Richie Porte wins on Willunga Hill but "not good enough" to take overall lead
Richie Porte won on Willunga Hill for the fifth consecutive year but Daryl Impey takes the overall lead of the Tour Down Under on countback.
Porte (BMC) was the indisputable favourite to win the Queen stage with no likely riders capable of matching his climbing credentials, however sprinter, Impey (Mitchelton-Scott) held on eight seconds behind Porte to take the leaders ochre jersey on countback.
2013 Tour Down Under winner, Tom-Jelte Slagter (Dimension Data), claimed third, 10-seconds in arrears.
"First of all, I must give credit to my team," said Porte, "they were fantastic today, as per always. Rohan Dennis really laid it all on the line for me."
Impey only holds the ochre jersey by countback on bonus seconds gained going into the criterium stage in Adelaide city centre tomorrow, which Porte was disappointed about: "Look, for me that's unfortunate, but Daryl's had a fantastic Tour and he's ridden smart. It was all up to me today to put more time into him and I wasn't good enough to quite finish the job off, but I'm happy with another stage [win].
Impey was shocked to discover he was in the race lead: "I'm stoked. Can't believe it. I put in a lot of work for this race but never thought I'd be in the leaders jersey so that's fantastic. To be in Australia with an Australian team and deliver like this is just magical."
Having been set up by Simon Gerrans and Dennis, Porte attacked in the same place he'd done for four straight years, and only Jay McCarthy (Bora-Hansgrohe) could follow him.
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| Richie Porte battles up Willunga Hill surrounded by fanatical Aussies Picture credit: cyclingnews.com |
2013 Tour Down Under winner, Tom-Jelte Slagter (Dimension Data), claimed third, 10-seconds in arrears.
"First of all, I must give credit to my team," said Porte, "they were fantastic today, as per always. Rohan Dennis really laid it all on the line for me."
Impey only holds the ochre jersey by countback on bonus seconds gained going into the criterium stage in Adelaide city centre tomorrow, which Porte was disappointed about: "Look, for me that's unfortunate, but Daryl's had a fantastic Tour and he's ridden smart. It was all up to me today to put more time into him and I wasn't good enough to quite finish the job off, but I'm happy with another stage [win].
Impey was shocked to discover he was in the race lead: "I'm stoked. Can't believe it. I put in a lot of work for this race but never thought I'd be in the leaders jersey so that's fantastic. To be in Australia with an Australian team and deliver like this is just magical."
The Race
Stage five took the riders 151.5km round a circuit of the vineyard town of McClaren Vale with two ascents of the iconic Willunga Hill.
A large break formed early consisting of Nuno Bico (Movistar), Zak Dempster and Scott Bowden (UniSA), Thomas De Gendt (Lotto Soudal), King of the Mountains Nicholas Dlamini (Dimension Data), Mads Wurtz Schmidt (Katusha-Alpecin) and Fumiyuki Beppu (Trek Segafredo).
Bico crashed off camera and was next seen being tended to by medics with bandages on both elbows and rips all over his Movistar kit.
Beppu, a pro since 2005 and former Japanese and Asian road race champion, took the intermediate sprint after 63km with no contest as the break held the gap to the peloton at around five minutes.
After a circuit of McClaren Vale the break came back around to the second intermediate sprint, this time De Gendt taking the point.
As the break started the first Willunga Hill climb it was clear who was suited to such gradients, with the front group whittled down to just Bowden, De Gendt, Dempster and Dlamini as the peloton loomed one minute and 30-seconds behind.
Bahrain-Merida were the driving force on the front of the peloton, riding for the Izagirre brothers, Gorka and Ion, and Italian, Domenico Pozzovivo.
There was confusion at the KOM on Willunga Hill, as De Gendt offered Dlamini the points but both got the location of the line wrong, so as De Gendt dropped the South African, the Lotto Soudal man picked up the points instead of his comrade. It wasn't an issue in the grand scheme of the overall though, with Dlamini already confirmed as the King of the Mountains.
A minute behind De Gendt, the peloton were now racing in earnest, with Rohan Dennis setting the pace for BMC. De Gendt stayed away until the second ascent of Willunga Hill before being reeled in.
Porte eased off before stinging McCarthy with another acceleration, which promptly opened a gap with the Bora rider unable to keep the pace.
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| Daryl Impey claims his first ochre jersey Picture credit: cyclingtips.com |
Through thick crowds Porte persevered and claimed his fifth consecutive win on Willunga Hill, but only held eight seconds to Impey, who with his collection of bonus seconds, moved into the ochre jersey on countback.
Stage Result
1. Richie Porte (Aus) BMC Racing in 3:42:22
2. Daryl Impey (Mitchelton-Scott) at 8"
3. Tom-Jelte Slagter (Dimension Data) at 10"
4. Dries Devenyns (Quick-Step Floors) at 10"
5. Egan Bernal (Team Sky) at 10"
6. Gorka Izagirre (Bahrain-Merida) at 10"
7. Diego Ulissi (UAE Team Emirates) at 10"
8. Robert Gesink (LottoNL-Jumbo) at 14"
9. Ion Izagirre (Bahrain-Merida) at 14"
10. Ruben Guerreiro (Trek-Segafredo) at 14"
General Classification
1. Daryl Impey (Mitchelton-Scott) in 18:02:15
2. Richie Porte (BMC Racing) 0"
3. Tom-Jelte Slagter (Dimension Data) at 16"
4. Diego Ulissi (UAE Team Emirates) at 20"
5. Dries Devenyns (Quick-Step Floors) at 20"
6. Egan Bernal (Team Sky) at 20"
7. Gorka Izagirre (Bahrain-Merida) at 20"
8. Robert Gesink (LottoNL-Jumbo) at 24"
9. George Bennett (LottoNL-Jumbo) at 24"
10. Ion Izagirre (Bahrain-Merida) at 24"
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