Richie Porte remains out front of the general classification standings leading into Stage 4 of the Tour Down Under. Keep up with all the race updates and highlights on The Roar from 12:30pm (AEDT).
Young gun Caleb Ewan took out Stage 3, making it two wins from the opening three days of the tour, and a clean sweep for Australians thanks to a grinding win on Stage 2 for race leader Porte.
Porte holds a 20-second lead over Spaniard Gorka Izaguirre, with Esteban Chavez rounding out the provisional podium a further two seconds back.
Today, the riders kick off proceedings with a steep climb from Norwood in the outer streets of Adelaide, to Paradise in the Adelaide Hills – rising around 400 metres in altitude before the fun begins.
The bulk of the stage remains atop the hills but undulates continuously throughout the day, for around 110 kilometres.
The parcours loops east of the South Australian capital, before coming all the way back through the hills and into the finish at Campbelltown, around 15kms away from the starting point in Norwood.
The 149-kilometre length is the second longest of the tour, but not as harsh as the first two days and should provide some enthralling strategy and positioning.
The finale will be off a descent and on flat ground, meaning we could be in for a bunch sprint at the finish line.
BMC Racing will be out there to keep Porte in ochre – they’ll have him settled in the main pack for the day and his team will try to dictate the pace.
With Sky struggling through the first few days, this is a chance for the other teams, BMC in particular, to get a big result at the opening tour of the season.
If we get another hotly anticipated bunch sprint, we might even see Ewan complete the treble, but world champion Peter Sagan is the one to watch.
He was pipped at the line by Ewan yesterday and hasn’t had a good finish yet, so he’ll be out to put in a big performance.
Connor Bennett
Editor
So there's no changes to the overall GC standings as the peleton just cruise through the line. Richie Porte had an easy day in the saddle despite BMC falling away a bit towards the end of the stage.
Connor Bennett
Editor
Connor Bennett
Editor
CALEB EWAN WINS STAGE 4 Another day another win for Caleb Ewan in what has been an incredible tour for the young speed champion. Sagan comes out second again and he has to be frustrated having to keep looking at the back wheel of the Australian. Van Poppel finished third, having jumped a touch too early in the final few hundred metres. It was a slow day in the saddle for most of the peleton, but Jack Bauer was the rider of the day. He worked the early breakaway, and despite his partners falling away throughout the day, he continued on alone, riding his heart out before being caught painfully close to the line.
Connor Bennett
Editor
FINAL KILOMETRE The lead out work begins. There's a SKY rider who's solo very early out wide on the road. Brave move but it won't work. Danny van Poppel jumps!! That was good work from SKY there after a few hard days at the finish. But it's that man Caleb Ewan who is right behind him on the rear wheel with a couple of hundred metres to go!! Sagan is following him as well. Ewan jumps off the wheel of van Poppel... and Sagan is slow to react!! Sagan won't catch him and Ewan opens up the gap leading into the line and that's going to be his third stage win from four days on the Tour Down Under. Incredible stuff.
Connor Bennett
Editor
2km to go And right on cue, Caleb Ewan shuffles his way up towards the front... and right on his back wheel is Peter Sagan. This will be a mouth-watering clash!!
Connor Bennett
Editor
2km to go Cannondale making their presence felt up front as all the teams start jostling for position. Porte is still near the top
Connor Bennett
Editor
3km to go And there it is. Jack Bauer has finally been reigned in and you can see the disappointment on his face. He rode extremely well all day to get as far as he did but all eyes are on the the peleton now.
Connor Bennett
Editor
5km to go Team SKY have really moved up in positioning now after a fairly quiet day so far. BMC are looking a little thin and disorganised, but GC leader Porte has latched onto the back wheel of another.
Connor Bennett
Editor
8km to go The peleton are really closing in now and we're headed for another bunch sprint by the looks of it. Bauer is in sight of the main pack now and he might have to give in.
Connor Bennett
Editor
15km to go Jack Bauer back on the downhill descent, hitting 80km/h as he desperately tries to keep his lead in tact.
Connor Bennett
Editor
20km to go Porte remains up towards the pointy end of the peleton. He doesn't want to lose touch on the descent as the pace picks up. Jack Bauer is hanging on to a 33-second lead at the moment
Connor Bennett
Editor
22km to go Bauer has 45 seconds to work with. It doesn't look like he might have the legs to get this one after such a strong effort all day.
Connor Bennett
Editor
25km to go The peleton is really stringing out now as they get low in the saddle, cruising around some winding corners with real pace. Jack Bauer has slipped off the front and now leads the stage himself!! He'll have a tough job to make it to the end going solo
Connor Bennett
Editor
Connor Bennett
Editor
31km to go Meyer and Bauer now creeping up on that big descent and that will be a massive relief for them. They should be able to really open up that gap leading into the finish as the peleton continue their grind up the final climb
Connor Bennett
Editor
33km to go Meyer and Bauer are really working well together here, switching front wheel regularly and keeping the gap at a steady pace. The two man chase are fighting to catch up.
Connor Bennett
Editor
34km to go A bit of a mix of teams leading the peleton. Movistar and SKY have riders up front, as do BMC who have done the majority of leg work today.
Connor Bennett
Editor
44km to go 35 seconds between the chasing pair and the two leaders on the last time split. The peleton could be in a bit of trouble if these four link up and really start working together.
Connor Bennett
Editor
42km to go Since Cink has been dropped back to the main pack, the next best threat for Porte and the GC standings is now Lars Bak in the two-man chase between the breakaway leaders and the peleton. He's currently 45th in the GC, sitting 1:20 behind the leader.
Connor Bennett
Editor
45km to go We're about 20km away from the big run down to the finish coming back over the Adelaide Hills into the outer suburbs. The riders will be hitting some seriously fast speeds on the descent, up to 100km/h and over.