CYCLING

Bevin talks Tour Down Under – Stages 5, 6

By Aaron S. Lee

The Australians, specifically Caleb Ewan (Orica-Scott) and Richie Porte (BMC Racing), left little doubt to which riders were in top form heading into the launch of the UCI WorldTour this week at the Santos Tour Down Under.

The 31-year-old Tasmanian claimed both mountain stages, including Willunga Hill on Saturday, his third straight victory on the infamous climb, en route to winning the race for the first time in his career after finishing second on general classification the past two years.

“I’ll tell you what, that hurt more than the other three that I’ve rode up here,” Porte told media after soloing to victory on stage 5. “I went from quite a long way out and it’s just incredible team work today and I’m just happy to finish it off for the guys.”

All Porte had to do was stay out of trouble and finish with the field in the final 20-lap, 90km Adelaide city circuit on Sunday to take home his biggest win since Paris-Nice in 2015.

“After crashing in Rio and injuring myself in a nasty crash, it wasn't too hard to motivate myself for this race,” said Porte, who broke his shoulder blade five months ago at the Olympic Games in Brazil.

“I had a good break and I came here fresh, physically and mentally. 

“It was a dream for me to win this race.”
 
Credit: Santos Tour Down Under / Regallo 

For Ewan, Sunday marked the fourth stage win of the tour in which he edged out reigning two-time world champion Peter Sagan (Bora-Hansgrohe) on the final three victories.

“I can't believe it,” said Ewan, who won the points jersey. “Actually, coming to this Tour I joked with my girlfriend saying that I'd win four stages and I've done it but I didn't believe I would with the level of sprinters that are here. 

“Maybe Sagan isn't in his best form but he's still the world's best rider at the moment (and) it's been great having him here. All the people love him. The world champion racing here, it's fantastic.”

The win marks the 22-year-old’s seventh win of the year, including a stage win at the Mitchelton Bay Cycling Classic, the national criterium championships and the People’s Choice Classic last Sunday.
Following the final stage, NZ Bike caught up with Kiwi Patrick Bevin (Cannondale-Drapac) to get his thoughts on what was a challenging week for his team’s GC hopes.

Bevin’s final diary entry: Stages 5 and 6
Stage 5 on Willunga Hill simply didn’t pan out really. Not a whole lot to say about it. We had our two guys, Tom-Jelte Slagter (NED) and Michael Woods (CAN), at the bottom and it was fight and fairly hard the first time over. And it was big fight in the crosswinds at the bottom of the second climb over.

It was tough for everyone, and at the end of the day we didn’t quite have the legs to finish it off. We went down swinging but you have to roll with the punches a bit – that’s been the story of our week.

With our team, we were considered strong GC threats, but it’s bike racing and very seldom do you come in with a plan that comes off perfectly. It was a tough week for sure. You just have to wear that sometimes and move on.
 
Credit: Santos Tour Down Under / Regallo 

The final stage was further proof that Caleb Ewan is on a different level this week. Not even the reigning world champion Peter Sagan could outmuscle him during the four sprint finishes – five if you count the People’s Choice Classic last Sunday.

We tried to set up our sprinter Tom van Asbroeck (BEL), but we got a bit washed away in the finale so that ended any chances for a result today.

It’s good to be done with the week and now we will reassess the week and look forward to the Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race in Geelong, which is a race that suits my characteristics as a rider.
I raced the inaugural race a couple of years ago and loved it, then I head back overseas to start my European campaign.

Until next time, stay tuned… -Patrick Bevin

Stage 5 results (top 5)
1.    Richie Porte, AUS, BMC Racing, 3:40:13
2.    Nathan Haas, AUS, Dimension Data, +0:20
3.    Esteban Chaves, COL, Orica-Scott, +0:20
4.    Diego Ulissi, ITA, UAE Abu Dhabi, +0:20
5.    Jay McCarthy, AUS, Bora-Hansgrohe, +0:20
 
Stage 6 results (top 5)
1.    Caleb Ewan, AUS, Orica-Scott, 1:55:28
2.    Peter Sagan, SVK, Bora-Mangrove, and +0:00
3.    Marko Kump, SLO, UAE Abu Dhabi, +0:00
4.    Danny van Poppel, NED,Team Sky, +0:00
5.    Sean de Bie, BEL, Lotto Soudal, +0:00
 
Final general classification (top 5)
1.    Richie Porte, AUS, BMC Racing, 19:55:49
2.    Esteban Chaves, COL, Orica-Scott, +0:48
3.    Jay McCarthy, AUS, Bora-Hansgrohe, +0:51
4.    Nathan Haas, AUS, Dimension Data, +0:51
5.    Diego Ulissi, ITA, UAE Abu Dhabi, +0:59
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