cycling: Cycling – Tour Down Under Stage #4: Gerrans for second

Cycling: Things are looking up for Simon Gerrans (Orica-GreenEDGE). With his second stage win in a row, the 35-year-old extends his lead in the general classification and goes into the king's stage to Willunga Hill next night as the favorite. At the stage finish in Victor Harbor, the Australian won the sprint ahead of Ben Swift (Team Sky) and Giacomo Nizzolo (Trek-Segafredo).

It was an extremely lively and entertaining 138km from Norwood to Victor Harbor on last night's Tour Down Under. Contrary to the fears of the drivers, teams and race organizers, the wind held back - in the run-up, gusty winds were expected at times, which would have posed a real threat to the drivers and the race. But fortunately it remained extremely calm from a pleasant breeze. As in the past few days, there were already first attacks right after the start and a sextet was able to pull away a little.

However, this time the escape group was not able to defend the lead for long. After a little more than 15km, the six leaders were caught again - also because Orica-GreenEDGE, Sky and Tinkoff put enormous pressure on the field. This was mainly due to the fact that after a little more than 25km the first intermediate sprint was already waiting and consequently there were bonus seconds to be had. The plan worked: Simon Gerrans secured three and Jay McCarthy (Tinkoff Team) two bonus seconds.

After that, the air was a bit out for the first time and that gave a new breakaway opportunity to open up a gap. David Tanner (IAM Cycling), Pat Shaw (UniSA-Australia) and Alexis Gougeard (AG2R-La Mondiale) rode away and at times held a lead of more than five minutes before leveling off at the three minute mark. The trio fought back as best they could, but by the bottom of the climb to Port Elliot, with 25km to go, the breakaways were gone and the field reunited. On the climb, Colombian Sergio Henao (Team Sky) once again proved to be the strongest climber of the race and took the mountain points ahead of Richie Porte (BMC).

In the final, too, it was initially the British team from Sky that dominated the action. Thomas worked for his sprinter Ben Swift and put the 28-year-old in a very good position through the tight corners of the Flamme Rouge. Behind, however, lurked Jay McCarthy and the leadout of Orica-GreenEDGE with Daryl Impey and Simon Gerrans. In the end, perfect timing and good teamwork by the Australian team were decisive: Impey started the sprint with his last ounce of strength for his captain, who then completed it confidently and was able to secure additional bonus seconds. Ben Swift was second, Giacomo Nizzolo pushed past Jay McCarthy in the last second for third.

Simon Gerrans now leads in the overall standings 14 seconds ahead of his nearest rival Jay McCarthy and 26 seconds ahead of last year's winner Rohan Dennis (BMC). A quite reassuring cushion, which, however, can also very quickly disappear into thin air on the next stage after Willunga Hill.

Tour Down Under Stage #4