The Tour Down Under reaches its crescendo on stage 5 with the traditional stage to Willunga Hill on the penultimate day. The 2.9-kilometre climb has proven decisive time and again in the history of the Australian race and Saturday ought to be no different.
As usual the peloton will tackle Willunga Hill twice on Saturday’s stage, but the real shoot-out on the 7% climb will surely come the second time around. Simon Gerrans (Orica-GreenEdge) is in the box seat as he bids for a fourth Tour Down Under victory, with Jay McCarthy (Tinkoff) is the best of the challengers, 12 seconds back.
Gerrans is the firm favourite to take overall honours in Adelaide on Sunday, but the impressive McCarthy is not the only threat, as there is a plethora of riders still within touching distance ahead of stage 5.
ADVERTISEMENT
Simon Gerrans (Orica-GreenEdge) – overall leader
Few riders know Willunga Hill quite like Gerrans, a three-time winner of the Tour Down Under, though it’s telling that his lone victory atop the climb came in 2013, a year when he was no threat on the overall standings.
As is his wont, Gerrans has clearly started the year in fine form, rattling off successive sprint wins at Campbelltown and Victor Harbor, and he carries a lead of 14 seconds over Jay McCarthy (Tinkoff) into Saturday’s rendezvous, with Rohan Dennis (BMC) and the other dangermen almost 30 seconds back.
You can read more at Cyclingnews.com
via Cyclingnews Latest News http://ift.tt/1SD3oxx
No comments:
Post a Comment