Richie Porte Dominates To Take Stage Two
BMC Racing's, Richie Porte, emphatically won Stage Two of the Tour Down Under to take the Ochre Jersey.
Porte, who had a decidedly poor 2016 season, looked keen to show why he's still one of the best climbers in the world, and he did so, riding away from Movistar's Gorka Izagirre and Orica-Scott's Esteban Chaves in the final 1.5km of the steep climb to Paracombe.
The Australian now leads the overall standings by 20 seconds to Izagirre, after whom nine seconds separates the top six; Chaves, Jay McCarthy of Bora-Hansgrohe, Dimension Data's Nathan Haas and UAE-Abu Dhabi's Diego Ulissi.
Porte said: "The BMC boys were just incredible, they looked after me the whole day. It's good to win on the Paracombe and now we'll try and defend this jersey".
Stage Two had been marked out as one of a couple of Queen stages of the 2017 Tour Down Under.
Stirling to Paracombe was always going to be tough for all concerned, but it would be in the final 1.5km of the 148.5km stage, up Torrens Hill, that the strongest climbers would have their chance to assert authority over their rivals.
Riding conditions were thankfully cooler than the roasting the peloton endured yesterday, allowing for normal racing to resume - Ben Swift of UAE-Abu Dhabi coming out on top in the first intermediate sprint at 23km to take maximum points.
Things calmed down soon after, and Movistar's Jasha Sutterlin took full advantage - opening a lead of three minutes - an effort which wouldn't go unnoticed, he received the award for most combative rider.
After the failed attempt at a stage win for his team yesterday, Peter Sagan was determined to be successful in the second intermediate sprint of the day, helping his Bora-Hansgrohe teammates, Michael Kolar and Rudiger Selig, to first and second.
Sutterlin had ridden strongly but, with so many climbers in contention leading into the final part of the stage, was pegged back to the peloton on the drag to Norton Summit with 30km to go.
A high speed descent followed, on which Porte's teammate Rohan Dennis and rival, Team Sky's Sergio Henao, both suffered mechanicals. The day being as crucial as it was, both riders employed team cars to draft their way back to the plummeting peloton, a move which is technically illegal but that the commissaires may wave due to the exceptional circumstances.
Way ahead however, Orica-Scott were dictating the field on the slopes to Paracombe, with yesterday's Stage One winner, Caleb Ewan, sacrificing himself and his leader's jersey setting a blistering pace for Chaves and Simon Gerrans, leaving him exhausted and crawling over the line nine minutes after the winner.
Sagan - not exactly well-known for his peak climbing attributes - made an early dart for individual glory but it was Richie Porte, who attacked on the steepest part of the climb in the last 1,500 metres, who would see off Izagirre and Chaves to win the first big battle of this year's Tour Down Under.
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| Credit: cyclingnews.com |
Porte, who had a decidedly poor 2016 season, looked keen to show why he's still one of the best climbers in the world, and he did so, riding away from Movistar's Gorka Izagirre and Orica-Scott's Esteban Chaves in the final 1.5km of the steep climb to Paracombe.
The Australian now leads the overall standings by 20 seconds to Izagirre, after whom nine seconds separates the top six; Chaves, Jay McCarthy of Bora-Hansgrohe, Dimension Data's Nathan Haas and UAE-Abu Dhabi's Diego Ulissi.
Porte said: "The BMC boys were just incredible, they looked after me the whole day. It's good to win on the Paracombe and now we'll try and defend this jersey".
Stage Two had been marked out as one of a couple of Queen stages of the 2017 Tour Down Under.
Stirling to Paracombe was always going to be tough for all concerned, but it would be in the final 1.5km of the 148.5km stage, up Torrens Hill, that the strongest climbers would have their chance to assert authority over their rivals.
Riding conditions were thankfully cooler than the roasting the peloton endured yesterday, allowing for normal racing to resume - Ben Swift of UAE-Abu Dhabi coming out on top in the first intermediate sprint at 23km to take maximum points.
Things calmed down soon after, and Movistar's Jasha Sutterlin took full advantage - opening a lead of three minutes - an effort which wouldn't go unnoticed, he received the award for most combative rider.
After the failed attempt at a stage win for his team yesterday, Peter Sagan was determined to be successful in the second intermediate sprint of the day, helping his Bora-Hansgrohe teammates, Michael Kolar and Rudiger Selig, to first and second.
Sutterlin had ridden strongly but, with so many climbers in contention leading into the final part of the stage, was pegged back to the peloton on the drag to Norton Summit with 30km to go.
A high speed descent followed, on which Porte's teammate Rohan Dennis and rival, Team Sky's Sergio Henao, both suffered mechanicals. The day being as crucial as it was, both riders employed team cars to draft their way back to the plummeting peloton, a move which is technically illegal but that the commissaires may wave due to the exceptional circumstances.
Way ahead however, Orica-Scott were dictating the field on the slopes to Paracombe, with yesterday's Stage One winner, Caleb Ewan, sacrificing himself and his leader's jersey setting a blistering pace for Chaves and Simon Gerrans, leaving him exhausted and crawling over the line nine minutes after the winner.
Sagan - not exactly well-known for his peak climbing attributes - made an early dart for individual glory but it was Richie Porte, who attacked on the steepest part of the climb in the last 1,500 metres, who would see off Izagirre and Chaves to win the first big battle of this year's Tour Down Under.
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