Caleb Ewan Orica GreenEdge) wins the Down Under Classic(Image credit: Bettini Photo)
The Astana team arrive in San Luis with real ambitions(Image credit: Bettini Photo)
Wout Van Aert kept the World Cup lead(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Laura Trott waves to the crowd(Image credit: Getty Images)
Mark Cavendish starts his effort on the track
Tour Down Under
The official start of the Tour Down Under is not until Tuesday but on Sunday the curtain was raised with the Down Under Classic, a 51-kilometer Criterium in the centre of Adelaide.
Caleb Ewan (Orica GreenEdge) came into the race with four wins already under his belt this month and added to that tally with a meticulous sprint win over Giacomo Nizzolo (Trek-Segafredo) and Adam Blythe (Tinkoff).
The race has no bearing on the overall at the Tour Down Under but acts as a warm-up for the first WorldTour stage race of the 2016 season. Cyclingnews will have complete live coverage from the Tour Down under, and race highlights courtesy of organisers ASO.
The Tour de San Luis gets underway on Monday with a 21km team time trial that will surely shift the balance of power in favour of the WorldTour teams. The Australian Pro Continental Drapac team will be first out of the gate for the test, while Astana, Cannondale and Movistar close out the start sheet.
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The organisation announced Sunday that the Vivo Paraguay squad would not be able to start because of an incomplete registration with the UCI, and therefore only 28 teams will start.
Mark Cavendish (Great Britain), making his first appearance in national track colours since 2008 put in a consistent performance but was nudged out of the top three. He will now return to road duties for Dimension Data but the Track World Championships in London, in March, remain a goal.
In the men’s sprint, Australian Patrick Constable took the biggest win of his young career, beating Olympic champion Jason Kenny (Great Britain) in the semi-final before doing away with Chao Xu (China) in the final.
In other results, Lithuanian Simona Krupeckaite took out the women's keirin. Great Britain won the men’s sprint, beating Poland in the final. The Canadian women won the team sprint, and the Australian men won their battle against Denmark.
With the world championships just a fortnight away Mathieu van der Poel (BKCP-Corendon) put down another important marker with his third straight World Cup win. The 20-year-old even managed to pull a wheelie as he crossed the line. Wout Van Aert (Crelan-Vastgoedservice Continental Team) and Lars Van Der Haar (Team Giant – Alpecin) rounded out the podium.
In the women’s race Sanne Cant soloed clear to win ahead of Ellen Van Loy and Eva Lechner. With just one round to go in the world cup, Cant leads Lechner by 32 points.
