Juan Jose Lobato (Movistar) sprinted to the first WorldTour stage win of his career in Stirling on stage two of the Santos Tour Down Under.

Lobato timed his acceleration to perfection on the tricky uphill finish after a furious pace had been set in the peloton on the finishing circuit.

Nathan Haas (Cannondale-Garmin) launched first at the denoument, but with the Australian lacking the legs to go all the way, Lobato burst into life to pass both Haas and Daryl Impey (Orica-GreenEDGE) to take victory.

A perennial contender on the trickier sprint finishes, it was Lobato’s first victory in the top tier of professional cycling despite several wins in smaller races across the globe.

Race leader Jack Bobridge held on to the ochre jersey, however, finishing safely in the peloton to ensure he boasts three seconds on Lobato ahead of stage three.

The stage had started at a fast pace, with no thought of holding something back for the stage three hill-top finale.

Thomas de Gendt (Lotto-Soudal) and Cameron Meyer (Orica-GreenEDGE) were active from the off, forming several breaks which were quickly swallowed up.

Jack Bobridge’s UniSA-Australia team did the early chasing, but when Meyer, de Gendt and Campbell Flakemore (BMC Racing) finally went clear, the stage one winner called for his team-mates to step off the pace.

It proved a clever tactic as IAM Cycling and Team Sky were among the WorldTour teams to take over on the front, with the three leaders granted a steady advantage.

De Gendt, with a point to prove after his below-par year with Omega Pharma-Quickstep, was the most active up the road, collecting maximum bonus seconds in the sprints and claiming the full King of the Mountains points too.

The threat posed by the Belgian and former champion Meyer was obvious, given the two combined for what proved to be the decisive stage in 2011 as the Australian went on to win overall.

As such, Sky and IAM Cycling kept the pace high on the front with UniSA-Australia showing only occasionally.

At the back, the peloton had twice split early on but was all together through the feed station with 40km to go – the gap to the leaders holding at more than 2’20”.

That gap quickly tumbled, however, and De Gendt was the first to be swallowed up with 25km still to ride.

Tinkoff-Saxo were among the teams to come forward on the run-in to the finishing circuit and within a kilometre both Flakemore and Meyer had been caught too.

Danilo Wyss (BMC Racing) ramped the pace up alongside Calvin Watson (Trek Factory Racing) – aided slightly be a television motorbike – to earn a small gap at the start of the final circuit.

And the move had the desired effect for BMC Racing, forcing the pace up in the bunch and costing the out-and-out sprinters on the difficult circuit.

Marcel Kittel (Giant-Alpecin), Mark Renshaw (Etixx-QuickStep) and Giacomo Nizzolo (Trek Factory Racing) were among the riders taken out of contention, while de Gendt paid for his earlier efforts too.

Robert Power (UniSA-Australia) also saw his outside chance of an overall win harmed by a poorly-timed puncture.

Wyss and Watson were brought back at the 10km to go banner, with British champion Peter Kennaugh among those on the front of the bunch.

Sky had strength in numbers at the front, all protecting Richie Porte, while Bobridge and Cadel Evans (BMC Racing) also made their forward – though it was soon just Kennaugh left with Porte on the lumpy road.

Tinkoff-Saxo and Etixx-QuickStep also brought riders to the front, while the steady flow of riders off the back continued too.

The green-and-black jerseys of Cannondael-Garmin also showed for the first time, Ryder Hesjedal leading them forward for Nathan Haas’ benefit.

With so many teams battling to bring riders forward, the pace remained very high – led by a huge effort from Team Sky’s Manxman in the red, white and blue jersey, Kennaugh.

He finally peeled off with three kilometres to race, allowing Cannondale-Garmin to take charge – the American team retaining control under the flamme rouge.

Haas launched very early on the uphill sprint, with Daryl Impey (Orica-GreenEDGE) on his wheel and Evans desperately battling for a chance of a bonus second.

Haas’ effort was mistimed however as Impey took over on the front – but Lobato timed his own acceleration to perfection.

Coming from several wheels back, the Spaniard’s burst of pace brought no answer as he passed team-mate Gorka Izaguirre and Impey to take victory.

The South African held on to second place to earn bonus seconds, but both Evans and Porte missed out – finishing fifth and seventh respectively to leave them level-pegging overall.

Bobridge, meanwhile, held on to the ochre jersey despite an average speed on the final climb of more than 43km/h from the bunch.

Tour Down Under 2015: stage two – result

1) Juan Jose Lobato (ESP) – Movistar – 3.42.24hrs
2) Daryl Impey (RSA) – Orica-GreenEDGE – ST
3) Gorka Izaguirre (ESP) – Movistar
4) Tom Dumoulin (NED) – Giant-Alpecin
5) Cadel Evans (AUS) – BMC Racing
6) Luis Leon Sanchez (ESP) – Astana
7) Richie Porte (AUS) – Team Sky
8) Niccolo Bonifazio (ITA) – Lampre-Merida
9) Nathan Haas (AUS) – Cannondale-Garmin
10) Samuel Dumoulin (FRA) – Ag2r-La Mondiale

General classification

1) Jack Bobridge (AUS) – UniSA-Australia – 6.41.55hrs
2) Juan Jose Lobato (ESP) – Movistar +3”
3) Lieuwe Westra (NED) – Astana +4”
4) Daryl Impey (RSA) – Orica-GreenEDGE +7”
5) Gorka Izaguirre (ESP) – Movistar +9”
6) Niccolo Bonifazio (ITA) – Lampre-Merida +13”
7) Gianni Meersman (BEL) – Etixx-QuickStep – ST
8) Samuel Dumoulin (FRA) – Ag2r-La Mondiale
9) Nathan Haas (AUS) – Cannondale-Garmin
10) Cadel Evans (AUS) – BMC Racing
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14) Richie Porte (AUS) – Team Sky – ST
16) Geraint Thomas (GBR) – Team Sky