It’s pancake flat from Marion to Adelaide as the riders finish their route around the South of Australia. Without any real challenges on the horizon, GC should be settled outside of the bonus seconds at the finish line. This one should be a race for the sprinters as long as the breakaway doesn’t find surprise success.
The breakaway begins to form right from the line with Gogl wanting a shot for the first time this race. Skala is quick to follow. Morales Ortega is the next to jump after about a 5 second gap. 30 seconds back, Garibian, Hermans, and Gunman try to jump before the peloton begins pacing. It’s McCormick Pro Cycling doing most the chasing with Seigle to bring this group back and they’re all back together after 8km on the front.
As the first breakaway ends, Gunman jumps off the front again and easily establishes a small gap. Zegklis tries to join, but can’t close a 10 second gap while Garibian is in a group with Morales Ortega, Pibernik, and Skala just off the front of the peloton. It’s Glanbia leading the peloton this time trying to make sure no one gets away as McCambridge pushes hard at the front. He lets up as the group of four is absorbed into the group.
Another group of four think it might be their time to find opportunity. Tesfaye Heyi leads the charge followed by Phelan, Hermans, and Kelly. Team Popo4ever p/b Morshynska closes them down immediately and the fight for the breakaway is absolutely furious and there’s only 75km to go at this point. Upon getting caught, Hermans and Kelly make a duo attempt which does not bring a reaction from the peloton. They bridge to Zegklis while Gunman is still alone. Almost everyone in the attacks is struggling from the hard formation stage.
Just when the attacks seemed complete, more jump away from the peloton. It’s Barbero leading the crew this time after Caja Rural Cycling Team found breakaway success earlier this race. Pibernik is right on his wheel while Rota, Tesfaye Heyi and Medvedev also want part of the action. The peloton doesn’t appreciate this attempt very much and brings them back. Rota and Tesfaye Heyi break away again and the peloton reacts after a smaller group of Skala, Le Gac, and Morales Ortega fight to join the front. While everything is hectic behind, the front four finally comes together and have 1:07 over the peloton - 65km to go.
This is the final aspect of break formation and the four leaders ride happily together with no more attacks. With 50km to go, all four seem to have recovered and are pulling normally. That’s Kelly, Zegklis, Hermans, and Gunman. With 50km to go, the lead is 2:30 and the riders continue around Adelaide’s coast.
Behind in the peloton, the pace has risen. Glanbia and McCormick are both offering forces on behalf of Walscheid and Kennett. Team Popo4ever is also represented for Varga (2nd GC) and Lutsyshyn. Tryg-Gobyk is then well positioned to take over when needed as Demare should be the top favorite for the sprint. They don’t need to take the pace though as Demare’s GC win is more easily secured with the break up the road. 40km to go and the peloton has brought the gap to 2:00.
The peloton and breakaway are still working as before at 30km to go. The gap is just less than 1:30 and the peloton seems prepared to ensure a bunch sprint at the finish. Of the GC men, Haller, Bol, Demare, and Van der Sande are all near the front of the peloton in case the race gets more complicated. 25km to go comes and goes and the breakaway’s gap is falling quickly to 1:08.
The breakaway has less than a minute under the 20km to go banner and the peloton shows no signs of letting up. Kelly is clearly pushing hard to give the breakaway any chance he can, but the gap is 51 seconds and descending. Everyone else is still working hard, but there’s just no difference being made. It’s McCormick Pro Cycling with 4 of the first 5 men in the pace line ensuring the peloton keeps pushing.
The McCormick Pro Cycling train is now created in full with Walscheid on the end of it as Seigle is the man on the front. The break has only 36seconds at 15km to the line and there’s little they can do to stop this train. The rest of the sprint and GC teams have not created any major trains while most leaders just have one man shepherding them to the front. It will be interesting to see if anyone tries to challenge the McCormick train.
It’s Kelly jumping off the front of the group after believing the others are holding him back on the way to the line. Zegklis is trying to pull him back on behalf of the other three, but Kelly holds him off for over a kilometer before all coming together at 11km to go. Kelly’s attack did keep the lead at 30seconds over the chase but the pace in the breakaway delays once he’s caught.
With the peloton just 10km from the line, Hermans is the next man to try an escape but no gap is created. Each member of the breakaway senses the desperation with only 22 seconds on the peloton. They can turn around and see the full line of blue and white of McCormick Pro Cycling ready to pounce.
The catch is made! The efforts of Naud, Seigle, and Simmons are successful in ensuring the catch and the breakaway gives up. No last minute attempts. It’s 8km to the line and sprinters seem prepared unless a surprise attack comes from the rest of the field. Besides the McCormick Pro Cycling group up front, Demare is separated from Summerhill and Honore who seem prepared to usher Demare to the line. Lutsyshyn is stuck on Walscheid’s wheel while Kiskonen is attached their hip. Behind Demare is Howard and Haller with Vesely slotted with them. Bol is the other major player boxed in on the curb in 7th or 8th row from the front.
The pace slows as McCormick attempts to regain their train after the breakaway is caught. They stay at the front, but Tryg-Gobyk is now also contributing 4 to the front. Houle and Losch have moved up right behind the pace setters, while most other sprinters are further back behind the lineup of McCormick and Tryg-Gobyk riders. Demare surprisingly has fallen back to about 35th wheel and will need to reposition for a sprint chance.
The front cameras are struggling for a good shot at the peloton so the helicopter must show us where everyone is. It’s Bagioli leading out Narvaez and Walscheid at the front where McCormick has shown they want this win. Losch and Dzamastagic are splitting Walscheid’s wheel. Lo Cicero and Howard are in the same plane as them ahead of the rest. In row 3 of sprinters it is (L-R) Lutsyshyn, Russo, Bol, and Houle with Kennett trying to find his way there. It’s chaos behind with main favorites Vesely, Demare, Haller and Van der Sande all on the outside looking in.
Bagioli still leads on the front and the McCormick train is still intact on the front. Row 1 of sprinters has not changed, except Lo Cicero is now able to take full control of Walscheid’s wheel which may be crucial for the aging sprinter. Matthews has entered the frame in row 2 as has Scully in their attempts at the first major results of the tour. Van der Sande is very boxed in while Demare has room on the open side of the round but lots of distance to cover. Vesely could easily cover that move for success if Demare can find the room. Varga is well back on the right and will have to find many gaps to find anyone to nip Demare for an extra bonus second.
Bagioli is off the front and allowing Narvaez to make the final leadout. Wippert is going early on the right to find open space. Dzamastagic has bullied Lo Cicero off Walscheid’s wheel and is ready to catapult to victory while Howard is beginning to be boxed on the left. Losch and Houle seem well composed with Kennett ready to pay back his teammates for work earlier in the stage too. Varga is well back but has moved up enough to make Demare potentially work for it as Demare continues to be back in the front pack. Bol is best positioned of the top 10 right on Kennett’s wheel and could stand to move up a place or two with a high placing.
Narvaez is still strong on the front but when will Walscheid decide to go. McCormick has put together an absolute stunner of a train to not leave Walscheid in top position. Howard is best of the rest so far and there’s a group of 10 starting to gap the rest of the field. They include Lo Cicero, Dzamastagic, Losch (sitting on Walscheid’s wheel if he can follow}, Houle, and Wippert. Russo is behind Dzamastagic without room to accelerate while Bol is on the outside with tons of room to pick a route, but also the most ground to catch up. Kennett is best of the rest, but there’s a full bike length between him and the rest of the sprinters up ahead.
Walscheid has finally moved out from Narvaez’s wheel and he’s still the leader, but the race is 9 sprinters wide with more coming strongly from behind. If the race ended now, the order appears to be Walscheid, Narvaez, Howard, Houle, Lo Cicero, Losch, Dzamastagic, Wippert, Bol, and Russo. Kennett has closed the gap to this group and is flying to make an effort while Lutsyshyn and Matthews are also hoping to pick off anyone faltering down the stretch. It could really be anyone’s race.
The race has gotten even closer! Walscheid is holding on strong, but everyone can sense a chance at victory. It’s tough to even tell who might be edging closest with 200m to go but Houle may be next. Howard is clearly making a strong attempt while Loschi and Dzamastagic still have a chance. Lo Cicero, Wippert and Bol look just too far to beat everyone in front of them, but passing 2-3 of those in front still seems reasonable. Kennett is pushing hard too as he’s overtaken Russo. We suspect a photo finish.
It’s Walscheid! He holds the field off after an unbelievable sprint and fantastic leadout from his teammates! Houle does hold for second in the closest finish of the entire Tour Down Under. Dzamastagic ends up getting the final podium spot in 3rd while looking poised to have taken the win with an extra 300m. Losch and Wippert close out the top 5 with Bol the top GC contender in 6th. He’ll wait to see if those 8 seconds end up moving him into a higher position. Howard, Russo, Kennett and Matthews hold out the top 10 while Lo Cicero falls all the way to 11th after good positioning. Demare, Haller, Vesely and Van der Sande all maintain pots in the top 20 to protect their GC. The rest of the field easily rolls in.
Walscheid takes the podium for the stage win.
A fantastic GC win. Demare displays his skillset across the entire parcours to gain top finishes and earn the top spot with the tiniest of margins.
Blouwe’s one-day 22 point haul was enough to take the top spot and a nice result for Mercatone Uno – Weba.
Similarly, Demare deserved the points jersey after consistently high finishes across all stages.
Kraftwerk Man Machine was barely able to hold onto the team classification over Team Popo4Ever p/b Morshysnka. Top results from Haller, De Buyst, Rumac, and Kanerva all helped support this team win.
Stannard earns a well-deserved white jersey finishes 12th overall.
