The first stage is a mostly flat 148km run to Lake Wendouree. There are two climbs along the way to kick start the king of the mountains competition, both of which are 1.5km long and neither of which should pose a huge problem. The favourite for today’s stage is Kennaugh, though the locals are hoping that Davis can show himself. There are also reports of very, very strong winds that are not likely to be reduced during the day, so this could be a tough day for all involved.
The race of course kicks off at the start line which will be doubling as the finish line today, so the locals are in for a long day of waiting for the finish. Kicking things off this time past is Pineau, as well as Marcato.
Two groups bridge up to this duo. In the first group we have: Matthews Ziegler Beppu
And in the second group are: Ovechkin Van Ooijen
Interesting to note the presence of several time trialists here, with Ovechkin being a chance for a very strong overall position here. Regardless, the pack allows them a 2 minute gap, but that doesn’t deter more attacks. Now Petrie-Armstrong and Brandle both go on the offensive. They successfully bridge up to the front group and now there are nine leaders.
As they bridge up the gap hits 4’12” and there are 111km to go. No one else looks interested in attacking across this rather substantial gap and so our break of the day is decided without too much trouble.
The gap only goes out to a maximum of 5’27” before the pack starts to work. Clearly they are keeping a tight lid on everything today. That and the wind probably is hurting the legs of the break more than anyone. We get to the first sprint point of the day with 80 remaining and the order over the line is: Petrie-Armstrong Brandle Matthews
4’43” later the peloton crosses the sprint point. Cyclevox and Trilux are determined to make this a tough day out, using the wind to try to hurt some legs. They are riding for Konovalovas and Kessler and neither team has a top sprinter, so once the sprinting teams take over don’t expect to see too much of them.
We come to the first 5pt mountain prime with 66km remaining and Ovechkin wins it easily ahead of Pineau and Van Ooijen. The Russian is the best puncheur in this group, as well as the best time trialist so clearly this was his plan for the race to secure some more points for his team.
Over the top Richardson does the pace, 4’08” behind the break.
That gap tumbles and by the time we reach the base of the second mountain climb, which is worth 6pts, the gap is just under 1 minute. There are still 40km remaining and the break is almost caught. A number of the riders up front aren’t done yet, however, and attack for the mountain points. Ovechkin wins them ahead of Brandle and Van Ooijen, meaning that the Russian will take the mountain jersey comfortably.
But the attack doesn’t stop there! These three riders, along with Beppu and Petrie-Armstrong go 40” clear of the rest of the break, who themselves are 40” ahead of the bunch over the top.
But within 3km, Beyer makes the catch. So with 36km left there is no break and the pace is incredibly high with strong winds still hurting legs, but no one is showing any signs of relenting.
On the flat, the sprinter’s teams take over, with Rapha and Hollister noticeable as well as Pokerstars, who have Degenkolb and Guillen.
We come to the second and final sprint point for the day. It is a quick downhill run, which means that it is rather technical and favours the best-placed rider. Rizza was right at the front so he is able to power down and take the points. Davis is second and Gatto comes in third.
With 10km to go, it is all Rapha on the front, with everyone except Kennaugh working, including their hope for the GC, Tennant.
The black-clad squad keep the pace really high and with 4km to go they are still on the front. Everyone lines up behind them. The order is: Tennant Sulzberger Kennaugh Guillen Davis Markov Park Gatto Cucinotta
The high pace and the wind finally cracks some riders and only 46 riders go clear, leaving the other 66 behind them! So let’s quickly see who is amongst those left behind: Bonnet Van Poppel Speirs Arashiro Ford D’Amore
Bonnet is the biggest loss here, clearly, given that he is one of the top TT riders in the race. Some second-tier GC riders are also here, but let’s go back to the front of the race.
With 2.5km remaining Sulzberger hits the front, as Tennant peels off. He clearly has to save himself and make sure that he finishes in the front group.
Guillen starts to struggle and a gap start to open. Sensing an opportunity, Kennaugh takes a risk and opens his sprint from 1.9km out.
Guillen was starting to slow everyone down so the sprint opens up as those behind start to come around. Markov has Park in his wheel coming up the middle, while Gatto is coming fast on the left. Davis, meanwhile, has to force his way around Guillen. There is a huge gap to Kennaugh though!
As Sulzberger is overtaken, the sprint is absolute chaos. There is just a 90 degree right hand bend left before the finish. Kennaugh has now opened up a time gap to those behind.
We hit the 90 degree bend and Davis’ local knowledge clearly paid off as he takes the inside line, moving in to second place ahead of Gatto. Park is well placed too!
With 400m to go, Davis is closing the gap to Kennaugh.
200 to go... Even closer...
And Davis wins by a wheel length after a huge sprint effort!
Kennaugh is second, while Cooke comes out of nowhere for third. Cucinotta puts in a strong fourth, with Park holding on for fifth. Sinner is sixth, Gatto seventh, Markov eighth, Sulzberger keeps his pace for ninth and Impey can only manage a disappointing tenth.
On the run in another 11 riders were dropped, meaning that only 34 riders finish in the lead group. Fortunately most of the favourites and outsiders are in the front group, though one man who is not so lucky is Van Goolen who is in this dropped group of 11.
They come in 47” down, but still are better placed than those in the bigger group of dropped riders, who finish 1’24” behind the leaders. With the way this course is designed they must be questioning their ability to put in a strong GC ride from here.
