The 4th stage start in Newton a suburb 10 km north-east of central Adelaide and it finish in Uraidla a small town at Adelaide Hills. Home of a school a hotel a cricket club and a population of about 500 people. The old church transformed to a wine bar serving a wood-oven pizza.
The stage will be the first categorized as hilly and thereby the first likely to create some time differences, but the climb at Old Norton Summit Road is not too hard to exclude the hilly sprinters from mixing with the punchers.
Top 5 favorites:
Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) Michael Matthews (Team Sunweb) Philippe Gilbert (Quick-Step Floors) Arnaud Démare (Groupama – FDJ) Ben Swift (UAE Team Emirates)
The Uraidla Hotel got a license in 1877, today it also includes a bakery, a cafe and a brewery
Race
Km : 124
Five riders attempted a breakaway as soon as the flag dropped, after 8km the got 38” and it seems to be growing moving in on the first small uncategorized hill, it is Sergey Chernetckii (Astana), Yukiya Arashiro (Bahrain), Lukasz Wisniowski (Sky), Brendan Canty (Education First) and Fumiyuki Beppu (Trek)
The Breakaway
Km : 118
Silvan Dillier (AG2R) have attacked slowly he is getting closer to the riders in front. At this point the peloton is at 2’30” seemingly satisfied with the breakaway.
The Switz national champion about to join the breakaway
Km : 94
About 12 km ago we had a series of very bad crashes, resulting in a chaos with many groups, worst hit a group of 41 riders with Alejandro Valverde, Philippe Gilbert, Daniel Martin, Michael Matthews and Bob Jungels losing 2 minutes to the yellow jersey. They all got back but it is impossible to say how fit they are.
The original crash, ending in 82 riders falling behind
Km : 40
The Breakaway have passed the two intermediate sprints, the peloton has accelerated and the distance is slowly getting smaller, at this point 1’40”
Combined result of intermediate sprints in Birdwood and Charleston
Yukiya Arashiro
Bahrain - Merida
10
Lukasz Wisniowski
Team Sky
6
Fumiyuki Beppu
Trek - Segafredo
4
The breakaway works together well, but the peloton gets closer
Km : 9.0
The breakaway splits as Silvan Dillier attacks 20 km out, in the end only Sergey Chernetckii and Silvan Dillier passes the KoM just a few seconds in front of the peloton.
Result of KoM at Norton Summit Road
Sergey Chernetckii
Astana Pro Team
16
Silvan Dillier
AG2R La Mondiale
12
Omar Fraile
Astana Pro Team
8
Yukiya Arashiro
Bahrain - Merida
6
Michael Matthews
Team Sunweb
4
Chernetckii wins the KoM sprint
Km : 4.0
Right after the KoM Omar Fraile (Astana) attacks, he passes the duo and soon opens a considerable gap to the pursuit. Behind him Michael Albasini (Michelton – Scott) and Tom Jelte Slagter (Dimension Data) has also got away and behind them also Bob Jungels has attacked. The peloton is 1’07” behind Fraile
Fraile attacks
Km : 0.0
Omar Fraile takes a solo victory in Uraidla with 29” down to the next group. Michael Albasini wins the peloton sprint for 2nd over Alejandro Valverde
The win and the sprint for 2nd
Astana Pro Team
A great stage for us, Omar Fraile taking our first season win, tomorrow we got the leader jersey, will be a very different story now having to control the race.
Stage 5, the traditional stage with with finish at Willunga Hill, since 2011 with start from McLaren Vale, the stage will run at circuits between McLaren Vale, Snappers point at Aldinga Beach and Willunga Hill, Willunga Hill count as category 1 both at the KoM sprint and at the finish line.
Clearly the hardest stage of the race, stage 5 must be expected to shake the GC, race leader Astana likely to do most of the chasing to avoid losing the race to a breakaway.
Top 5 favorites:
Alejandro Valverde (Movistar), Philippe Gilbert (Quick-Step Floors), Daniel Martin (UAE Team Emirates), Bob Jungels (Quick-Step Floors), Dylan Teuns (BMC Racing Team)
Besides the now famous hill, Willunga has a busy local market tradition with Quarry, Artisans and most importantly Willunga Farmers Market
Race
Km: 143
We have got a breakaway of 7 rider, including two Sky riders Vasil Kiryienka and Ian Stannard, the others are Silvan Dillier (AG2R), Brendan Canty (Education First), Lars Ytting Bak (Lotto Soudal), Aleksejs Saramotins (BORA) and Fumiyuki Beppu (Trek – Segafredo) at this point they got 32”, the dangerous break have forced the peloton to chase hard, several teams sending riders forward to participate.
Km: 65
The best places riders in the breakaway are Kiryienka 27th at 39”, also Lars Bak and Silvan Dillier has the same time. With 98 km to go Michael Albasini (Michelton) had a puncture forcing 5 teammate to go back and close the 1’43”.
Astana is now the only team leading in the peloton, Chernetckii, Houle and Gatto working hard. Up front Fumiyuki Beppu can’t follow the pace, he was dropped hanging at 32”, peloton at 1’36”
Chernetckii, Houle and Gattoin in front of the bunch
Km : 50
We got 28 km left to the first KoM sprint at Willunga Hill, distance 1’43”, peloton speed about 42 km/hour, wind speed at the coast 15 km/hour, inland about 12 km/hour.
Combined result of the two intermediate sprints at Snappers Point
Lars Ytting Bak
Lotto Soudal
5
Ian Stannard
Team Sky
5
Vasil Kiryienka
Team Sky
4
Fumiyuki Beppu
Trek - Segafredo
3
Silvan Dillier
AG2R La Mondiale
3
The Breakaway passing the 2nd sprint
Km : 22
Silvan Dillier attacked from the bottom of the KoM, Lars Ytting Bak looking very strong caught up, while everyone else was brought back, the duo has 42” with 2 km to the top.
The peloton was very fast, but Lars Ytting Bak just barely managed to stay ahead with a few cm, just enough to win the KoM sprint.
Result of KoM at Willunga Hill
Lars Ytting Bak
Lotto Soudal
16
Jan Hirt
Astana Pro Team
12
Simon Gerrans
BMC Racing Team
8
José Joaquin Rojas
Movistar Team
6
Omar Fraile
Astana Pro Team
4
Silvan Dillier and Lars Ytting Bak
Km : 1
A large peloton hit the final climb together more than 100 riders, but soon the selection begins reducing the leading group to just 18 riders. Bob Jungels (Quick-Step Floors) attacks from 2 km, Daniel Martin (UAE Team Emirates), Ben Swift (UAE Team Emirates) and Dylan Teuns (BMC Racing Team) follows.
Ben Swift can’t keep up, but Alejandro Valverde comes superfast from behind, under the red kite they have about 20 sec to the yellow jersey.
Alejandro in front
Km : 0
It comes to a close finish between Alejandro Valverde and Bob Jungels. The 38 years old Movistar veteran wins at Willunga Hill and taking 19” plus bonus on the yellow jersey, he also takes the race lead.
Another close finish
Astana Pro Team
We lost the yellow jersey, but we knew it would be a tough day. Isolated a good stage result with two riders in top 10.
Just as traditional as Willunga Hill is the short flat final stage in Adelaide city, this stage has been in every edition of the race. Unlikely to affect the GC, it is all about the final mass sprint, unless of course a breakaway makes it, but probably they won’t.
The stage is raced as 8 laps on each side of The River Torrens (Karra wirra-parri) from Victoria Square through King William Street to Adelaide Park Lands and back.
Top 5 favorites:
Fernando Gaviria (Quick-Step Floors) Arnaud Démare (Groupama – FDJ)
Mark Cavendish (Dimension Data) Ben Swift (UAE)
Daniel McLay (EF Education First)
King William Street was names after King William IV (1765-1837), photo of the street late 1800’s
Race
Km: 53
5 riders have formed the early breakaway, it is Clément Venturini (AG2R), Dylan Van Baarle (Sky) Alex Frame (Trek), Thomas Scully (EF Education First) and Oliviero Troia (UAE) , at this point they have 1’43”
Best placed in GC is Van Baarle 55th at 5’04”, but more importantly he is also best placed in KoM with 6 points, he can win the overall KoM today.
Dylan Van Baarle taking his turn in the break
Km: 25
Astana also had good card to go for the KoM this morning with both Jan Hirt and Hugo Houle and they did try, but in vain.
Now we have got a crash of 23 riders down or blocked, best placed in GC Rudy Barbier 29th at 1’51”. Astana worst hit with 3 riders Hugo Houle, Nikita Stalnov and Sergey Chernetckii. The crash forces Enzo Wouters (Lotto Soudal) to abandon with a broken hand.
A huge crash, they won’t make it back
Km : 2.7
The breakaway was caught late some 6 km before the finish.
Combined result of points sprint:
Clément Venturini
AG2R La Mondiale
8
Thomas Scully
Team EF Education First - Drapac p/b Cannondale
7
Dylan Van Baarle
Team Sky
5
Combined result of KoM sprints
Dylan Van Baarle
Team Sky
16
Thomas Scully
Team EF Education First - Drapac p/b Cannondale
12
Alex Frame
Trek - Segafredo
8
Clément Venturini
AG2R La Mondiale
8
With this Dylan Van Baarle wins the overall KoM
Now the sprinter trains are almost side by side, EF Education First for McLay, Groupama – FDJ for Démare, Katusha Alpecin for Marcel Kittel and Quick-Step Floors for Gaviria.
The mass sprint at King William Street
Km : 0
With 300 meters it is Fernando Gaviria and Arnaud Démare side by side, but the Columbian has much more left, he wins in Adelaide with at least a cycle length.
17/1 Ruslan Tleubayev was injuried in training; a broken hand will keep him out for about a month.
18/1 Laurens de Vreese is fit to race again
19/1 Notes about pre-giro stage races: Jacob Fuglsang will lead the team in Paris – Nice Miguel A. Lopez will lead the team in Tirreno – Adriatico Miguel A. Lopez will lead the team in Volta Ciclista a Catalunya Miguel A. Lopez will lead the team in Itzulia Basque Country Jacob Fuglsang will lead the team in Tour de Romandie
21/1 Omar Fraile won a stage in Giro last year, but 2nd in TDU was definitely his best GC result ever. We congratulate and appreciate what he has achieved.
EDITORIAL NOTE: NEW LEVEL EXTREME
Spoiler
I’m afraid to make unrealistic good result, based on the 2nd in TDU. So from here I will ride on EXTREME.
Compensating a little I have up’ed Fuglsangs ITT, based on his good result in Tour de Suisse. But it is not much we are at Gorka Izagirre level, I believe currently that is realistic.
Michael got a minimal boost in COB, and Cort a minimal boost in sprint.
I have not changed their max'd-out levels.
Expectations: Form is not too good, but with a strong mountain squad in Fuglsang, Cataldo and Hansen we expect to podium this race, the squad is supposed to focus 100% on Fuglsang’s GC.
Some notable riders on the startlist: Sprinters:
Peter Sagan (BORA) Alexander Kristoff (UAE) Jakub Mareczko (Wilier Triestina) Juan Jose Lobato (NIPPO) Bryan Coquard (Vital Concept) GC Riders:
Rigoberto Uran (EF Education First) Jakob Fuglsang (Astana) Fabio Aru (UAE) Adam Yates (Michelton – Scott) Ben Hermans (Israel Cycling)
Patrick Konrad (BORA)
The first stage starts in San Luis about 790 km west of Buenos Aires, founded in 1594 by Luis Jufré de Loaysa y Meneses, after whom it took its name. The settlement was abandoned after two year, not to be resettled until 1632. The stage finish in Villa Mercedes a city of about 100.000 founded in 1856.
The stage is mainly flat and with no KoM sprints, the two point sprints of the only interruption before a likely mass sprint finish.
Top 5 media favorites:
Peter Sagan (BORA) Alexander Kristoff (UAE) Bryan Coquard (Vital Concept)
Jakub Mareczko (Wilier Triestina) Simone Ponzi (NIPPO)
Royal Governor of Chile Don Martín García Óñez de Loyola restablished San Luis in 1632
Race
Km: 164.5
The original breakaway was three riders and the peloton was clearly content with a small breakaway like this, there was not much fighting this morning.
The breakaway riders are Arnaud Gérard (Fortuneo) Miguel E. Florez (Wilier Triestina) and Franklin Six (WB Aqua Protect), they got 3’03”
the breakaway on the long slightly downhill section
Km: 99
The peloton is not taking any chances they are already starting to cut the lead down, at the 2nd sprint it is down to 2’15
Combined result of sprint in Fraga and Villa Mercedes.
Arnaud Gérard
Team Fortuneo - Samsic
10
Miguel Eduardo Florez
Wilier Triestina - Selle Italia
10
Franklin Six
WB Aqua Protect Veranclassic
4
The Intermediate sprint in Villa Mercedes
Km : 30
The last riders from the breakaway Arnaud Gérard is caught unusually early, with 30 km left could provide options for others to attempt something.
Arnaud Gérard’s last minute in the spotlight
Km : 4
There were no more attacks and the sprinter teams had lots of time to organize the trains.
It is BORA leading but also Vital Concept’s train on their left.
Sagan in perfect position
Km : 0
Vital Concept’s train can’t keep to with BORA, under the red kite it is Selig leading Sagan, on his wheel Alexander Kristoff and Manuel Belletti.
The hard work from BORA paid off, Peter Sagan win’s in Villa Mercedes.
The world champion takes his first season win in Vuelta a San Juan
Astana Pro Team
A quiet ride without any problems.
Stage
1
Peter Sagan
BORA - hansgrohe
4h25'56
2
Alexander Kristoff
UAE Team Emirates
s.t.
3
Manuel Belletti
Androni Giocattoli - Sidermec
s.t.
4
Laurent Pichon
Team Fortuneo - Samsic
s.t.
5
Andrea Guardini
Bardiani CSF
s.t.
6
Luka Mezgec
Michelton - Scott
s.t.
7
Kenny Dehaes
WB Aqua Protect Veranclassic
s.t.
8
Bryan Coquard
Vital Concept Cycling Club
s.t.
9
Nikias Arndt
Team Sunweb
s.t.
10
Kristian Sbaragli
Israel Cycling Academy
s.t.
Spoiler
50
Andriy Grivko
Astana Pro Team
s.t.
51
Davide Villella
Astana Pro Team
s.t.
52
Jesper Hansen
Astana Pro Team
s.t.
53
Jakob Fuglsang
Astana Pro Team
s.t.
61
Andrey Zeits
Astana Pro Team
s.t.
65
Dario Cataldo
Astana Pro Team
s.t.
GC
1
Peter Sagan
BORA - hansgrohe
4h25'46
2
Alexander Kristoff
UAE Team Emirates
+ 4
3
Manuel Belletti
Androni Giocattoli - Sidermec
+ 6
4
Laurent Pichon
Team Fortuneo - Samsic
+ 10
5
Andrea Guardini
Bardiani CSF
s.t.
6
Luka Mezgec
Michelton - Scott
s.t.
7
Kenny Dehaes
WB Aqua Protect Veranclassic
s.t.
8
Bryan Coquard
Vital Concept Cycling Club
s.t.
9
Nikias Arndt
Team Sunweb
s.t.
10
Kristian Sbaragli
Israel Cycling Academy
s.t.
Spoiler
50
Andriy Grivko
Astana Pro Team
+ 10
51
Davide Villella
Astana Pro Team
+ 10
52
Jesper Hansen
Astana Pro Team
+ 10
53
Jakob Fuglsang
Astana Pro Team
+ 10
61
Andrey Zeits
Astana Pro Team
+ 10
65
Dario Cataldo
Astana Pro Team
+ 10
Points
1
Peter Sagan
BORA - hansgrohe
25
2
Alexander Kristoff
UAE Team Emirates
20
3
Manuel Belletti
Androni Giocattoli - Sidermec
16
KoM
Team: BORA - hansgrohe
Young: Jakub Mareczko (Wilier Triestina - Selle Italia)
