Bendigo, Victoria, Australia - Karl "10" Menzies of the Health Net Pro Cycling Team Presented by Maxxis continues to perpetuate his nickname, - for riding like 10 men. The big rider from Tasmania was part of a 16-man break that used high winds and high speed to blow apart the race in Stage 2 of the Jayco Herald SunTour.

Menzies was the strongest out of the group, slipping off the front at the start of the last of three difficult circuits in Bendigo. Only young Drapac Porsche rider Mitch Docker could stay with Menzies, but he too succumbed to the big man's sprint, finishing two seconds in arrears. The peloton, however, finished a whopping 29.5 minutes behind the break, effectively eliminating 80 percent of the starters from overall contention.

"It was a very hard day, it was awesome," Menzies, who takes his first career leader's jersey in the SunTour despite a stage win and sprinter's jersey classification title in previous years, told Cycling News. "We new it was going to be like that because of the wind. We just worked hard to get the gap out a bit. At the finish I was able to slip off the front, and held on for the win."

Once the break was established, the main bunch tried hard to keep them in check, with Dutch and Portuguese teams holding the gap under a minute for over 40 km. But once the gap got out to two minutes, the horsepower in the break proved too much and it was lights out for the peloton.

The break contained all the overall race favorites, including last year's winner Simon Gerrans, the AG2R rider riding on the composite Jayco Australia squad with Henk Vogels, who also made and helped establish the break. Irish strongman Dave McCann (Drapac Porsche), who gave Health Net Presented by Maxxis fits during the Tour of Taiwan in March before losing six minutes to eventual race winner Kirk O'Bee, also made the break and finished 4th on the stage. Overnight leader Hilton Clarke (Navigators) missed the break, finishing alongside Robbie McEwen in the main bunch a half-hour later.

Menzies, who finished third in the opening stage, benefited greatly from the presence of teammate and strongman O'Bee in the break. "Kirk chased down all the attacks and I just found a moment before the last lap here when they all just propped for a second, and I hit them," Menzies said. "Once I got the gap I was able to go for it while the others messed around a bit. But young Docker rode well and got to me on top of the circuit. He went past me and I was able to jump by him again just before the final corner."

Menzies takes a slim six-second lead in the overall classification ahead of German Tobias Erler (Giant Asia) who was third today and second to Clarke in Stage 1, while Dominique Rollin (Bicycle Superstore-Canada) sits third at 0:15. O'Bee's strong ride and 6th place stage finish put him in 7th overall at 0:27.

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