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The first race on the professional cycling calendar, the Tour Down Under, reaches its third stage on Thursday which stretches 143.2km from Norwood to Paracombe. Join The Roar from 1:30pm (AEDT) for our live coverage of the race.
Yesterday we saw a very interesting stage, where the break were caught but the sprinters really had to fight to hang on over the final climb of the day.
It wasn’t the finish for Marcel Kittel, that’s one thing for sure, as Juan Jose Lobato (Movistar) held off Darryl Impey (Orica) in the final uphill dash to the line.
Cadel Evans (BMC) and Richie Porte (Sky) were all not only keeping out of trouble but pushing for a bonus, but failed to get it as Evans came in fifth and Richie Porte came seventh. Luis Leon Sanchez (Astana) also was at the right end of the field as he came in sixth.
The third stage of the Tour Down Under is the first proper hill top finish of the race as the riders come into Paracombe. The stage is relatively lumpy the whole way and there are three intermediate sprints on course, all in the same position as the riders complete three laps of a 25.7 km circuit.
The sprints, which are in Charleston come after 67.4 km, 93.1km and 118.8 km. After this the riders exit the circuit at Lobethal and ride the fractionally more than 15km to Cuddle Creek. Most of this section of the stage has a downhill slope.
Over the final 3 km, they will be climbing, and it gets quite steep in areas, however the actual King of the Mountain points, which are a Category 2 are awarded at 142.8 km, about 400 meters short of the finish line.
It stays almost flat after this with a slight downhill, then uphill kick to the line. This stage is a new finish line for the 2015 Tour Down Under and is replacing the Corkscrew Hill stage from last year which Cadel Evans won.
There is no doubt that for all the overall contenders this is a massive stage and if you want to win the Tour Down Under. In a race that is often separated by seconds you have to feature in this stage. Bonus seconds are also going to come into play big time.
The favourites for the stage have to include Cadel Evans, Richie Porte, Luis Leon Sanchez and Domenico Pozzovivo (AG2R). Some outside chances have to be given to riders like Michael Rogers (Saxo), Arnold Jeannesson (FDJ), Simon Clarke (Orica) and Ryder Hesejdal (Cannondale – Garmin).
It also has to be wondered if riders like Daryl Impey (Orica) or yesterday’s winner, Lobato, could hang onto the climbers. I would expect not.
With such a stage don’t expect a breakway to be allowed any real distance during the stage.
So can Jack Bobridge hold on to his leader’s jersey or will we have a new leader after today’s stage? Either way be sure to join us from 1:30pm (AEDT) for what should be an enthralling stage and as always feel free to leave your thoughts and comments below.