Santos Tour Down Under (World Tour)
The 3rd stage was all about Corkscrew Hill and Cadel Evans, as the former World Champion took charge of the race with a fierce attack on the hill, dropping all of his rivals and soloing away to win the stage and take the Ochre Jersey. A four man break went clear at the start of the stage but they weren’t given much leeway and the final two, Jens Voigt (Trek) and Andrei Grivko (Astana), were swept up by the peloton at the bottom of the climb. BMC then hit the front hard, driving the pace, shedding riders and providing the platform for Cadel Evans and Richie Porte to kick clear. That pair opened up a sizable gap but Porte was unable to stay on the wheel of Evans, who crested the climb alone and began the very fast descent to the finish. Porte was joined by Gerrans behind and they gave chase to no avail, being joined by eleven other riders on the flatter final sections and even missing out on the time bonification for the podium places as Nathan Haas (Garmin-Sharp) impressed finishing 2nd and Diego Ulissi (Lampre-Merida) took 3rd. As a result the race would appear to be between Evans, Gerrans (0:12) and Ulissi (0:15), and at this stage I found it hard to see a way back for either rider unless they could drop Evans on Old Willunga Hill.
However Orica GreenEDGE and Matt White weren’t so short sighted. Identifying the first intermediate sprint point on stage four as a possible target and shutting down the breakaway attempts en route, giving Gerrans the opportunity to take the three bonus seconds on offer and crucially bringing the deficit back under ten seconds. Although a five man break succeeded in escaping after that, the pace behind remained relatively high and picked up again in the cross winds as they approached the Myponga reservoir, splitting the peloton in two and dropping the majority of the sprinters, including Marcel Kittel (Giant-Shimano). None of the realistic GC contenders missed the move, though it did cost Kenny Elissonde (FDJ.fr) the lead in young rider’s classification. With Orica and Lotto Belisol driving the pace the break was swept up allowing Nathan Haas, Simon Gerrans and Diego Ulissi to take the time bonuses. Lotto Belisol led the peloton into the final kilometre, driving home at high pace to give Andre Greipel a straightforward sprint victory, while Gerrans and Orica finished the day satisfied to have taken back those five seconds on Cadel Evans, really setting up the next day’s showdown on Willunga Hill.
Stage five saw the peloton doing two long laps around McLaren Vale before finishing with a double ascent of Old Willunga Hill, a 3km climb at 7.4% and ramps over 10%, it is slightly gentler towards the top. After a brief flurry of action four strong riders went clear, they were Jens Voigt, Matteo Trentin (Omega Pharma-Quick Step), Mikhail Ignatyev (Katusha) and Juan Jose Lobato (Movistar). At first they were able to open up a significant gap but with relatively strong headwinds, tailwinds and crosswinds, depending upon which part of the lap the race was on, the peloton was often motoring along behind. All in all, the four leaders had to work hard to stay in front and it was significant that they did as they were able to sweep up all the bonus seconds on offer at the intermediate sprints, ensuring that the Ochre Jersey contest would come down to the finish atop Willunga. On the first ascent Lobato was dropped from the front group, while the peloton was led initially by Lotto Belisol, then by Garmin-Sharp who set a strong pace on the climb. Jens Voigt led the race over the climb, though more significant was Adam Hansen (Lotto) taking 5th which ensured he would win the King of the Mountains competition. Orica GreenEDGE took the lead as the peloton began the descent, setting a strong pace, driving the race down towards the second ascent while sweeping up the remaining breakaway riders. Jens Voigt had other ideas however and launched a final attack on the flat, though he would only stay away long enough to reach the base of the climb, where BMC assumed control. Evans team mates immediately set a high tempo, seeking to use the steep early section to dislodge Gerrans, it even worked at first as the small BMC unit broke free with only Porte, Ulissi and Wesley Sulzberger (Drapac) with them. Gerrans was able to bridge over before Porte and Evens launched attacks in a role reversal from the Corkscrew Hill, as this time it was Evans who was unable to follow the attack of Porte, no one could, allowing Porte to stay clear and take a fine victory. Inside the final kilometre Evans was caught by Gerrans and Ulissi, and they immediately went on the offensive with Ulissi finishing 2nd and Gerrans 3r. Evans was hurting, only managing to finish 6th on the day and losing the Ochre Jersey to Gerrans who takes a slender one second advantage into the final stage. I say a slender advantage but it is hard to see anyway that Evans could regain that second on the flat final stage.
Handily enough for Gerrans Evans couldn’t see a way to do that either, he just isn’t built to compete for the bonus seconds on a flat stage like this. Instead the race passed off without incident for the Jersey wearers, Simon Gerrans would win the Tour Down Under and the Points Jersey, making for a terrific Australia Day celebration for the Australian Champion. Adam Hansen won the King of the Mountains Jersey and Jack Haig (UniSA-Australia and Avanti Racing) took the Young Riders Classification, he will certainly have options if, as seems likely he chooses to go professional next year. The stage itself featured 18 laps of a 4.7km circuit, the break swept up the intermediate sprint points before being caught themselves. It ended in another one-sided sprint victory for Andre Greipel as the Lotto Belisol train was dominant, giving Greipel the perfect platform to improve his Santos Tour Down Under record to sixteen stage victories.
Tour de San Luis (2.1)
Stage three finished with a sprint on a slight uphill drag, Giacomo Nizzolo took a second successive victory for Trek Factory Racing with an impressive show of speed. Francisco Ventoso (Movistar) finished second while Tom Boonen (Omega Pharma-Quick Step) showed he is coming into form with his 3rd place finish.
The following day saw the race return to the mountains with the most significant climb of the race, the Alto el Amago. The peloton reached the foot of the climb together but had no answer to a blistering attack from Nairo Quintana (Movistar). Quintana won the stage and took back 4:15 on the race leader Phillip Gaimon, leaving Quintana a mere 0:04 behind, despite Gaimon doing well enough to finish 18th on the stage.
Stage five featured a 19.km individual time trial and an anticipated dual between Taylor Phinney (BMC) and Adriano Malori (Movistar), from which the Italian Malori emerged triumphant. Gaimon had hoped to use it to increase his lead over Quintana. However the Colombian finished 16th on the stage and 30 seconds ahead of Gaimon, taking the race lead for the first time with a 26 second lead over the American, it has been a valiant effort from Gaimon in his first race as a professional; however Quintana has simply been too good for him to hold off.
Stage six ended with the third and final summit finish of the race, the Mirador del Sol, the scene of the third win of the week for Trek Factory Racing and the second for Julian Arredondo. Arredondo burst away from Nairo Quintana and Sergio Godoy (San Luis Somos Todos) atop the climb, to seal victory. Gaimon finished 8th on the stage, 14 seconds down but defending his second place in the General Classification, and crediting the support of Tom Danielson with helping him remain so competitive in the race.
The final finish would be another sprint on an uphill drag, and just as they had done on stage three, Lampre-Merida came to the fore. They did so with more success this time though, leaving their charge late, as Maximiliano Richeze’s strong lead out gave Sacha Modolo the perfect platform to take victory, with Richeze finishing in 3rd place. The peloton had been brought to the finish by the Cannondale team who were trying to set up Peter Sagan for his first victory of the season, Sagan feel short and finished 2nd, but he had shown he was finding form with a solid time trial in stage five. Nairo Quintana won the overall race and the King of the Mountains classification, he was simply too strong on the climbs. There was also an early reward for Adam Yates (Orica GreenEDGE) who finished 11th overall and won the Young Riders classification, climbing well throughout.
2014 rider watch focus
TDU
Matt Goss: Strong work on the front for Simon Gerrans, leading him out for an intermediate sprint on stage four, helping to close the gap to Evans. This wasn’t a race where Goss would be able to chase his own ambitions but he was a strong support rider throughout.
Jens Voigt: A strong rider as always, in the break on stage three and repeated the feat in more impressive fashion on stage five, entertaining the crowds in the process.
Diego Ulissi: Remained firmly in the contest to win the Santos Tour Down Under, finishing 3rd on stage three and 2nd on stage five and ultimately finishing 3rd overall, five seconds behind Simon Gerrans. His star continues to rise.
Tour de San Luis
Taylor Phinney: fell just short on stage five, with the ITT being an early season target of his. Losing by two seconds to fellow time trial specialist Adriano Malori of Movistar, Phinney reckoned he got the gearing options wrong prior to the race which meant he couldn’t use his maximum power output on the fast downhill sections. However Malori is a fantastic time triallist in his own right, their next dual against the clock should take place in the opening stage of the Tour of Dubai, where Fabian Cancellara and Tony Martin will join them. Finishing 10th in the sprint on the final stage does show he has good early season form and he can build on that as the spring classics approach.
Jurgen Van den Broeck: Glad to be back racing, the Belgian was never going to win here (24th overall) but coming 13th in the ITT was a positive sign.
Moreno Moser: Evidently using the Tour de San Luis as training with his most notable performance being his 19th place finish in the ITT
The Week in Cycling 