An intriguing day in store on Stage 4 of the Tour Down Under - at first glance, one for
the sprinters, but the road from Norwood to Campbelltown could present an opportunity
for a small group to take advantage of the descent down the fast and technical Gorge
Road towards the finish.
It was a mere 2 years ago that Jack Bobridge did just that, working as part of a 4 man
group that dashed the hopes of the sprinters on Stage 1 back in 2015.
Many riders in this years field will have hoped to be in the same situation today, but
as the flag dropped at the official start in the town of Paradise, life was anything
but a beach for those trying to get in today’s early breakaway.
Eventually Cameron Meyer of Uni-SA, Jack Bauer of Quickstep Floors, and Ondřej Cink of Bahrain
Merida got clear after 12km of racing.
Things soon settled down after a very aggressive start and the trio had amassed a lead of just
over 2 minutes as they approached the first major climb of the day - Checker Hill Road
at 25km.
Cink, who was winning medals in cross country mountain biking just 7 months ago, attacked
on the climb to take the 10 KOM points on offer at the top.
Despite his relative inexperience on the road, it was in fact the 25 year old Czech that
posed the greatest threat to General Classification, at 57 seconds behind race leader Richie Porte.
His team were on the front for most of the day, rarely allowing the gap to rise above
2 minutes.
Bauer, Meyer and Cink rolled through the 1st intermediate sprint at 37.5km, unwilling to
waste energy by sprinting for points and the odd bonus second - it was stage win or nothing today.
Through the feed zone and the 2nd intermediate sprint at km 90, again uncontested by our
intrepid breakaway.
With the race turning back on itself towards Campbelltown and out of a headwind,
things got interesting.
Meyer attacked, Bauer reacted, but Cink was dropped.
After a quick look behind, the two set about maintaining their 45 second lead with the
long descent of the Gorge Road approaching and what seemed like the possibility of an upset.
We suspect it was an unfortunate mechanical that forced Meyer to sit up and drift back
to the bunch at such a crucial moment.
Clearly not part of the plan they’d discussed 40 minutes ago.
Bauer was now engaged in a solo game of high speed chicken with a peloton now desperate
to make the catch.
The New Zealander held on as long as he could, but when the road eventually flattened out
with just 4km to go, he was gobbled up by a peloton hungry for a bunch sprint.
This set up the kind of high speed finish that has you on the edge of your seat, with
teams trying to get their sprinters in position.
On the dash to the line, Danny Van Poppel launched first from 200m out, but Ewan played
the waiting game and launched into the wind 100m later and took the win once again from
Peter Sagan, with Van Poppel holding on for third.
Ewan has now notched 6 wins in total this month, and he was quick to credit the hard
work of his team after the stage.
Caleb Ewan: I really could not have asked for a better start to the year.
My team again did an amazing job.
they really backed me on a circuit that could have gone either way and I think you saw on
TV that they were really committed to the chase and they were committed to winning today.
Another day, another masterclass in reading the sprint from Caleb Ewan.
He initially looks to creep up on the inside barrier, and Trek-Segafredo’s Edward Theuns
has the time idea, but is blocked by Luke Rowe peeling off after his leadout.
Ewan has to stop pedalling for a split second, but he uses his incredible acceleration to
latch back onto Van Poppel and use him as a windbreaker for another 100m or so before
launching to victory.
No change at all at the sharp end of the General Classification - Richie Porte will spend another
day in the leader’s ochre jersey, and will surely be fighting for the win with the other
climbers for overall honours on Stage 5.
Do join us tomorrow for what will be a very exciting day.
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While we wait for tomorrow, find out how Richie rose to the top of the tree on Stage 2, and
catch up with yesterday’s action from Stage 3.