Australian Karl Menzies (HealthNet) won the second stage of the Herald Sun tour of Victoria state on Monday and held the overall lead over Germany's Tobias Erler.

Menzies, who finished third in Sunday's opening stage, won Monday's 179-kilometer (110-mile) stage between the towns of Shepparton and Bendigo in a time of 4 hours, 16 minutes and 40 seconds.

Mitchell Docker of Australia was second, two seconds behind, followed by Erler, giving Menzies a six-second lead over Erler on GC.

Menzies made a decisive break in the last of the three 1.9-kilometer (1.17-mile) closing laps in central Bendigo.

''It was a very hard day but to get a select group like that out there was awesome,'' said Menzies, who wore the yellow jersey for six days of the 2004 Victorian tour.

''Everyone rolled and there was so much pressure on in the group that there was never a chance we would get caught.''

The race ends Saturday.