The winter is not over in Europe but the peloton is heading to the southern hemisphere to start the 2017 season at the Tour Down Under. The Australian race is again HC classified this season and a few World Tour teams have skipped the opening race of the season. Nevertheless, there will be 17 teams at the start, more than enough to provide a good show for the spectators. It will also be the first race for the South African Dimension Data team, which will debut at the Pro Continental category.
The route will be the same that we saw in 2016 and Willunga Hill did not have as big an impact as everyone thought it would do. Nevertheless, with a weaker set of teams compared to last year it should make more of an impact. The other dangerous stage will be the one finishing in Campbelltown as the last hill is only a few kilometers from the finish line and there could be gaps opening up in the peloton. Among the previous winners, Peter Sagan is still the record holder for the race with 2 wins and there has been no local rider in the podium in the 5 previous editions.
Favorites:
- Lloyd Mondory (Etixx - Quickstep): Lloyd Mondory is the current defending champion of the Tour Down Under and given his performances last season he has to be considered among the top favorites to take the win in the Australian race. The French is a very solid sprinter but he is also quite capable in the hills, which will help him not to lose too much time on Willunga Hill. He should also be among the favorites to win the stage in at least 2 or 3 days.
- Simone Ponzi (Team LottoNL - Jumbo): The Italian is another very similar rider to Mondory. If anything, he is stronger over the hills but a bit worse in pure sprint speed. However, there should not be much separating them at the end of the day. Ponzi was 3rd in the podium last year and his victory count stopped at 5 at the end of the season. It will be interesting to see what he can do in his new team as he will better teammates than previously in Katusha.
- Kenny van Hummel (Team LottoNL - Jumbo): LottoNL brought their two leaders to Australia and it will be interesting whether they mainly support Van Hummel or Ponzi for the overall classification. In principle it would be understandable that they target the partial wins with Van Hummel but if he accumulates enough bonus seconds he could even be a factor in the final classification. If he can regain the form he had in the last Vuelta it could be a very good year for the Dutch.
- Mark Renshaw (BMC Racing Team): Mark Renshaw changed teams during the winter and this will be his first appearance with the BMC outfit. The Australian will be the local favorite for the overall win and, given that there has been no Australian winner so far, it would be much celebrated by the locals if he took it. He also proved that if necessary he could fight for the GCs in the stage races as he took the 2nd final position in the Tour of Beijing. Therefore, we expect a lot from him in the Tour Down Under.
Other riders with a shot at the podium are Marcel Kittel (Astana Pro Team), Mauro Finetto (Team Katusha), Joost van Leijen (Team Giant - Alpecin), Michael Matthews (Cannondale - Drapac), Jose Joaquin Rojas (Movistar Team) and Bernhard Eisel (Team LottoNL - Jumbo).
Among the sprinters, other riders that will be present are Tyler Farrar (Tinkoff), Giacomo Nizzolo (Trek - Segafredo), Matthew Goss (Matthew Goss), Theo Bos (Cannondale - Drapac), Jure Kocjan (Team Katusha) and Luca Paolini (Astana Pro Team).
The Tour Down Under will start with a stage at the North of Adelaide, between the towns of Nuriootpa and Angaston. The riders will have to ride a circuit 3 times, although the last time around there is a change in the final part of the route to include the climb to Menglers Hill. Therefore, the stage is not straight-forward at all for the sprinters as they will have to go through the 2.7 kilometers climb averaging 7.1% with only a bit more than 10 kilometers to go.
The first intermediate sprint, in Bethany, was placed at a point where few kilometers had been raced today. Therefore, there was still no consolidated break ahead of the peloton. Alessandro Ballan was first in the sprint ahead of Bryan Coquard and Taylor Phinney but the bunch was right behind them. Marcel Kittel was the fastest among the sprinters. We could see for the first time in the sprint that Michael Matthews was racing in the Australian jersey with his new team, Cannondale - Drapac.
A break was established by the time they got to the end of the first lap but it was completely different than the riders that got ahead in the first sprint. The 3 riders at the front were Martin Elmiger (Orica), Jonathan Castroviejo (Lampre) and Christophe Riblon (Cofidis). The second intermediate sprint was also placed in Bethany, with 64 kilometers to go. Their gap was 3' 30'' at that point, which seemed far too small for them to have a chance. Marcel Kittel was again quickest in the group sprint while Astana, Etixx and LottoNL were doing most of the chasing.
There was not much to witness other than the chase by the peloton before the climb to Menglers Hill. The break was almost over as they started to climb as the gap had come down to a mere 25 seconds. Etixx was leading the group with Giovanni Visconti leading the group ahead of his teammate Jos van Emden. With 14 kilometers to go there might be some attacks from outsiders but it was most interesting to see who among the sprinters could make it easily over the top.
Maarten Tjallingii did the last part of the climb for Etixx and was first at the top of the climb, which will grant him the KoM jersey tomorrow. However, most of the sprinters were in the peloton and some like Simone Ponzi were right behind him at the front of the pack. Lloyd Mondory and Marcel Kittel were also very close to the front as no one wanted to risk a break in the very stretched peloton. There were some riders left behind but most of the riders managed to remain in the pack.
Laurens Ten Dam showed that he had not come to the Tour Down Under for nothing and tried to attack with 3 kilometers to go as the teams of the sprinters were preparing the finish. Andrea Guardini was leading the bunch and kept his leader, Marcel Kittel, right behind him. However, the pace was very high and no proper trains had been formed before the last few kilometers. Among the best sprinters that are close to the front we could recognize Lloyd Mondory, Mark Renshaw, Jose Joaquin Rojas and Michael Matthews.
The final kilometers were very chaotic as Bernhard Eisel tried to launch the sprint really early for Kenny van Hummel and Laurens Ten Dam was caught in that push. However, no one followed initially the move of the LottoNL - Jumbo riders and Van Hummel had a nice gap as they entered the last kilometer of the stage. Jose Joaquin Rojas was the first of the other sprinters to try to close that gap and others followed swiftly, like Michael Matthews, Lloyd Mondory and Peter Sagan. Marcel Kittel had lost his teammate and had to fight on his own as well.
Kenny van Hummel was still maintaining a big gap at the front with 600 meters to go and it looked unlikely that any rider would catch him. Nevertheless, they were trying to do it and Jose Joaquin Rojas was the 2nd on the road at that point, followed by Michael Matthews, Lloyd Mondory and Davide Rebellin. The fact that there was a climb with less than 15 kilometers to go meant that many of the domestiques had trouble getting to the front in time and the final kilometers have been very entertaining.
Kenny van Hummel wins in Angaston! The Dutch managed to hold on to his lead and grabbed the first stage of the season. He launched the sprint from very far away and the rest did not react. When they did it was already too late. LottoNL have two options for the sprints and that might not be their last win in this race. The second place went to Lloyd Mondory, who proved to be very fast when he started the final sprint but was already too far behind.
Mark Renshaw took the 3rd place in his debut for the BMC Racing Team coming from nowhere. He had been very badly positioned before the sprint but was quite fast in the end. The top 5 was completed by Joost van Leijen and Peter Sagan. The stage was more or less what was expected before the start. Tomorrow the day is more difficult to predict as the final in Stirling is preceded by an uphill section that might be too much for some of the top sprinters.
Even though the second stage was classified as flat it was not clear that the sprinters would have it easy today to battle for the stage. The final circuit in the surroundings of Stirling is quite bumpy and the riders that have more trouble handling the hills will most likely suffer quite a bit. Nevertheless, we have seen sprinters take the win in Stirling in previous years, like Lloyd Mondory in 2016. It might also be a good place to get some bonus seconds for the riders that are fighting for the GC.
The start of the day was a bit crazy with lots of riders trying to get into the break of the day. It was one of the few days in the race that a break might have a chance. By the time they got to the first categorized climb of the day, Gould Creek, there was a group of 5 ahead: Fabio Felline (Lampre), Gianni Meersman (Orica), Michal Kwiatkowski (FDJ), Jonathan Hivert (Sky) and Guillaume van Keirsbulck (Discovery). They were ahead but with a gap of only 1 minute the break was not settled at all. LottoNL and BMC were doing most of the chasing. At the top of the climb it was Michal Kwiatkowski that took the KoM points.
The second intermediate sprint was placed in Balhannah, 66 kilometers from the finish line and shortly before the entrance to the final circuit around Stirling. The break had already managed to consolidate a lead of 4 minutes, which at least gave them a hope of giving the peloton a battle. In the peloton, Marcel Kittel was the only sprinter that was interested in the points. The German would have it difficult to fight for the win today and needed the points to keep his chances of winning the points jersey alive. LottoNL were leading the group to defend the lead of Kenny van Hummel and had Danny van Poppel and Moreno Hofland working at the front.
There were no attack from puncheurs before the final lap around Stirling and the focus was on the ever decreasing lead of the front group. With 11 kilometers to go, on the descent towards the last climb to Stirling, they had a gap of only 40 seconds. BMC and Etixx were giving their all to try to bring them back before the climb started and put riders like Alessandro Ballan, Franco Pellizotti and Pierre Rolland to work at the front. The increase in pace in the circuit will also benefit the puncheurs over the sprinters in the final part of the stage.
The Etixx riders were too generous on their efforts and with 3 kilometers to go Lloyd Mondory had been left alone at the front. It was BMC's Eros Capecchi leading the way for Mark Renshaw and Mondory had been clever enough to take the wheel of the Australian, one of the pre-stage favorites. Behind them were riders like Marcel Kittel, Tyler Farrar and Michael Matthews. Meanwhile, other riders that are stronger in the hills, like Davide Rebellin, were trying to make progress and get to the front.
The pace of the group was not too fast to prevent attacks and Davide Rebellin decided to try to surprise the sprinters by attacking with a bit more than 1 kilometer to go. He was followed by Laurens Ten Dam and a couple of Trek riders as Simon Gerrans was trying to get Cameron Meyer to the front as well. Eros Capecchi was still leading Mark Renshaw but the sprinters would have to react quickly to that attack. It was very difficult to predict at that stage what would be the outcome of the stage.
The attack from Davide Rebellin was very good and the fact that the last kilometer was also slightly uphill was helping his chances of getting the win. He was followed by Michael Rogers, who was Trek's bet for the stage in the end instead of Cameron Meyer. Alexandre Vinokourov was also there with Laurens Ten Dam. Among the sprinters Michael Matthews seemed to have come out of nowhere and had the edge over the others. Nevertheless, he was a bit back and needed to gain a bit if he wanted to get to the front.
Davide Rebellin wins in Stirling! The Italian managed to stay at the front by a very tiny margin ahead of Michael Matthews, who had to settle for second. It was a really tight finish between the 2 of them as Matthews was gaining ground but the stage was a few meters too short for him. This is the first win of the season for Rebellin, who wants to come back to being a reference among the Ardennes riders. Winning this kind of stages will get him a long way towards meeting that target.
Kenny van Hummel was also a quick finisher and took 3rd, which granted him the leader's jersey for one more day by giving him 1 extra bonus second. The top 5 was completed by Laurens Ten Dam and Mark Renshaw, which was slightly disappointing for BMC as they had high hopes for the stage. The stage tomorrow will again be tricky for the sprinters as the steep but short climb to Montacute is less than 10 kilometers away from the finish line. A few gaps could be generated in the peloton and sustained to the finish line.
The stage between Norwood and Campbelltown is one that has a lot of question marks all over it with regards to its influence in the race. There have been years when it was completely irrelevant but in other occasions a few gaps opened among the favorites for the GC win. The stage is almost completely flat until the last few kilometers of the stage, when the riders will tackle the climb to Montacute. It is only 2.6 kilometers long but with an average 8.6% gradient it might be enough to open a gap between the hills riders and the sprinters.
It was not that long until a break was formed today as a group of 4 riders jumped in the climb from Adelaide towards the plateau. They were Bryan Coquard (Dimension Data), Romain Feillu (FDJ), Jan Bakelants (Discovery) and Christophe Riblon (Cofidis). At the first intermediate sprint, in Kersbrook, they already had a gap of 4 minutes over the bunch but they were still 106 kilometers from the finish line. Coquard was the only rider interested in the bonus seconds, as he was the only one in the group still 5 seconds behind in the GC. When the peloton reached the sprint Tyler Farrar (Tinkoff) was fastest ahead of Michael Matthews (Cannondale).
At the second sprint in Williamstown Tyler Farrar managed to win the sprint of the group as well, this time ahead of Peter Sagan (Sky) and Michael Matthews. The two sprints were very close together in the stage but the gap of the front group had grown a bit to 5 minutes. Nevertheless, with 92 kilometers to go the peloton still had plenty of time to try to bring them back. Bryan Coquard again took the bonus seconds and put himself within 1 second of Kenny van Hummel in the GC if they finished the stage in the same group.
The peloton chased hard for a lot of kilometers and got to the bottom of the climb to Montacute with a delay of only 20 seconds against the early break. Franco Pellizotti (BMC) was leading the bunch and increasing the speed considerably as the road started to kick up. BMC and Etixx were the teams most interested in a high pace as Mark Renshaw (BMC) and Lloyd Mondory (Etixx) had a good chance of going through the hill at the front group. Kenny van Hummel (LottoNL) and Marcel Kittel (Astana) had already started the climb very close to the front of the group to maximise their chances.
Eros Capecchi (BMC) increased the pace a lot in the climb and only his teammate Mark Renshaw and Lloyd Mondory followed his pace up the climb. There was a moment of indecision in the peloton and the gap grew to 35 seconds at the top of the climb. However, Simone Ponzi (LottoNL) soon tried to react as Kenny van Hummel was clearly unable to follow. Laurens Ten Dam (Cannondale) and Joost van Leijen (Giant) also attacked close to the top and started the chase of the front trio. However, with 8 kilometers remaining their gap might even be enough to make it to the finish.
There was not a lot of understanding among the 3 at the front and a total of 8 riders were together with 3 kilometers to go. Emanuele Sella (Movistar) and Michael Rogers (Trek) also managed to join in the descent. However, the gap to the rest of the riders even increased and was 1' 05'' at that point. Eros Capecchi was leading the front group and Bernhard Eisel (LottoNL) was leading the group of the leader. With that gap this stage could be even more decisive for the outcome of the race than the uphill finish in Willunga Hill.
Lloyd Mondory attacked with 2 kilometers to go and the reaction from the rest took a while to happen. With a slightly downhill run to the line the 8 seconds gap he had with 1 kilometer to go might well be enough for him to get the win in the stage. The chasers were being led by Emanuele Sella, who did not have much of a chance in the final sprint and was more worried about not losing his chance to win the overall. Meanwhile, Bernhard Eisel was still doing the chasing for the group of the leader but the gap was still 55 seconds.
Lloyd Mondory was still leading with a nice gap with 600 meters to go and his win in the stage was almost guaranteed. The reaction from the rest of the riders in the group were too weak and too late. Simone Ponzi started took the lead in the final sprint in the group and Mark Renshaw quickly followed to try to grab the bonus seconds on offer. Emanuele Sella was still close to the front but was not the quickest finisher, while Laurens Ten Dam was also giving it a shot but should be easily beaten by the sprinters in the group.
Lloyd Mondory wins in Campbelltown! The Etixx rider could not go without a win from the Tour Down Under and he delivered on the 3rd stage, one of those that better fit his characteristics as he can go through the hills better than most sprinters. Additionally, the bonus seconds will mean that he will take over the lead of the race. He did not get any time gap over the rest of the group though. Mark Renshaw took the 2nd position ahead of Simone Ponzi. The Australian has been close to the win a couple of times but never manages to be the first.
The top 5 was completed by Laurens Ten Dam and Joost van Leijen, two very dangerous riders to have behind ahead of the stage in Willunga Hill. Giant might have dropped to the Pro Continental division but Van Leijen has proven so far that he has not lost the legs that made him win the Amstel Gold Race last season. In the end the stage was a lot more important for the GC than previously expected as the bunch arrived 1' 06'' behind, which is a lot of time to make up for in subsequent stages. Tomorrow's stage will be a clearer option for the sprinters.
For the first time in the race the sprinters will not have to worry about climbs close to the finish, which will be a relief for some of them. The race goes South today towards the coastal town of Victor Harbor. The only difficulty of the day will be the climb to Myponga Dam, a 2 kilometers long climb more than 50 kilometers away from the finish line. As in all the pure sprint finishes the sprint trains will be very important and the final kilometers are not too difficult so the chances of a crash happening are not too high.
The first kilometers of the stage were quite tough as the riders had to climb from Adelaide to Stirling. That was where the break of the day took shape. A group of 5 riders managed to break away: Gianni Meersman (Orica), Fabio Felline (Lampre), Jonathan Hivert (Sky), Cyril Gautier (FDJ) and Nelson Oliveira (Tinkoff). They had 3 minutes on the bunch at the intermediate sprint in Echunga, with 124 kilometers to go. Meanwhile, Tyler Farrar (Tinkoff) beat Jose Joaquin Rojas (Movistar) at the sprint of the group.
The climb to Myponga Dam was the only one that categorized today but it was not going to be a problem for the sprinters as it was too short to cause any real damage. Etixx was leading the peloton and slowly bringing the gap down. They had Giovanni Visconti (Etixx), Michael van Staeyen (Etixx) and Pierre Rolland (Etixx) doing the chase and the gap was slowly decreasing, 3' 30'' at the top of the climb. Fabio Felline was 1st at the top of the climb and will wear the KoM jersey tomorrow. He is going to be a contender for the classification at the end of the race.
The rain might have been a welcome sight for the riders in the heat of the Australian summer. However, the riders had to be focused not to crash in the final few kilometers. With 9 to go the break still had a 30 seconds lead but it seemed unlikely that they made it to the finish. Among those chasing in the bunch were Franco Pellizotti (BMC), Alessandro Ballan (BMC) and Grega Bola (Astana). It was clear that BMC still had faith in Mark Renshaw (BMC) for the final sprint. The peloton was very stretched and a gap could open at any time.
Astana was the first team to form a sprint train, with Luca Paolini (Astana) ready to lead out Marcel Kittel (Astana). Simone Ponzi (LottoNL) was very quick to take the wheel of the German, which would be one of the best to follow. LottoNL also had their own train, where Bernhard Eisel (LottoNL) would work for Kenny van Hummel (LottoNL). Lloyd Mondory (Etixx) was quick to take the wheel of the Dutch as the French was looking to add to his win tally. Among other sprinters that were well positioned we could see Jose Joaquin Rojas, Tyler Farrar and Giacomo Nizzolo (Trek). Tom Boonen (BMC) was also trying to bring his teammate Mark Renshaw to the front.
Luca Paolini and Astana were winning the race of the trains and with 1 kilometer to go Marcel Kittel was in a prime position to start the final sprint. The LottoNL - Jumbo train was not far behind and they had 2 options for the final win in Simon Ponzi and Kenny van Hummel. In principle Van Hummel should be faster in a pure sprint. On the other side of the road Tom Boonen was doing a great job to bring Mark Renshaw to the front but it would not be enough to start the sprint at the front. Meanwhile, Lloyd Mondory was quietly waiting behind Van Hummel.
Astana once again dropped the ball and it was Kenny van Hummel who had emerged from behind his teammate Bernhard Eisel to lead the final sprint with 500 meters to go. It was very dangerous to give the Dutch a few meters as he is very fast. Lloyd Mondory was 3rd at that point just ahead of Marcel Kittel but they were all virtually at the same position as others like Giacomo Nizzolo and Mark Renshaw. It was going to be a very close call in today's sprint as no rider looked much better than the rest.
Kenny van Hummel wins in Victor Harbor! The Dutch did not let anyone come around him and clearly won the 4th stage of the Tour Down Under. This is his second win in the race, probably more than what he would have expected before the start. The 2nd place went to Lloyd Mondory, who will make good use of the bonus seconds to increase his lead in the GC. Mondory will only have to take care of tomorrow's stage up Willunga Hill to win the race for a second time in a row. The third place was taken by Marcel Kittel, ahead of Mark Renshaw and Giacomo Nizzolo.
In the end the stage was more or less what we all expected from it. A lot of control from the teams of the sprinters and a mass sprint finish by the sea at Victor Harbor. Once again Kenny van Hummel was quickest, proving that he is one of the best sprinters out there and that he will be a candidate for anything, including probably Milano - Sanremo. Tomorrow's stage will be quite different with the finish line placed at the top of Willunga Hill. There are 8 riders fighting for the GC and any of them that can open a gap will take the overall win.
The key stage in the Tour Down Under is always supposed to be the one finishing in Willunga Hill but there are only 8 riders that will have a chance of taking the overall win if nothing major happens. The route will take the riders through 3 laps of a fairly flat and easy circuit close to the sea before climbing twice to the hardest climb in the race. Willunga Hill is 3.7 kilometers long averaging 7.0%, which will be hard for the pure sprinters but many riders can potentially hold on with a front group. Nevertheless, in an uphill sprint gaps might be opened.
The first intermediate sprint was placed in the second passage through Snapper Point, a town next to St. Vincent Gulf. A break of 5 had 5 minutes over the bunch: Jurgen Roelandts (Sky), Tom Boonen (BMC), Thomas Voeckler (Dimension Data), Martin Elmiger (Orica) and Beñat Intxausti (Discovery). Roelandts was quickest in the sprint but the bonus seconds were not worth much to those riders. Meanwhile, Etixx was working at the front of the peloton to keep the gap from growing too much. They had 4 riders at the front but the pace was not too hard.
The 3rd lap featured another intermediate sprint in Snapper Point, this time with 48 kilometers to go. The peloton had started reducing the gap to the early break to 3' 15''. Etixx had put almost the whole team to chase, including Maarten Tjallingii (Etixx) and Jos van Emden (Etixx). In the sprint of the bunch Michael Matthews (Cannondale) was quickest ahead of Peter Sagan (Sky) and Giacomo Nizzolo (Trek). The bunch had to be careful not to let the break take too much time at the top of the first climb to Willunga Hill as Tom Boonen and Jurgen Roelandts would be hard to chase back in the flat between climbs.
The riders were soon climbing Willunga Hill for the first time and a second group formed in chase of the race leaders. It was formed by 4 riders: Tiago Machado (Tinkoff), Mauro Finetto (Katusha), Simon Gerrans (Trek) and Damiano Cunego (Lampre). They had but the gap to only 35 seconds at the top of the climb, while the bunch was losing 1' 10''. It was Wilco Kelderman (Giant), Tom Slagter (Cannondale) and Tim Wellens (Etixx) doing most of the work at the front. They had to chase quick as the second group on the road was dangerous.
Tiago Machado made it to the front group at the flat section at the top of Willunga Hill while Thomas Voeckler was dropped from that group. With 7 kilometers to go they were already heading towards the second climb to Willunga Hill. The chasing group had changed shape and it was formed by Francesco Gavazzi (Lampre), Damiano Cunego, Rein Taaramae (Katusha) and Simon Gerrans. They were 30 seconds behind, while the bunch was trailing 50 seconds behind the leaders. It was down to different teams to do the chasing now, with riders like Wilco Kelderman (Giant), Sylvain Chavanel (Giant) and Samuel Sanchez (Movistar) at the front.
Fabian Cancellara (Cannondale) did a very strong relay at the front of the bunch to bring it all together as they crossed the town of Willunga. However, Rein Taaramae decided that he wanted to stay ahead of the pack and attacked straight away. He soon opened a small 10 seconds gap over the peloton once again. Tiago Machado and Simon Gerrans tried to follow him but could not quite make it with the Estonian. Meanwhile, the top riders in the GC were moving forward and we could see Michael Rogers (Trek) getting close to the front.
Michael Matthews was the only rider that managed to jump from the bunch to go chasing Rein Taaramae. The Australian had this stage in mind because he is not fast enough for the mass sprints but he goes through the hills among the best in the race. The gap between them was barely 10 seconds with a bit less than 2 kilometers to go. Meanwhile, Maarten Tjallingii took the lead of the bunch to control the race for Lloyd Mondory (Etixx). Simon Gerrans and Joost van Leijen (Giant) were also trying to leave the peloton but it was difficult to do it.
Rein Taaramae and Michael Matthews entered the last kilometer with a gap of 30 seconds over the bunch. They were not a threat in the GC but it was clear by now that they would fight for the stage win among themselves. Maarten Tjallingii and Tim Wellens were still holding the more dangerous riders at the pack as Tom Slagter and Pieter Weening (Tinkoff) tried to gain a few seconds at the finish line. Lloyd Mondory's chances to take the overall win were increasing with every meter that they raced as he is a good uphill finisher as well.
Michael Matthews wins in Willunga Hill! What a better way to start his season in a new team than taking the first win for Cannondale - Drapac this season. Matthews was meant to be very dangerous in this final kilometers up Willunga Hill and he beat Rein Taaramae in the final sprint. He was also wearing his Australian National Champion jersey when he got the win. In the end they both had a gap of 12 seconds over the chasing group, which will give them both a place inside the top 10 of the GC.
A group of 22 riders made it the line after the leading duo. They were led by Joost van Leijen, who will take a bonus second and the 3rd provisional place in the GC. It would be a great result for a Pro Continental team like Giant. The top 5 was completed by Mauro Finetto and Tom Slagter. Lloyd Mondory was 12th and his lead was intact at the front of the race, which put him really close to getting the overall win tomorrow in Adelaide. The last stage is very straight forward and the bonus seconds at the finish line will not be enough to remove him from the top place.
It was a very short week of racing to start the season in Australia. The last stage will be raced in a circuit only 5 kilometers long inside Adelaide. The total length of the stage will be 96 kilometers so there won't be much time for breaks. The teams of the sprinters will have to be very careful though not to let a group take much of an advantage as they need to control the pace. The first place in the GC is in principle secure for Lloyd Mondory unless something dramatic happens but the rest are up for grabs.
The first intermediate sprint was placed at the finish line with 65 kilometers to go. There was no break at the front even though a lot of attempts were made to open a gap. In the end the teams of the sprinters controlled the group and in the sprint Kenny van Hummel (LottoNL) beat Marcel Kittel (Astana). Their teammates Grega Bola (Astana), Matteo Trentin (Astana) and Moreno Hofland (LottoNL) had been the riders working the most at the front. Van Hummel had said that he was quite keen on trying to take the points' jersey at the end of the race.
In a repetition of what happened in the first sprint, Kenny van Hummel managed to beat Marcel Kittel again in the second intermediate sprint. With no break so late in the stage it would be unlikely that any rider would be allowed to attack at this stage. There were attempts by Luke Durbridge (Cofidis), Tiago Machado (Tinkoff) or Michal Kwiatkowski (FDJ) but none of them could hold any significant gap and either Astana or LottoNL managed to bring them back to the peloton. The stage had been very fast so far and it did not look set to change.
BMC took the lead of the bunch for the last third of the stage, mainly with the former World Champion, Alessandro Ballan (BMC) but also with Filippo Pozzato (BMC). The pace they set was not encouraging any other rider to try an attack and with 10 kilometers to go we were approaching another mass sprint finish in the Australian race. BMC still had high hopes on Mark Renshaw (BMC), although the Australian has not been able to deliver thus far in his home race. Many of the other top sprinters were starting to get closer to the front of the pack.
With 3 kilometers to go the teams of the sprinters were already setting up their sprint trains. LottoNL had Bernahrd Eisel (LottoNL) ready to lead Kenny van Hummel out. On their left it was Tom Boonen (BMC) ahead of Mark Renshaw, which in turn had Marcel Kittel sitting on his wheel. Astana had tried to set up their own sprint train but they did not manage to make it work. Among the other sprinters close to the front we could see Lloyd Mondory (Etixx), Tyler Farrar (Tinkoff) and the World Champion, Jose Joaquin Rojas (Movistar).
Bernhard Eisel took Kenny van Hummel to the last kilometer in the best position but the Dutch started his sprint way too early and was giving Marcel Kittel a free tow. On BMC things were not much better as Tom Boonen almost left Mark Renshaw behind and had to wait for him. This required a big effort to catch the front of the pack by the Australian. Michael Matthews (Cannondale) had also started his sprint with 1 kilometer to go but Lloyd Mondory and Marcel Kittel looked to be in the best position to win the stage.
It was a very tight sprint with many riders still in the fight for the win with 700 meters to go. Kenny van Hummel had the lead but he was starting to fade as he had started his final sprint way too early. Some of his chasers, like Mark Renshaw, Marcel Kittel and Jose Joaquin Rojas, were in a much better position to take the stage win. Michael Matthews was also close to the front but he had a similar problem to Van Hummel. Nevertheless, with such a tight sprint it was difficult to predict the winner at that stage.
Tyler Farrar wins in Adelaide! The American appeared from nowhere to take the win in the last stage of the Tour Down Under. Farrar had only won once last year, a stage at the Giro d'Italia, but he looks set to change that trend. Tinkoff is in dire need of better results than what they got in 2016. The 2nd place went again to Mark Renshaw, who was really unlucky in this race. Meanwhile, Lloyd Mondory was 3rd ahead of Marcel Kittel and Mauro Finetto.
The 3rd position was more than enough for Mondory to take the win in the Tour Down Under for a second year in a row. He will share the podium with Mark Renshaw and Joost van Leijen. Mondory has settled himself as the reference sprinter when hills are involved in the stage and he can even win pure sprints every now and then. However, his main target of the season is said to be the cobbled monuments, where he was 2nd last year. It is also nice to see the good performance by Mauro Finetto, who has been named as a rider with a bright future ahead.
The European season will start close to the end of February this season with the Paris - Nice. This is probably the most important stage race of the early season alongside the Tirreno - Adriatico, so some of the best riders in the peloton have targeted it as one of the early season goals. The route will be the same we had in 2016. There will be no time trial but the race in nevertheless attractive and the GC typically comes down to only a few seconds up or down. The key stage will be the one finishing in Fayence as the Col de Bourigaille is climbed close to the finish line.
The Paris - Nice will be the first race where we will be able to see all 23 teams in the World Tour and Pro Continental divisions riding together, something that will not happen very often. It will be especially important for the French teams, always keen to do well at home. However, the local fans have not seen a French come out as winner since 2009 and the odds of it happening this year are remote at best. Jelle Vanendert and David Lopez have been the riders that had success in the last editions of the race but both decided to skip the race in 2017 and we will probably have a new winner this season.
Favorites:
- Emanuele Sella (Movistar Team): Emanuele Sella managed to start the season with a solid 7th place in the final GC of the Tour Down Under, a race that did not suit him that well. The Paris - Nice is a race that suits him much better and he already took the win at the Tirreno - Adriatico last year. Sella has always been a rider mostly suited to the hills and the French race only has one climb that can be considered a mountain and no time trials. Therefore, he should be in the mix in all the important stages.
- Cadel Evans (Lotto - Soudal): Evans is going to make his debut in the Lotto - Soudal team after they skipped the Tour Down Under, his home race. Although his target early in the season is the Tirreno - Adriatico, he decided to come to the French race to be in top shape in Italy. He has become a very solid rider in the last couple of years and even got really good results like a podium in the 2015 Tour de France and in the 2016 Tour de Suisse. With his new role in the Lotto - Soudal team he should even target the win in a Grand Tour.
- Davide Rebellin (Astana Pro Team): Davide Rebellin looks to be slowly recovering the quality that he had a few years ago and has to be one of the favorites for the Paris - Nice. There is no time trial and no big mountains in the route so the Italian should be among the best in the hills. He already took a stage win at the opening Tour Down Under so if he could translate that form into the French race he will be dangerous. He will also have quite good support from the likes of Michele Scarponi and Alexandre Vinokourov so there are no excuses for Rebellin.
- Laurens Ten Dam (Cannondale - Drapac): Ten Dam is the current winner of the Tour de France and the Giro d'Italia, so he is among the favorites in almost every stage race he enters. He started his season in Australia with a solid 5th position but that is a race that does not really suit him. He would probably like a few more mountains in the route and in principle his target is more the Tirreno - Adriatico but he should never be discarded for the win.
Other riders with a shot at the podium are Bjorn Leukemans (Lotto - Soudal), Mauro Finetto (Team Katusha), Rui Costa (Ag2r - La Mondiale), Tom-Jelte Slagter (Cannondale - Drapac), Joost van Leijen (Team Giant - Alpecin) and Philippe Gilbert (Vacansoleil - DMC).
Among the sprinters the best in the race will be Lloyd Mondory (Etixx - Quickstep), Alexander Kristoff and Elia Viviani (Euskaltel - Euskadi), Marcel Kittel (Astana Pro Team), Kenny van Hummel (LottoNL - Jumbo), Andre Greipel (Lotto - Soudal).
The Paris - Nice will start in Mantes-la-Jolie, in the shore of the Seine river after it crosses Paris. The route will be most done in a circuit towards the South of the town, which includes the climb to the Cote de Vert. The climb is nothing special and the stage is destined to be decided on a mass sprint for the line. The sprinters in the race are all really good as most of the top riders decided to start their seasons in this race. However, the GC riders should not be distracted and avoid any crashes, which are common in this kind of stage.
It took a while to form the break of the day but in the end it was a group of 5 that made it: Thomas Voeckler (Dimension Data), Sep Vanmarcke (Lotto), Peter Sagan (Sky), Davide Formolo (Astana) and Matti Breschel (Cannondale). They got to the first intermediate sprint, at the first passage through the finish line, with a gap of 2' 30'' over the main bunch. Voeckler won the sprint and 2 bonus seconds. Meanwhile, Nacer Bouhanni (Ag2r) took the sprint of the group. Etixx, Euskaltel and Ag2r were the teams setting the early pace in the stage.
Daniel Martin (Ag2r) was leading the group at the top of the Cote de Vert ahead of Juanjo Lobato (Movistar). Etixx was also contributing by leading the bunch but there were a lot of teams interested in the mass sprint. It was the 3rd time they climbed and the gap was slowly coming down and was at 3' 40''. Matti Breschel was first again at the top of the climb and will be wearing the KoM jersey tomorrow. The peloton had the raced pretty much controlled and it was not expected that they would have trouble chasing.
Thomas Voeckler was trying to keep the break alive but with 9 kilometers to go the gap of the break was a tiny 20 seconds and their chances were practically non-existent. Etixx was chasing with Jos van Emden (Etixx), Thibaut Pinot (Etixx) and Enrico Gasparotto (Etixx). While they were chasing hard a crash happened and as many as 30 riders were affected. Among those the most important riders were Vasil Kiryienka (IAM), Franco Pellizotti (BMC) and Geraint Thomas (Tinkoff). There was going to be an initial selection in the GC.
Etixx was the first team to set up a sprint train as they had Michael van Staeyen (Etixx) ready to lead Lloyd Mondory (Etixx) out. Nacer Bouhanni had taken his wheel, a very good move by the young French. On the right hand side of the road it was Elia Viviani (Euskaltel) working for Alexander Kristoff (Euskaltel). Viviani is a luxury that the Spanish team can afford as he would be a top sprinter if he did not have to work for Kristoff. Among the other sprinters we could see Tyler Farrar (Tinkoff), Kenny van Hummel (LottoNL) and Andre Greipel (Lotto) close to the front. Jure Kocjan (Katusha) was also trying to get Mauro Finetto (Katusha) to the front.
Elia Viviani was so strong that he almost left Alexander Kristoff behind as they closed in to the last kilometer of the stage. Jure Kocjan had taken the wheel of the Norwegian as Mauro Finetto gave up on the sprint. Meanwhile, Etixx had their sprint train almost on par with the Euskaltel one. Lloyd Mondory should be a good threat for Kristoff. Theo Bos and Ben Swift were trying to start the sprint from far out but they were too far behind. Meanwhile, Levi Leipheimer (Trek) and Pieter Weening (Tinkoff) had crashed with 3 to go, which was a big hit for their teams.
Alexander Kristoff waited as long as he could behind Elia Viviani and with 600 meters to go he started to emerge from behind his teammate. Considering that he only had Jure Kocjan on his wheel, who should not be a match for him he was in very good shape to get the stage win. A bit behind, Lloyd Mondory also was leaving his lead out behind but it looked to be already too late. Among those following were Tyler Farrar and Nacer Bouhanni. Nevertheless, they had all lost a lot of terrain due to the great job done at the front by Elia Viviani.
Alexander Kristoff wins in Mantes-la-Jolie! There was no discussion as to whether Kristoff's win was deserved today as he just crushed everyone else in the final sprint. It is only his first racing day of the season and the Norwegian has already started the win count for Euskaltel. It the lead out by Elia Viviani works as well as it did today he is going to win a lot this season. In the fight for the 2nd place it was Ben Swift who was quickest. The Vacansoleil rider started his sprint from very far but could hold his speed to overtake lots of riders.
Fran Ventoso (Movistar) came out of nowhere to claim 3rd as the sprinters orders in Movistar are unclear. This is even though they have the current World Champion, Jose Joaquin Rojas (Movistar) in the squad. The top 5 was completed by Jure Kocjan and Elia Viviani. In the end, the stage was more or less as expected but we lost Levi Leipheimer and Pieter Weening for the GC fight due to crashes. The huge peloton that we have in the race makes the crashes much more dangerous and at this point every rider is keen to start the season on a high.
The second stage in the Paris - Nice is the start of the route south for the riders. This part of France is very flat and therefore today's stage will be very straight-forward. The only difficult of the day in the Cote de la Ferte-Loupierre but it is nothing more than a small hill with around 40 kilometers to the finish line. None of the riders of the bunch should have any trouble. Getting in the break will be a mostly hopeless effort but a few teams will surely want to be present. Also, the wind that could have spiced things up is not due to make an appearance.
The start of the stage was really quick and the riders had more than 200 kilometers to cover today. At the sprint in Malesherbes, with 143 kilometers to go, there was still no break ahead as the teams of the sprinters were not willing to let a big group go. Nacer Bouhanni (Ag2r) took the chance to get the maximum points at the sprint ahead of Lloyd Mondory (Etixx) and Alexander Kristoff (Euskaltel). Bouhanni is very keen to do well as he was touted the next big thing in the French sprinting. Ag2r is also keen to contribute to controlling the pace in order for him to have a chance at the finish line.
The Cote de la Ferte-Loupierre was placed 44 kilometers from the finish line in Saint-Georges-sur-Baulche. A group of 4 riders had finally formed the break of the day: Alejandro Valverde (Cofidis), Vincenzo Nibali (Lampre), Gianni Meersman (Orica) and Cyril Gautier (FDJ). The Spaniard was the first at the top of the climb but their gap was already starting to come down at that stage and was around 3 minutes. Euskaltel were doing most of the chasing with riders like Zdenek Stybar (Euskaltel) and Danilo di Luca (Euskaltel).
With 10 kilometers to go the break still had a healthy lead of almost 3 minutes, which gave them hope of getting the win today. There had been a void in the control of the peloton after the second intermediate sprint at the first passage through the finish line in Saint-Georges-sur-Baulche and the break seized the opportunity. However, it was only 3 of them as Gianni Meersman had dropped from the group. Etixx was the team that decided to bring things back together but they were going to have to chase hard to close that gap.
The strength of the leading riders was lacking in the last kilometers and an attack by Alejandro Valverde destroyed their understanding. With 3 kilometers to go they only had 20 second over the bunch. Seeing as they were about to catch the break the teams of the sprinters were already setting up sprint trains. Yannick Martinez (Ag2r) was the chosen man to lead Nacer Bouhanni, while Mauro Finetto (Katusha) had taken his wheel. Elia Viviani (Euskaltel) would once again try to do as good a job as yesterday for Alexander Kristoff, while Daniel Martin (Ag2r) had strangely positioned himself behind him. On the other side of the road it would be Michael van Staeyen (Eitxx) ahead of Lloyd Mondory.
Elia Viviani was once again two steps ahead of any other rider when it came to leading his main sprinter to the best position in the sprint. When they had not even entered the last kilometer Alexander Kristoff was a good couple of bikes ahead of anyone else and opening a small gap. The trains by Etixx and Ag2r did not work nearly as well so Nacer Bouhanni and Lloyd Mondory were left almost on par with other good sprinters like Tyler Farrar (Tinkoff), Ben Swift (Vacansoleil) and Marcel Kittel (Astana).
Alexander Kristoff was enjoying such a good lead out by Elia Viviani that he could afford to sit on the wheel of the Italian until the last 500 meters of the stage. Nacer Bouhanni was the only rider that was trying to take the wheel of the Norwegian but he had already started his sprint a few hundred meters before so it was doubtful that he could overtake. Lloyd Mondory was expected to do much better in the sprints but he does not seem to be that quick when it comes to the final rush this year. Nevertheless, he was ahead of other sprinters that were in the mix like Mauro Finetto and Tyler Farrar.
Alexander Kristoff wins in Saint-Georges-sur-Baulche! It was another easy win for Kristoff, which makes it two in a row for the Norwegian. His wins were so easy that one has to wonder whether he will be able to extend his streak to three tomorrow. The second place went to Nacer Bouhanni, who was able to narrowly fend off the fast finishing Lloyd Mondory. The two French riders are still looking for a win in one of their home races but it is not going to be obvious at all among so many good sprinters.
The 4th place went to Mauro Finetto, which is quite a surprise as he was not expected to do that well in mass sprints. He finished ahead of Giacomo Nizzolo (Trek). In the end the stage finished exactly how it was expected but if the strength of the break riders had been only a tad better it would have been a good opportunity. The peloton probably saw a very weak break and got confident in the last few kilometers with no team willing to take responsibility. There will be another chance for the sprinters tomorrow at Magny-Cours.
