GreenEDGE rider Robbie McEwen lived up to his top billing tonight as he emerged at the front of a thrilling sprint to the line to clinch the OCBC Cycle Singapore Professional Criterium 2012 in sensational style.

McEwen, who is drawing a close on his illustrious career this year, was a warm favourite heading into tonight's race and he certainly lived up to all the pre-race hype. Riding in front of a large and vocal crowd at the F1 Pit Building for GreenEDGE Cycling,

McEwen narrowly headed off Boy Van Poppel (United Healthcare Pro Cycling) and Matthias Friedmann (Team Champion System) in 2nd and 3rd place respectively.

"I'm one for one in Singapore, and I'm pretty happy with that," said McEwen in a post-race interview. "My teammates raced aggressively in the first half of the race and put me in a good position to attack."

The GreenEDGE trio raced hard from the gun with Fumy Beppu and Luke Durbridge launching early attacks to soften up the field. Beppu's attack on lap 17 was the impetuous for a counter-attack from Tom Scully (Chipotle - First Solar) that would eventually become the winning move. McEwen was the first to grab Scully's wheel. Boy van Poppel (UnitedHealthcare), Matt Cronshaw (Node4-Giordana), Westley Gough (Subway Cycling Team) and Matthias Friedman (Team Champion Systems) joined McEwen and Scully up the road.

"I had a feeling it would be a breakaway tonight and I had to be part of it. I had to ride an aggressive race - the six of us out front cooperated really well to keep us away from the pack," McEwen said.

The 39-year-old's win continued his impressive record of at least one victory in each of his 17 seasons as a professional.

"It's my first win of the season and I was hoping to get a win this year so tonight was very special for me," McEwen added.

The second-placed Van Poppel was gracious in defeat, stating "(McEwen) beat me on the last sprint but it's not a disgrace to lose to a 12 stage winner of the Tour de France."

Late afternoon rains made for a slick course.

"It wasn't easy out there," noted McEwen. "With the weather conditions, we had to be careful in the corners while racing aggressively. Everyone was talking about a sprint finish. I was fairly certain the break could stay away."

The break gained a maximum advantage of nearly a minute towards the race end. On the penultimate lap, Cronshaw attacked the break. McEwen, Scully and Cronshaw covered the move and brought the break back together before the finish. Scully led out the group of six in the straightaway with van Poppel on his wheel. As Scully faded slightly, van Poppel came off his wheel to open up the sprint. McEwen came around from behind to take the win.

"It feels good to take the win," McEwen said. "It was a great team ride by the boys at an enjoyable event. Now, I'll go home to Australia now where I'll take a little break from racing. I have a big training block ahead to get myself ready for racing in April."

Cycling Australia