The second stage of the Santos Tour Down Under ended with the second collective sprint of the tournament, and once again the strength of the Bora-Hansgrohe team exploded. Sam Welsford (Australia, Bora-Hansgrohe) took his second win in the section, while Luke Plapp was forced to retire after a fall.
Caleb Ewan hopes for his first World Tour win after returning to the team (Australia, Jayco Al-Ullah) photo: CorVos
The third stage of the Santos Tour Down Under, set in the height of the Australian summer, was contested over 145.3km from Tea Tree Gully to Campbelltown. In the early stages, many expected a bunch sprint, as the race was supposed to cross two low difficulty category mountains, pass through gently sloping hills and finish on a flat road.
Isaac Del Toro (Mexico, UAE Team Emirates), who the day before achieved his first tournament victory as a Mexican and will wear the orange leader’s jersey, will start in the lead. Soon after, Luke Burns, who was hanging up his mountain championship jersey, attacked Tristan Saunders, who is also a member of Team Bridge Lane and rides with the Australian national team. As expected, Burns topped the top of the 3rd and 4th class mountains that he had visited early on.
Luke Burns (Australian National Team) successfully retains mountaineering prize photo: CorVos
Burns and Saunders, who managed to accumulate mountain points and retain the mountain championship jersey, were joined by Stéphane Debod (South Africa, EF Education Easypost) and Axel Marioau (France, Cofidis), becoming the number four lead. However, once over the mountain, Burns returned to the main group and Mario, who had won two consecutive races in the intermediate sprint battle with Debod, returned to the group with Debod. As a result, 23-year-old Sanders was alone in the lead.
The main group, which had a calm atmosphere ahead of the bunch sprint, was controlled by Bora-Hansgrohe, who showed the strength of their team on the first day of the tournament, and the leading team, UAE Team Emirates. Then, with 30km to go, he caught Saunders and crashed as the peloton gradually increased speed.
With 13km to go, Cristian Scaloni, Michele Gazzzoli and Samuele Battistella of Astana Kazakhstan (all Italians) were all knocked to the ground. Furthermore, Australian champion Luke Plapp (Jaco Al-Ullah) was also involved, and everyone made it to the finish line without serious injuries, such as broken bones.
Isaac Del Toro (Mexico, UAE Team Emirates), winner of the previous day and overall first place Photo: CorVos Kei Tsuji, wearing his characteristic shorts, takes photos every day from the camera Photo: CorVos
Displayed on the field is a photo of former player Melissa Dennis (née Hoskins), who died in a car crash late last year. Photo: CorVos
At the head of the group, which was in sprint mode, was Soudal Quickstep, who wanted to ensure the safety of Julien Alaphilippe (France). Then, with 1km to go, Bora-Hansgrohe accelerated the group and the lead was taken by Danny van Poppel (Holland) from Ben Ziehoff (Germany).
Then, with 150 meters to go, Sam Welsford (Australia) began his sprint. Caleb Ewan (Australia, Jayco AlUla) remained buried in the group and Elia Viviani (Italy, Ineos Grenadiers), who was behind Welsford, failed to reach his sprint. Welsford also showed enough time to control behind him just before the finish line, taking his second win at his home race in Australia.
Sam Welsford (Australia, Bora-Hansgrohe) achieved his second victory in the tournament photo: CorVos
Sam Welsford (Australia, Bora-Hansgrohe) won again with his fantastic team photo: CorVos
Just like in the replay on the first day of the tournament, Welsford defeated their rivals with overwhelming team strength. “I can’t believe it’s my second win. My teammates rode great and protected me from the wind throughout the race. The last corner was tight and difficult, but we were very careful and we managed it done. After that. My My teammates have put me in the best possible position and it’s fantastic to win in front of my home crowd,” said Welsford, who was wearing the points award jersey.
Plapp made it to the finish line with extensive abrasions and the left side of his jersey torn from the fall. Fortunately there were no broken bones, but Prapp later announced that he would not participate in the fourth stage.
Luke Plapp (Australia, Jayco Al-Ullah) did not race the following day due to an accident. Photo: CorVos
2024-01-19 00:02:54
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