Video: Sam Bennett storms to podium finish at Tour Down Under

Sam Bennett, closest to camera, in full flight in the sprint against Caleb Ewan and Danny van Poppel.

Having finished 2nd to Caleb Ewan (Orica-Scott) in the People's Choice Classic in Adelaide at the weekend, Sam Bennett again took a place on the podium, but not the top sport, as the Tour Down Under began overnight in Australia.

At the end of the opening stage to Lyndoch, which was shortened to 118km from the planned 145km because of the intense heat, the efforts by Peter Sagan to lead-out Bora-Hansgrohe team mate Bennett worked better than on Sunday.

However, Sagan perhaps went a little bit early and in the dash to the line both Ewan and Danny van Poppel (Team Sky) got in front of Bennett for 1st and 2nd, with the Irishman having to settle for 3rd place.

But with two podium finishes from two outings already in the bag in the fledgling new road season, Bennett looks full of beans.

He definitely appears to have the legs that could carry him to stage victory before this race is over on Sunday.

Today's stage was animated by Astana’s Laurens De Vreese; the 29-year-old going clear solo early in the day and remaining out front alone until the last 20km.

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And while there were several efforts by riders to go clear when the escapee had been recaptured, the sprinters' teams would not allow anything to go clear.

The top three on the stage are the top three overall, in that order. And in 4th place is Bennett's team mate Jay McCarthy.

The Australian took bonus seconds at the final sprint point today and is clearly aiming for the general classification this week for Bora-Hansgrohe.

Stage 2 tomorrow will start at Stirling Island and sweeps through the town five times before setting off for a sharp descent on Norton Summit and the climb up Torrens Hill Road to the finish at Paracombe.

Ewan will take a narrow four second overall lead into day two as well as the lead in the iiNet sprint classification and the best young rider rankings.