Caleb Ewan Remains Undefeated At The Tour Down Under
Caleb Ewan made it a hattrick of wins at the 2017 Tour Down Under after taking a victory on Stage Four from Norwood to Campbelltown.
Orica-Scott's Ewan beat off competition from Bora-Hansgrohe's Peter Sagan and Team Sky's Danny van Poppel to keep his 100 per cent record in sprint finishes at the TDU, and take his tally to six wins in the opening three weeks of 2017.
"I really couldn't have asked for a better start to the year", Ewan said of his impressive wins tally, "My team, again, did an amazing job. They really backed me on a circuit that could have gone either way and they were really committed to the chase and the win today."
On paper Stage Four was always going to be a sprint finish, but after a hectic, nervy start, a breakaway consisting of UniSA's Cameron Meyer, Jack Bauer of Quickstep-Floors and Bahrain-Merida's Ondrej Cink were keen to aim for an upset.
Cink, in his first pro-season and who was competing in the cross-country mountain biking only seven months previously, showed he's just as adept on non-knobbly tyres, taking the maximum KOM points on Checker Hill 25km in.
Bauer, Meyer and Cink had the same mentality as yesterday's breakaway, conserving as much energy as possible and not taking either of the intermediate sprints in any seriousness.
As the race turned back on itself towards Campbelltown, energy conservation in the breakaway turned to action as Meyer attacked in a bid to keep out of reach of the peloton. Bauer chased after the New Zealander, leaving Cink to be swallowed up by the peloton.
With the downhill gauge road just ahead, Bauer and Meyer set about their all or nothing task of a stage win. It wasn't to be however, as Meyer suffered a highly inopportune mechanical leaving a confused Bauer questioning what had happened to their tactical agreement and clinging onto whatever hope there was of a solo victory.
Bauer stayed away for as long as he possibly could, but was finally brought back with 4km left.
The breakaway dealt with, the peloton went about setting up an enthralling finish. Van Poppel was first to set the sprint alight at 200 metres to go, but it was the tenacious little figure of Ewan that bided time on the Sky man's wheel before launching his own attack 100 metres later to take a hattrick of stage wins, with the despairing Sagan once again taking second.
Stage Five promises to be a key one for riders with aspirations of getting the Ochre Jersey away from Richie Porte. The 151.5km "Queen" stage starts in the famous wine making area of McLaren Vale and takes in two summits of the iconic Willunga Hill.
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| Credit: adelaidenow.com.au |
"I really couldn't have asked for a better start to the year", Ewan said of his impressive wins tally, "My team, again, did an amazing job. They really backed me on a circuit that could have gone either way and they were really committed to the chase and the win today."
On paper Stage Four was always going to be a sprint finish, but after a hectic, nervy start, a breakaway consisting of UniSA's Cameron Meyer, Jack Bauer of Quickstep-Floors and Bahrain-Merida's Ondrej Cink were keen to aim for an upset.
Cink, in his first pro-season and who was competing in the cross-country mountain biking only seven months previously, showed he's just as adept on non-knobbly tyres, taking the maximum KOM points on Checker Hill 25km in.
Bauer, Meyer and Cink had the same mentality as yesterday's breakaway, conserving as much energy as possible and not taking either of the intermediate sprints in any seriousness.
As the race turned back on itself towards Campbelltown, energy conservation in the breakaway turned to action as Meyer attacked in a bid to keep out of reach of the peloton. Bauer chased after the New Zealander, leaving Cink to be swallowed up by the peloton.
With the downhill gauge road just ahead, Bauer and Meyer set about their all or nothing task of a stage win. It wasn't to be however, as Meyer suffered a highly inopportune mechanical leaving a confused Bauer questioning what had happened to their tactical agreement and clinging onto whatever hope there was of a solo victory.
Bauer stayed away for as long as he possibly could, but was finally brought back with 4km left.
The breakaway dealt with, the peloton went about setting up an enthralling finish. Van Poppel was first to set the sprint alight at 200 metres to go, but it was the tenacious little figure of Ewan that bided time on the Sky man's wheel before launching his own attack 100 metres later to take a hattrick of stage wins, with the despairing Sagan once again taking second.
Stage Five promises to be a key one for riders with aspirations of getting the Ochre Jersey away from Richie Porte. The 151.5km "Queen" stage starts in the famous wine making area of McLaren Vale and takes in two summits of the iconic Willunga Hill.
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