Caleb Ewan Wins His Second Stage Of The Tour Down Under
Caleb Ewan put paid to Peter Sagan for the second time in three stages as he won the sprint finish of Stage Three at the Tour Down Under.
Orica-Scott's Ewan showed great racing intelligence in a chaotic sprint to continue his dominance in the Red Jersey, on a stage that saw unpredictable weather conditions almost deliver a win for the breakaway.
"I lost a few of my teammates in the downhill part because it got really messy", explained Ewan, "I had Luke Durbridge with me at the end and he positioned me perfectly. I was bit far out with a kilometre to go but I jumped around the wheels a bit and I got through in the end."
Although not a particularly hard stage from Glenelg to Victor Harbour, with only one KOM at Sellicks's Hill, the decidedly un-Australian weather would mean the peloton would have to be on guard, with wind and potential rain the perfect ingredients for a breakaway.
And said breakaway was quick to establish itself, with Thomas De Gent of Lotto-Soudal shooting up the road on the drag out of Glenelg. He was joined promptly by FDJ's Jeremy Maison, AG2R's Clement Chevrier and UAE Abu Dhabi's Vegard Stake Laengen to form a quartet that would stay away for the majority of the stage.
De Gent was keen to keep in touch with leader Richie Porte at the top of the KOM standings, rolling over Sellick's Hill first to draw level with the Ochre Jersey wearer.
Seeing as the sprinters in the main bunch were saving their energy for the climax at Victor Harbour, the intermediate sprint was a thoroughly lifeless affair, leaving Maison to effortlessly cruise through to take maximum points.
The same situation was repeated at the second intermediate sprint, this time De Gent took the spoils and a three second bonus.
Inside the final hour of racing and the real race began, with Bora-Hansgrohe working with BMC Racing to reel in the quartet on the five lap finishing circuit.
In a final bid for glory, Laengen broke from the breakaway. It would've required a supreme timetrialling effort to keep away from the peloton, but alas, the Norwegian was caught inside the final 5km.
High speeds and nervous riders is never a good combination, and on the downhill onto the finishing straight, three riders met the tarmac. The worst off looked to be the bloodied Gorka Izagirre, placed second overall, but as the crash happened within the final 3km, he wouldn't lose any time to his rivals.
Out of the final corner, Caleb Ewan was in an unfavourable area but latched onto Rudiger Selig's wheel, using it for as long as he could before powering away from Sagan - who'd taken the long way round - to take the stage victory. Niccolo Bonifazio came in third for Bahrain Merida to round off the podium.
Tomorrow's Stage Four from Norwood to Campbelltown looks to be another Ewan vs. Sagan show down.
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| Credit: cyclingtips.com |
Orica-Scott's Ewan showed great racing intelligence in a chaotic sprint to continue his dominance in the Red Jersey, on a stage that saw unpredictable weather conditions almost deliver a win for the breakaway.
"I lost a few of my teammates in the downhill part because it got really messy", explained Ewan, "I had Luke Durbridge with me at the end and he positioned me perfectly. I was bit far out with a kilometre to go but I jumped around the wheels a bit and I got through in the end."
Although not a particularly hard stage from Glenelg to Victor Harbour, with only one KOM at Sellicks's Hill, the decidedly un-Australian weather would mean the peloton would have to be on guard, with wind and potential rain the perfect ingredients for a breakaway.
And said breakaway was quick to establish itself, with Thomas De Gent of Lotto-Soudal shooting up the road on the drag out of Glenelg. He was joined promptly by FDJ's Jeremy Maison, AG2R's Clement Chevrier and UAE Abu Dhabi's Vegard Stake Laengen to form a quartet that would stay away for the majority of the stage.
De Gent was keen to keep in touch with leader Richie Porte at the top of the KOM standings, rolling over Sellick's Hill first to draw level with the Ochre Jersey wearer.
Seeing as the sprinters in the main bunch were saving their energy for the climax at Victor Harbour, the intermediate sprint was a thoroughly lifeless affair, leaving Maison to effortlessly cruise through to take maximum points.
The same situation was repeated at the second intermediate sprint, this time De Gent took the spoils and a three second bonus.
Inside the final hour of racing and the real race began, with Bora-Hansgrohe working with BMC Racing to reel in the quartet on the five lap finishing circuit.
In a final bid for glory, Laengen broke from the breakaway. It would've required a supreme timetrialling effort to keep away from the peloton, but alas, the Norwegian was caught inside the final 5km.
High speeds and nervous riders is never a good combination, and on the downhill onto the finishing straight, three riders met the tarmac. The worst off looked to be the bloodied Gorka Izagirre, placed second overall, but as the crash happened within the final 3km, he wouldn't lose any time to his rivals.
Out of the final corner, Caleb Ewan was in an unfavourable area but latched onto Rudiger Selig's wheel, using it for as long as he could before powering away from Sagan - who'd taken the long way round - to take the stage victory. Niccolo Bonifazio came in third for Bahrain Merida to round off the podium.
Tomorrow's Stage Four from Norwood to Campbelltown looks to be another Ewan vs. Sagan show down.
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