After an intense sprint in Victor Harbor, Lotto-Soudal’s André Greipel won the 134.5-kilometer third stage of the Tour Down Under. Yauheni Hutarovich (FDJ-BigMat) finished second, just half a wheel behind, while Edvald Boasson Hagen (Team Sky) came in third.
This victory is significant for Greipel given his current form and situation, as his teammate Jurgen Roelandts withdrew after the first stage, leaving the German with only five teammates. Greipel gave his all to win this stage as a tribute to his Belgian teammate, who fractured his sixth cervical vertebra in a crash at the end of the first stage.
“This win is for Jurgen Roelandts, who’s supporting us in the hospital,” said Greipel after claiming his second Tour Down Under title. “Three of our teammates were involved in that crash, but the two who weren’t injured performed well today.”
The peloton maintained a suitable distance from the breakaway
“Three out of the four riders in the break had the same goal: to take the second intermediate sprint. After that, we wanted to get back to the peloton,” De Gendt said after the race. “I think I’d better stay in the peloton tomorrow. But Old Willunga Hill is tough, and I’ll try to go at the front and challenge.”
When there were 40km left in the race, the peloton caught up with the breakaway group, with an average speed of about 55 km/h. GreenEdge, Lotto, RadioShack Nissan, and Rabobank began to push. Rabobank, who built their tactics around Michael Matthews today, wasn’t very efficient, as Mark Renshaw’s pace was too fast for Matthews, the former under-23 world champion.
Matthews was “a bit disappointed” with 12th place, while Renshaw just missed the podium.
“They did establish a good gap, but in the final few kilometers I just couldn’t hold my wheel. It got a bit messy, and Mark Renshaw took the lead. Yeah, I wasn’t in the right form to fight for a better result,” Matthews said, though he still managed to retain the best young rider jersey.
Greipel’s win gave him an eight-second lead over his closest rival, Kohler, with Matthews in third, 12 seconds back. Greipel is also a favorite for tomorrow’s stage in Tanunda, but the German sees it as his last gamble before the final stage on Sunday.
Greipel’s win gave him an eight-second lead over his closest rival, Kohler, with Matthews in third, 12 seconds back. Greipel is also a favorite for tomorrow’s stage in Tanunda, but the German sees it as his last gamble before the final stage on Sunday.
“The Willunga stage (Stage 5) will be difficult for me, so it’s hard for me to contend for the overall this year,” he admitted frankly. “Winning two stages is already achieving our goal. We can’t be greedy—we just need to do what we have to do each day.”
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