The 2014 Tour Down Under continues this afternoon with a 143km stage from Norwood to Campbelltown. Join us for a live blog and updates from 1.30pm AEDT.
Stage 2 of the race saw Simon Gerrans maintain his lead of the Ochre Jersey, finishing second in the stage behind Italian rider Diego Ulissi.
As Roar expert John Thompson-Mills pointed out in his piece this morning Stage 3 will be pivotal for Cadel Evans and Richie Porte, Gerrans’ main rivals for General Classification honours, to try and close the gap.
This morning Gerrans admitted that he could be vulnerable on today’s stage.
“Today is going to be a really tight, decisive stage of the race,” he said before the start at suburban Norwood.
“It’s probably one of the stages where I’m going to be most vulnerable to be attacked in the final.
“Corkscrew is a very tough climb and … if someone is going really strong on Corkscrew it’s going to be hard to go with them.
“But I’m confident with how I’m going and I know if I just ride up there as quick as I can, hopefully no-one will be too far in front over the top.”
While the majority of the stage will represent relatively easy going for the peloton, things will heat up in the final 10km beginning with the infamous Corkscrew that was introduced to the event in 2013.
Lasting 2.5km at an average gradient of nine percent, the tight turns of the Corkscrew should pose a threat for the peloton on both the ascent and descent, and the 35-degree predicted temperatures won’t exactly help either.
Expect Lotto–Belisol’s Adam Hansen and Drapac’s Will Clarke to feature prominently in the climb with King of the Mountains points on offer.
Following the Corkscrew, the riders will face a 7.4km sprint into Campbelltown and this should suit those who can sprint.
Follow how this key stage of the 2014 Tour Down Under plays out from 1.30pm AEDT.
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Matthew Boulden
Roar Guru
Jens Voigt gets the award for most combatitive rider apparently, and suddenly all was right with the world. Keep on fightin' Jensie.
SuperEel22
Roar Guru
Well that was a surprise. Now one picked Evans to win a stage let alone wear the Ochre jersey.
Matthew Boulden
Roar Guru
(Provisional) Just missed out on the Top 10 for the stage, edged out by Robert Gesink.
Hutchoman
Roar Pro
Sounds like Cadel smashed it up the Corkscrew. Looking forward to seeing some replays tonight!
Chad Bennett
Editor
Well, a fantastic stage at the Tour Down Under. A four-man breakaway led by Drapac's Travis Meyer along with Andriy Grivko, Jens Voigt and Jerome Cousin set the pace and maintained a gap of two minutes or more for the majority of the 145km stage. 20km out though, and the Team Sky-led peloton was able to haul in Voigt and Grivko, after Meyer and Cousin had earlier wilted. At the 10km mark action picked up on the Corkscrew, and it was Cadel Evans who took charge. TDU leader Simon Gerrans and Richie Porte looked to give chase, but by the descent it was all Evans and the peloton wasn't able to co-ordinate itself in time. Evans will go into Stage 4 in Ochre, and it is hard to see him being caught. Stay with The Roar tomorrow morning as we cover today's memorable stage with a wrap, video and images, and look forward to Stage 4.
Chad Bennett
Editor
Anyone see what happened to Porte in the finish?
Chad Bennett
Editor
Fantastic stuff!
Bones506
Roar Guru
What a stage. Cadel of old there. Things look good for the Giro assault at this stage.
Chad Bennett
Editor
GC Standings after Stage 3: 1 Evans 2 Gerrans +12 3 Ulissi +15 4 Haas +27 5 Gesink +29 6 Thomas +29 7 Impey +33 8 Porte +33 9 Bookwalter +33 10 Sutherland +33
Chad Bennett
Editor
A breathless Cadel being interview now - basically, the stage win is important but the GC is what the main goal is.
Chad Bennett
Editor
TOP FIVE 1. Evans, 2. Haas, 3. Ulissi, 4. Hansen, 5.Gerrans. Group ended up 15 seconds behind Cadel.
Chad Bennett
Editor
Gerrans will finish fifth, so with the ten-second bonus Cadel Evans will now be in Ochre! HUGE.
Chad Bennett
Editor
Split is....16 seconds to the main group.
Chad Bennett
Editor
And that's victory for Cadel!!!
Matthew Boulden
Roar Guru
Thanks Channel Nine, the livestream just went and collapsed on me at the crucial moment.
Chad Bennett
Editor
And into Campbelltown, Cadel will win this. Peloton has finally gotten their act together and are closing, but they won't get him.
Chad Bennett
Editor
CADEL!!! Inside the 1km now. Interesting to see what the gap ends up, and whether he ends up in Ochre.
Matthew Boulden
Roar Guru
Cohension basically non-existant in the chase group, with no one latching on to Daryl Impey's wheel as he went to pace the group after Evans.
Chad Bennett
Editor
Impey is at the front of the peloton, but the group don't seem to be going with him. 1.7km to go, and Cadel will NOT be caught now.
Chad Bennett
Editor
Huge gap here, 2.6km to go. Don't see Cadel being caught, this is fantastic stuff here from Cadel. Absolutely flying, gap appears to be about 20 seconds. Peloton now appear to be about to catch Gerrans/Porte. OGE will likely try and do the pacemaking.