Mitchelton Scott improvised on the second stage of the Herald Sun Tour, a 117.6km stage from Beechworth to Falls Creek on Thursday, with a late change of plan after Simon Yates, expected to be an overall contender, crashed in the last kilometer. He was forced to improvise in the second half of the race.

Teammate Damien Howson took over as team leader, finishing second behind stage winner and new overall leader Jai Hindley (Sunweb).

"I wasn't feeling good today, so I called the team with about 10km to go," said Yates, who is just recovering from a knee injury sustained in a crash at the Tour Down Under last month.

"Damien had great legs and was able to take the lead from the team in the end.

Yates crashed on the second stage of the Tour Down Under and injured his knee, but finished third the next day and seventh overall.9]

At the start of the Herald Sun Tour, he told Cycling News that his knee was "fine" and since the crash He said he had not had any problems

and that he had "no problems" with his knee since the crash.

Mitchelton-Scott had expected a strong performance from Yates on stage 2, as the race ends with a final undulating 30km climb to Falls Creek Ski Resort. However, he lost contact with the lead group with 5.5 km to go and finished 27th, more than 6 minutes behind Hindley.

With one kilometer to go in this critical final kilometer, Mitchelton-Scott shifted the responsibility for the overall standings from Yates to his teammate Howson. Howson joined a three-man lead group that included Hindley and Sebastian Berwick (St. George Continental Cycling Team).

Howson finished second, four seconds behind Hindley for second place overall.

"It was a pretty difficult stage and obviously our team took control from the bottom of the climb. It was a very hard race," Howson said after the stage.

"Unfortunately, Simon wasn't in the best condition today. So our coach, Matt Wilson, gave me the responsibility to try to get something done today. I was in relatively good shape, so I'm happy to finish in this position and I'm looking forward to the rest of the tour."

"We had to bide our time. The other teams still had quite a few guys left at the end of the race and I knew I could play them off a bit. The last 300 meters were an endless effort and we could taste victory, but at the same time we knew it was going to take a big effort.

Howson's performance in the second stage of the Herald Sun Tour was no surprise. He had won the stage entering Falls Creek Ski Area in the 2017 event. That day he beat Hindley, then a rider for Corda Menta Real Estate, and Kenny Ellisonde of Team Sky. Howson took the overall win after five days of racing.

"Jai finished second to me a few years ago, and now the roles are reversed, but this time it was closer, so the last three days of the Tour are the ones to win," Howson said.

Stage 3 is a 178.1 km race from Bright to Wangaratta. Stage 4, a 106 km race, will end with a summit finish at Mount Buller. The Herald Sun Tour concludes on Sunday with a flat fifth stage in Melbourne.