A blistering ride from Danny van Poppel saw the Team Sky rider open his win account for 2017 and claim the first leader’s jersey of the race. Chris Froome (Team Sky) was faster than his 2016 result but could only manage 26th position with Sebastian Henao the best of Sky's GC men. Brenton Jones (JLT Condor) was just nine hundredths of a second off the win in second place with his JLT teammate Alex Frame third.
Esteban Chaves (Orica-Scott), regarded as the chief rival to the defending champion Froome, was four seconds of the Briton in 64th place to set up an intriguing battle on the climb up Falls Creek tomorrow where Sky and Orica-Scott are expected to shake up the race.
After four top-four placing's at the Tour Down Under, van Poppel ensured his Australian campaign could be judged a success with his first prologue win since the 2014 Tour of Luxembourg. As the Dutchman won't be wearing the yellow jersey after tomorrow's queen stage, he wanted to bask in the glory and enjoy his moment in the sunshine post-victory.
ADVERTISEMENT
"I hope I can give it tomorrow to Chris," he said of the jersey he had just collected from the podium. "Tomorrow is a nice day for Chris and the team, so we go full for him and maybe for the sprint stages I go for it.
"I know that I am fast in the prologue so I was focused on winning it and nothing else. I am really happy because you are always searching for your first victory for the team and yourself and I am happy I did it."
Froome was quicker than last year, helped by repairs to smooth the road over, and heads into the mountains ready for the battle with Orica-Scott.
How it unfolded
You can read more at Cyclingnews.com
via Cyclingnews Latest Race Results http://ift.tt/2kiCn5z
No comments:
Post a Comment