Stage 1 Review: Andre Greipel made a fine start to 2018 as he took his 17th Tour Down Under win last night, beating home favourite Caleb Ewan (Mitchelton-Scott) and World Champion Peter Sagan (Bora-Hansgrohe) to take the leader’s jersey in Lydnoch.
The two-time overall winner used all his experience to bid his time whilst Mitchelton-Scott and Quick-Step Floors attempted to set up Caleb Ewan and Elia Viviani. The Italian went right whilst Ewan, a two-time winner here before, went to the left, and Greipel followed him before rounding him and taking a well-earned victory down the middle of the road.
The day’s early break - Steel von Hoffe (UniSA), Nicholas Dlamini (Dimension Data) and Will Clarke (EF Education First Drapac) – would go onto establish themselves fairly quickly and tey were gone after 10km. Dlamini would take the first King of the Mountains prize at Humbug Scrub, ahead of Clarke and then Bowden, with Damien Howson on the front from the peloton. Clarke would take the first sprint ahead of Dlamini, von Hoff having dropped back at this point, and the race was on for the invaluable third bonus second on offer.
Trek-Segafredo's Laurent Didier jumped away from the bunch with the hope of taking the third point, and he was joined quickly by Jhonatan Restrepo (Katusha) and Rui Costa (UAE Team-Emirates) to content the third position; It would be Jhonatan Restrepo that took the honours in the event, much to the frustration of Costa.
With the gap dropping, Clarke would take the second sprint, giving him 6 bonus seconds whilst Nathan Haas, tipped for the overall title, managed to take the last point. By now the main teams where hurting towards the finish to set up the sprint, and the peloton would pick up Clarke with 9 kilometres left, leading to the sprint that Greipel took. Reflecting on his success, the German told Cyclingnews: "A win is a win, I'm happy it turned out like that. To start the season with a win is always good for the team, for me. The criterium is one of the hardest races to win and when you do some small mistakes, you cannot win."
Stage 2 Preview: Unley > Stirling 149KM
The Route:
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The peloton leaves Adelaide (where Unley is located) heading straight down the Grand Junction Road and then exiting via Hope Valley. When into the mountains, the riders will take the first Categorised climb of the day at Tea Tree Gully, which is 6.1% for 2.5 Km.
After a long journey south through Loethesatal, and then Oakbank, where the intermediate sprint is located, they will then reach the circuit.
The Circuit: Is not a straightforward affair. It’s lumpy and rolling with two decent climbs that average around 5%, along with fast descents as well.
The Finish: An uphill drag that will suit the Puncheurs and classic style riders, a few of whom are here in numbers.
History: Much of this route was used in 2016, but there were two fewer laps and the climb of Norton Summit was also present there. Of course, how hard the course is raced is going to be a crucial part of the final outcome and the circuit ought to provide a stiff challenge.
Contenders: In 2016 Jay McCarthy just held off the fast-finishing Diego Ulissi to take the victory here and interestingly Rohan Dennis was third then. All three will consider themselves contenders whilst this terrain isn’t beyond the remit of either Peter Sagan, already in form as we’ve seen this week. Nathan Haas has to be considered closely, having performed well on the overall in the past couple of years, and Rui Costa was also active yesterday. Watch closely for Richie Porte too, as we’ll get a chance to see him under just a little more pressure today.
