Peter Kennaugh wins Great Ocean Road Race in Australia

Peter Kennaugh (left) won Olympic gold on the track at London 2012 in the team pursuit

British Olympic champion Peter Kennaugh beat a powerful field to win Sunday's Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race in Geelong, Australia.

The Team Sky rider attacked 15km from the end of the 174km event and opened up a 20-second gap on the chasing group before claiming victory by six seconds.

Australian Leigh Howard won a bunch sprint for second. Pre-race favourite Simon Gerrans of Australia was fifth.

Kennaugh's fellow Isle of Man rider Mark Cavendish retired before the end.

"It's good for my morale," said 26-year-old Kennaugh. "It's good to prove to people I'm not messing around.

"I don't want to be just another rider. I want to be the rider the team can look to in order to lead races."