."
Viviani said despite the oppressive conditions, Race Melbourne was a good hit-out ahead of Sunday's big race in Geelong.
Given the heatwaves conditions in Adelaide and Victoria, Viviani said proper recovery would be crucial.
"Down Under was much harder than the last few years, so we have it in our legs," he said.
"If we recover well, our condition will go up, but we really need to be careful."
Viviani is confident he can be a factor again on Sunday, despite the steep Challambra climb that is a feature of the course.
"Last year was a really controlled race, also with the heat," he said.
"Everyone waited until the last moment ... I remember, it was one of the hottest days of the year.
"It's a short-but-steep climb - I'm confident I can stay there (near the front).
"I'm really focused because I like the race but at the same time I'm careful because I know it's not going to be easy."
Australian sprint rival Caleb Ewan (Lotto-Soudal) also raced on Thursday but scored no points after riding to the event earlier in the day from Geelong.
