Richie Porte (Sky) put the disappointment from Thursday's stage up the Corkscrew climb behind him when he took a beautiful solo win on the top of Willunga Hill in today's queen stage of the Tour Down Under. Having attacked halfway up the climb, he dropped Cadel Evans (BMC) a little later and the race leader was even overtaking by Simon Gerrans (Orica-GreenEDGE) who made a late acceleration on the stage to finish 3rd and reclaim the overall lead by one tiny second.

 

When he arrived in Adelaide for the Tour Down Under, Richie Porte had had great ambitions for his big home race after having performed strongly in his national championships but his dreams of overall victory were dashed when he was unable to keep up with Cadel Evans on the Corkscrew climb in Thursday's third stage of the race. Afterwards, he admitted to being disappointed but still hoped that a podium place was within reach.

 

When he lined up for today's queen stage to the top of the famed Willunga Hill, Porte was a man with a mission. He wanted to make amends for his mistakes on the Corkscrew and he did so in the most beautiful way.

 

At the bottom of the final 3km climb to the finish, it was Evans' BMC team that tightened the gap and set a fierce tempo that could put his nearest rival Simon Gerrans in difficulty on the steeper lower section of the ascent. However, Porte was always well-placed and ready to pounce and that's what he did with 2km left to ride.

 

At first, Evans could keep up with his fellow Australian while Gerrans was joined by Diego Ulissi (Lampre-Merida) and Adam Hansen (Lotto Belisol) in a chase group that desperately tried to get back in contention. At the 1.5km to go mark, however, the roles from the Corkscrew were reversed as it was now Evans who couldn't keep up with the Sky rider.

 

While Evans dug deep as he tried to keep Gerrans at bay, Porte kept extending his advantage all the way to the finish. When he crossed the line, he had put 10 seconds into his nearest rivals and had plenty of time to celebrate Sky's first victory of the season.

 

Evans was fading in the final part of the season and was caught by Gerrans and Ulissi who had left Hansen behind. Having used a lot of energy in his attempt to go with Porte and battle on his own in the fierce headwind, he was unable to match his two more explosive rivals when they accelerated inside the final few hundred metres of the stage.

 

Ulissi beat Gerrans in the sprint for second but the duo opened a 4-second gap to Evans who could only manage 6th after being caught by Robert Gesink (Belkin) and Daryl Impey (Orica-GreenEDGE). Having started the day just 7 seconds ahead of Gerrans who picked up 4 bonus seconds for 3rd place, Evans now finds himself back in 2nd, 1 second shy of the overall lead which is now back in Gerrans' hands. Porte was unable to capitalize fully on his stage win and he only moved up into 4th on GC, with Ulissi occupying the final spot on the podium, 5 seconds behind Gerrans.

 

Hansen finished 5th on the first ascent of the Willunga Hill but was beaten in the sprint for 4th by his nearest rival Axel Domont (Ag2r). With no more categorized climbs coming up, the duo are tied but as Hansen is far ahead of Domont on GC, the Lotto Belisol rider will take home the mountains classification barring disaster in the final criterium in Adelaide.

 

Orica-GreenEDGE took over the lead in the teams classification from BMC while Gerrans defended his lead in the points classification and Jack Haig (UniSA) followed Carlos Verona (Omega Pharma-Quick Step) on the final climb to all but secure the win in the youth classification.

 

The race ends tomorrow with an 85,5km flat criterium in Adelaide. Even though bonus seconds are up for grabs in the intermediate sprints, Evans will find it very hard to take back the one second he needs as Gerrans has proved several times that he is clearly the faster rider. The stage win is expected to be an affair for the big sprinters, with Andre Greipel (Lotto Belisol) and Marcel Kittel (Giant-Shimano) again expected to come to the fore.

 

The queen stage

As usual, Saturday was the day of the queen stage in the Santos Down Under, with the 151,5km stage starting in McLaren Vale and ending with two ascents of the famed Willunga Hill and the finish line being located on the top after the final passage.  The anticipation and tension was palpable on the start line of today's Queen stage that began in McLaren Vale, criss-crossed the region's celebrated vineyards and swept along a spectacular Fleurieu Peninsula coastal circuit before turning left to contest two ascents of Willunga Hill and the hilltop finish line. The race attracted 125 thousand fans who set up picnics, eskies and sun lounges along the length of the course.

 

The race was on right from the start as several riders wanted to be involved in the early action. The first rider to try his hand was Mark O'Brien (UniSA) and he was quickly joined by Kevin Reza (Europcar), with four riders setting off in pursuit. However, their mission failed and things were brought back together.

 

Voigt on the attack

Instead, a new group was formed when Jens Voigt (Trek) who was already the most aggressive rider on stage 3 attacked with Matteo Trentin (Omega Pharma-Quick Step), Mikhail Ignatiev (Katusha) and Juan Jose Lobato (Movistar). The quartet managed to build up a bigger gap and it seemed like the day's early break had been created.

 

Having missed the break, Drapac sent Travis Meyer off in pursuit but the Australian never made the junction and fell back to the peloton. The peloton was now happy to let the break go clear and the gap grew quickly while the main riders enjoyed their time in the sunny but windy conditions.

 

BMC takes control

With the gap up to 4 minutes, BC decided to take control of things as they put Danilo Wyss on the front. However, they had not started the chase in earnest and the gap kept growing.

 

After 53 minutes of racing, the gap had been stretched out to more than 8 minutes, the biggest advantage of a break so far in this year's Tour Down Under. This was the signal for Sky and Orica-GreenEDGE to kick into action, with the two teams keen on bringing things back together to put the bonus seconds into play for the GC contenders.

 

Goss and Eisel lead the chase

Matt Goss (Orica-GreenEDGE) and Bernhard Eisel (Sky) combined forces to gradually start bringing down the gap after it had reached a maximum of 8.50. Orica-GreenEDGE was doing the bulk of the work, with BMC also chipping in occasionally.

 

Yesterday the intermediate sprints had played a key role in the stage but with today's two sprint points coming both far from the start and the finish, they didn't come into play. In the first one, it was Ignatiev who took the maximum points uncontested, crossing the line ahead of Trentin and Voigt. In the second one, it was again Ignatiev to pass first, this time ahead of Lobato and Voigt.

 

Action in the crosswinds

With under 70km to go, the riders passed through the feed zone and the gap had now come down to less than 5 minutes. This was when Lotto Belisol decided that they wanted to exploit the windy conditions and they put no less of a figure than super sprinter Andre Greipel on the front.

 

The Belgian team was joined by Tinkoff-Saxo and the two teams rode hard as they tried to split things up in the crosswinds. The action didn't have the effect they had hoped for as there were no splits in the peloton but the gap dropped down to 2.30 minutes.

 

Sky back in control

The two teams stopped their efforts and this allowed the gap to go back up to 3 minutes as Sky again came to the fore. As the battle for position was now starting to intensify, more team showed their faces near the front, with Giant-Shimano and Astana also taking turns on the front.

 

The higher pace saw the gap drop down to 1.30 by the time Trentin led the front group onto Willunga Hill for the first time. Lobato was dropped on the lower slopes and quickly picked up by the peloton.

 

Morton ups the pace

Ignatiev tried to attack his teammates but was chased down by Voigt who had Trentin on his wheel. Behind, it was Garmin-Sharp who had taken control, with Lachlan Morton pacing team leader Nathan Haas all the way up the climb.

 

As soon as Lobato was caught, Wes Sulzberger (Drapac) and Ruben Plaza (Movistar) attacked and the duo managed to build up a 20-second advantage over the peloton, with the front trio behind 20 seconds further up the road. As Voigt led the front group over the top, the chasers were caught though, meaning that there were still KOM points on offer for the peloton which had now splintered to pieces.

 

Battle for KOM points

Axel Domont and Adam Hansen battled it out for 4th and 5th place, with the Frenchman taking the win and erasing his 2-point deficit. With only the final climb of Willunga to come and Hansen being far ahead on GC, however, Domont had to finish in the top 6 on the stage and beat Hansen to win the jersey.

 

Over the top, it was again Orica-GreenEDGE who took control, with Luke Durbridge and Michael Matthews sharing the duties. The gap was now down to just 30 seconds and Ignatiev decided that he had had enough.

 

The break is caught

Jurgen Roelandts (Lotto Belisol) tried to bridge across but as the battle for position was now on in earnest, he had no success. With 8km to go, it was finally over for Voigt and Trentin who were swallowed up by the peloton.

 

Voigt refused to give up though, with the veteran launching a new attack that earned him the most aggressive rider award for the second time. He managed to stay clear for a little time but 400m from the bottom of the climb, he was caught for the final time.

 

BMC hit the climb hard

BMC now upped the pace as all the big names had positioned themselves near the front on the lower slopes of the climb. Porte was well-placed behind Evans in 4th position but it was again Sulzberger who made the first move.

 

The Drapac rider had no success and this signalled the start of Porte's action. The Sky rider launched an attack, with Evans being the only one able to respond.

 

Evans is dropped

While Ulissi, Gerrans and Hansen did their best to limit their losses, the duo of Australian grand tour contenders battled it out but compared to the Corkscrew climb, the roles were reversed. This time it was Evans to get dropped and he fell back to Ulissi and Gerrans.

 

Porte kept the pace high all the way to the finish and had plenty of time to celebrate his win. Behind, the battle for the overall win was on, with Gerrans and Ulissi accelerating hard to drop Evans. The Italian crossed the line in 2nd but as Evans lost 4 seconds in the hectic finale, 4 bonus seconds for 3rd were enough to put Gerrans back in the lead with just stage more to come.

 

Result:

1. Richie Porte 3.42.20

2. Diego Ulissi +0.10

3. Simon Gerrans

4. Robert Gesink +0.14

5. Daryl Impey

6. Cadel Evans

7. Nathan Haas +0.17

8. Egor Silin

9. Adam Hansen

10. Geraint Thomas +0.21

 

General classification:

1. Simon Gerrans 18.02.19

2. Cadel Evans +0.01

3. Diego Ulissi +0.05

4. Richie Porte +0.10

5. Nathan Haas +0.27

6. Robert Gesink +0.30

7. Daryl Impey +0.34

8. Adam Hansen +0.37

9. Geraint Thomas

10. Egor Silin

 

Points classification:

1. Simon Gerrans 75

2. Diego Ulissi 56

3. Cadel Evans 45

4. Nathan Haas 41

5. Robert Gesink 35

 

Mountains classification:

1. Adam Hansen 28

2. Axel Domont 28

3. Richie Porte 24

4. William Clarke 20

5. Simon Gerrans 20

 

Young Rider Classification:

1. Jack Haig 18.04.17

2. Carlos Verona +1.19

3. Kenny Elissonde +19.24

4. Luca Wackermann +19.59

5. Julian Alaphilippe +21.18

 

Teams classification:

1. Orica-GreenEDGE 54.10.28

2. BMC +0.28

3. Drapac Cycling +3.38

4. Team Sky +4.25

5. Omega Pharma-Quick Step +4.34