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Tour Down Under #1: Sam Bennett claims first win for Quick-Step

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Sam Bennett Tour Down Under

Cycling: Sam Bennett (Deceuninck – Quick-Step) has won the first WorldTour race of the season. At the start of the Tour Down Under, the Irishman was able to prevail in the expected mass sprint ahead of Jasper Philipsen (UAE Team Emirates) and Jan Baska (Bora - hansgrohe). The 29-year-old celebrated his first success in his new team's jersey in the first official UCI race.

Daryl Impey is fighting for every second

At 11:00 a.m. local time in Tanunda and thus at 01:30 a.m. CET, the pros on the Tour Down Under set off for the first WorldTour race of the 2020 season. In South Australia, 150,0 kilometers had to be covered, with spectators along the route getting to see their heroes five times on the 30,0-kilometer circuit. However, a breakaway group did not want to form at first. After all, the first intermediate sprint of the day came after 15,0 kilometers in Angaston – and that meant there were valuable seconds to gain for the overall standings right from the start. The winner of the last two events got hold of three in total, Daryl Impey (Mitchelton-Scott), before Chris Lawless (Ineos) and Nathan Hass (Cofidis).

Jarrad Drizners conquers the mountain jersey

After the first intermediate sprint, four drivers were able to break away from the main field. The Australians Jarrad Drizners (UniSA), Dylan Sunderland (NTT) and Michael Storer (Sunweb), as well as the American Joey Rosskopf (CCC) should from now on make up the intermediate ratings among themselves. At the end of the day, the first-named member of this quartet had reason to be happy. Jarrad Drizners took the lead in the two climbs on Breakneck Hill with a first and second place finish. However, the well-known teams did not want to give the fugitives any more today. Led by the teams Deceuninck - Quick-Step, Jumbo - Visma, Cofidis, Lotto - Soudal and Israel Start-Up Nation, the field rolled closer and closer. This should result in a merger well ahead of the goal. The expected mass sprint was inevitable.

André Greipel is back with rank #5

Due to the numerous sprinters in the peloton, many teams wanted to determine the last section of the route. The final kilometer, however, should once again belong to Deceuninck - Quick-Step. Perfectly prepared by the Danish master Michael Morkov had to be the Irish champion Sam Bennett only complete. But what made him do it above all Jasper Phillipsen (UAE Team Emirates) life difficult. The only 21-year-old Belgian only had to admit defeat in the final meters. Surprisingly, the Slovak completes the podium Jan Baska (Bora – hansgrohe) ahead of the Italian Elia Viviani (Cofidis) and the German André Greipel (Israel Start Up Nation). Local hero drove a bit disappointing – and Winner of yesterday's criterium - Caleb ewan (Lotto – Soudal) only in seventh place. The Norwegian placed in front of him Kristoffer Halvorsen (EF), whose team EF also presented themselves very committed and could hardly be overlooked, not only because of the bright jersey colors.

Tags:Daryl ImpeyDylan SunderlandJan BaskaJarrad DriznersJasper PhillipsenJoey RosskopfMichael StorerNewsSam BennettTower Down Under

More than Michael Behringer

Cycling with all its tactics, stage analyses, placements and forecasts are Michael Behringer's great passion. In 1996 he tracked his first Tour de France. Since then he has observed almost every race. His passion for cycling has been with him for over two decades. There is no end in sight.