Rohan Dennis and Cadel Evans made it a memorable day for BMC in the Tour Down Under when the pair achieved a rare 1-2 on the first of two crucial stages in the Australian race. After Evans had escaped with Richie Porte (Sky), Tom Dumoulin (Giant-Alpecin) and Domenico Pozzovivo (Ag2r) on the final climb, Dennis and a handful of other riders rejoined them just metres from the top and Dennis put in an immediate attack to take both a solo win and the ochre leader’s jersey.

Going into the Tour Down Under, it was all for Cadel Evans at BMC, with the Australian dreaming about a fairytale end to his long and glorious career. An in-form Rohan Dennis was set to play the role of luxury domestique for his captain but after today’s first big battle among the GC riders, the roles may have been reversed in the American team.

On the short, very steep 1.2km Torrens Hill Road whose top was located just 400m from the finish, Evans lived up to expectations as he turned out to be one of the strongest riders in the race. He easily responded to the many attacks from Richie Porte and the infernal pace set by Domenico Pozzovivo and as he approached the summit, the front group was down to just those three riders and Tom Dumoulin.

Nothing suggested that Rohan Dennis was going to win the stage as he found himself in a second group that was being led by Gorka Izagirre (Movistar). However, the Spaniard set such a hard tempo that Michael Rogers (Tinkoff-Saxo) could move to the front to close the final small gap when Porte started to fade in the front group.

With less than 100m to the top of the climb, the junction was made but Dennis needed no time to recover. He immediately sprinted past the first four riders and even though Pozzovivo responded quickly, it was too late. Dennis quickly opened a big gap and Evans could leave it to the tiny Italian to lead the chase on the slightly ascending roads.

Of course Pozzovivo had no chance against time trial specialist Dennis in this terrain and instead it was another rouleur Dumoulin who attacked and got a gap. However, the Dutchman never made the junction and Dennis had plenty of time to celebrate his first win in BMC colours. To make it an even better day for BMC, Evans sprinted out of the chase group to pass Dumoulin just before the line and make it a 1-2 for the American team, crossing the line 3 seconds behind his teammate. Maxime Bouet (Etixx-QuickStep) led 6 riders across the line 2 seconds later.

Race leader Jack Bobridge (UniSA) suffered on the steep slopes and could only manage 29th, losing 42 seconds to his Hour Record rival. Hence, Dennis took over the leader’s jersey in the Australian race and he now leads Evans by 7 seconds, with Dumoulin in third at 9 seconds.

Dennis will enjoy his first stage in the ochre jersey tomorrow when the riders tackle a much easier fourth stage. The riders only have to tackle one categorized climb in the first third but later in the stage the wind and some rolling hills will provide a challenge for the sprinters who hope for their first chance to test themselves in a bunch kick.

A crucial stage

After the uphill sprint in Stirling, it was time for the first big test for the GC riders on stage 3 which brought the peloton over 143.2km from Norwood to a new finish in Paracombe. After a tough start with 10km of climbing, the stage was almost completely flat until the riders hit the bottom of the 1.2km Torrens Hill Road whose average gradient of more than 9% would provide a big challenge for the riders. The summit was located just 400m from the finish line.

The stage kicked off without Campbell Flakemore (BMC) who crashed after yesterday’s race and was left with a broken collarbone. The remaining 131 riders took the start under beautiful sunny conditions and they were ready for a tough opening part.

Clarke takes off

Martin Kohler (Drapac) launched the first attack but the Swiss was quickly brought back. Instead Calvin Watson (Trek) and Axel Domont (Ag2r) gave it a go but they didn’t have much luck either.

William Clarke (Drapac) took off in a solo move and while he started to build an advantage, the peloton slowed down. Intent on making it into the break, Watson and Domont attacked again and this time they were joined by Lasse Norman Hansen (Cannondale-Garmin).

A quartet is formed

Clarke quickly established a 40-second advantage over the peloton which was happy with the situation. When the gap had reached 1.40, the Australian realized that he had made it and he decided to wait for his three chasers.

The four riders extended their advantage to 3.25 before Porte’s Sky team started. They were soon joined by Bobridge’s UniSA teammates and those two teams combined forces to keep the gap stable at around 3.30 for a long time.

Clarke wins the sprints

As they approached the first intermediate sprint, the peloton accelerated and when Clarke beat Norman and Domont in the battle for the points, the gap had come down to 2.50. The escapees responded well to extend their advantage to 3.05 but when Movistar joined forces with Sky and UniSA, the situation started to change.

Norman tried to attack to win the second intermediate sprint but Clarke was quick to respond and beat the Dane and Domont to take maximum points. With just over 40km to go, the gap was now only 2.25 but again the escapees had a response and extended their lead to 2.50.

The break splits up

This was too much for Domont who dropped back to the peloton. Meanwhile, Clarke and Watson sprinted for the points in the final intermediate sprint and while the former took the win, Norman briefly lost contact.

The Dane rejoined the leaders who were still two minutes ahead with 23km to go. Sky was now leading the chase but the battle for position had kicked in and the peloton was riding extremely fast.

Clarke is caught

Norman was the next to get dropped from the lead group and later Watson also had to surrender, leaving Clarke to press on with a 58-second advantage and 15km to go. Giant-Alpecin, Astana, Sky, Orica-GreenEDGE and BMC were now fighting for position on the front before the former team took over, with Marcel Kitel taking a massive turn.

Big Ian Stannard took over and made sure that Porte was in a perfect position. The Brit brought Clarke back with 8km to go, setting the scene for a battle between the GC riders.

A fight for position

Koen De Kort hit the front for Giant-Alpecin before Roger Kluge took a huge turn for BMC. Big Rüdiger Selig hit the front for Katusha before Sky again went back to work with Luke Rowe.

With less than 1km to the bottom of the climb, Michael Schär moved ahead with Evans on his wheel and the BMC duo led the peloton onto the slopes. Evans briefly set the pace before Geraint Thomas tried to put Porte’s rivals under pressure by setting a brutal pace.

Porte makes his move

When Thomas swung off, Simon Geschke (Giant-Alpecin) took over and only Evans, Porte, Dumoulin and Pozzovivo could keep up with him. Just as a few more riders latched onto the group, Porte made is first attack but Dumoulin, Evans and Pozzovivo could all respond.

Pozzovivo went to the front to set a fast pace before Porte made his next big attack. Unable to drop his rivals, he decided to ride tempo on the front but as he started to fade, more riders joined from behind, including Dennis who made the big coup by launching his smart attack.