Cycling: Australia's Caleb Ewan (Orica GreenEDGE) won the Down Under Classic, underscoring his fine form ahead of the start of the Tour Down Under on Tuesday. After 51km on the circuit in Adelaide, he prevailed in the sprint against Giacomo Nizzolo (Trek-Segafredo) and Adam Blythe (Tinkoff Team).
The only 21-year-old Australian Caleb Ewan from the home team Orica GreenEDGE had already indicated and proven his great qualities in the sprint last season - for example he snatched the day's victory from John Degenkolb in the final of the fifth stage of the Vuelta. The Orica pro seems to have maintained his good form over the winter and put in an excellent performance today in the Tour Down Under prologue. After a rather uneventful 51km on the circuit in downtown Adelaide, the sprint trains took over the action during the last lap.
Team Sky led by Geraint Thomas and Peter Kennaugh first, followed by teams from Tinkoff, IAM and Trek-Segafredo. Orica GreenEDGE, with eventual winner Ewan, also tried to get in on the action, but wasn't in a good position initially. When Sky surprisingly had to give up, Giacomo Nizzolo (Trek-Segafredo) looked for his chance and started the sprint. Adam Blythe (Tinkoff Team) and Caleb Ewan tried to pinch his rear wheel - Ewan seemed trapped and in a hopeless position at first, but when a small gap opened up at the very last moment, the 21-year-old stabbed in, pulling past Nizzolo and took the win of the day.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g19hRIIESRw
“My team drove just perfectly. We held back quite a bit during the race. But when I had to go forward, they gave me great support and the leadout worked perfectly." said Ewan. Incidentally, the best German was Jascha Sütterlin from Movistar in 26th place. Next Tuesday, the starting signal will be given for the first regular stage of this year's Tour Down Under (for preview).
Final result Down Under Classic 2016
Driver | Team | Time | |
---|---|---|---|
1. | Caleb ewan | Orica GreenEDGE | 01:02:25 |
2. | James Nizzolo | Trek-Segafredo | |
3. | Adam blythe | Tinkoff team | |
4. | Ben Swift | TeamSky | |
5. | Marco Kump | Lampre Merida | |
6. | Reinardt Janse van Rensburg | Dimension Data | |
7. | David Martinelli | Etixx - Quick Step | |
8. | Matteo Pelucchi | AMI Cycling | |
9. | Wouter Wippert | Cannondale Pro Cycling | |
10. | Patrick Shaw | UniSA Australia |
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