Deep into the final kilometre Elia Viviani was well out of the running; nowhere near the front group. Yet he caught it and still had the legs to put in an incredible final sprint; this is well worth a look.

Elia Viviani speed Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race

A man as comfortable on the track as he is in road race sprints, Elia Viviani put in an incredible finale at the Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race.

With the front group of around 30 riders having split, a breakaway made it into the final kilometre.

Viviani was not among those out front. And as the footage below shows he was still a distance off the back of the leaders as the sprint opened.

Eventual winner Jay McCarthy (Bora-hansgrohe) was the first to really take it up on the front of the sprint.

And though he pushed hard for home and he won, Viviani came with speed from miles back to press him very close.

The Italian riding for QuickStep simply ran out of road; the finish line coming a metre or two too soon for him.

Don't be confused by the blue QuickStep jersey in the front group; that's Dries Devenyns rather than Viviani.

The first clip below is all overhead footage of the final kilometre with no commentary. But its value is that it shows all the action from the helicopter.

It gives a real sense of how far out of it Viviani was until the very end of the race when he almost pulled it off.

Well beaten by Ireland's fastest man

Elia Viviani already has a win under his belt this year, taking stage 3 of the Tour Down Under last week.

But despite his clear early season form he was beaten for victory in Race Melbourne last Thursday. That went to Ireland’s Sam Bennett who won it by a large margin.

As a result, Viviani had to be content with the runner-up spot on the day.

The Italian (28) is the reigning omnium Olympic champion. He’s a five-time European champion on the track.

Furthermore, has won a combined 13 medals in elite Europeans or Worlds.