Santos Tour Down Under 2014: Stage 3

Hello and welcome to live coverage for Stage 3 of the Tour Down Under

If you're wanting to catch up on yesterday's racing, we have several stories for you.

Click here for the race report

Meanwhile, over in Argentina Trek won for the second straight day. Read the race report here

The Corkscrew will be desivive today in deciding the winner on the road to CAmpbelltown. One rider who is set to animate the race is Riche Porte.

You can have a look at his bike here

Making headlines are the comments by Danilo Di Luca in the Italian press which has caused some reaction from the peloton. You can read what Vincenzo Nibali and others have said by clicking here

Following his comments, CONI have requested that Di Luca is called in for questioning. You can read what CONI have said here

Don’t forget you can sign up to the Cyclingnews newsletter, right here 

We are about 15 minutes away from the start of the race today which begins in Norwood. The riders will be enjoying a coffee or two as the suburb is known for its cafe culture

The riders will have a 9km neutral ride to the town of Paradise and then the race will begin in earnest. Will Drapac and UniSA attack again from the get go?

This is the first time that Campbelltown has hosted a finish of the Tour Down Under

The riders have signed in and about to make their way out onto the course

On offer today are two sprint points and one KOM. The first sprint point comes at 38.7km in Kersbrook.

The second is after 53.5km in Williamstown.

The sole KOM points on offer today will be awarded to the first rider over the Corkscrew.

It'll be a warm up 9km but watch for some teams getting ready to launch attacks once the gun is fired

The Corkscrew is a 2.4km Cat 1 climb. The average gradient is 9%

After a crash in the finale yesterday, Lampre-Merida are down one rider today as Rafael Valls Ferri has retired from the race

To start the day Travis Meyer (Drapac) has continued the team's early approach of attacking and has built a small lead

144km remaining from 145km

Also attacking are Jérôme Cousin (Europcar) and Andriy Grivko (Astana)

Today's conditions for Stage 3. Today is the cloudiest day of the Tour with only brief glimpses of sun. There are lighter winds compared to the first two stages but changes in direction will mean there is a slight head wind most of the way. Light winds of about 10km/h for the start, tending ENE at about 15km/h in the hills before winds shift WNW at 10-15km/h from about Mt Pleasant onwards, strongest for the Montacute KOM section.

143km remaining from 145km

The temperature is 30-31 degrees from Norwood to Paradise for the start, then 26-28 degrees through the hills and 30-31 degrees for finish at Campbelltown.

142km remaining from 145km

Jens Voigt (Trek) has attacked

140km remaining from 145km

Cousin and Grivko have a lead of 2:00 and Jens Voigt is trying to bridge the gap. He is 1:02 behind the duo

There are four riders together now at the front with Andriy Grivko (Astana), Travis Meyer (Drapac), Jérôme Cousin (Europcar) and Jens Voigt (Trek)

136km remaining from 145km

The four riders are all together now with Voigt having latched on in the last few km

135km remaining from 145km

The leading four riders have a lead of 2:05

Just as yesterday saw Boy van Poppel become the virtual leader on the ride in the break, Andriy Grivko is now the virtual leader of the race as he started the day 67 seconds off Simon Gerrans

Having placed Will Clake in the break for the last two days, Drapac's representation today is Travis Meyer

135km remaining from 145km

The lead is growing and is 2:30 now

131km remaining from 145km

2:40 is the gap now

Voigt has been a very active rider at the Tour Down Under who usually is the first rider to try to get into a breakaway so to only get into one on Stage 3 seems a little late but it's good to see the 42-year-old out in front.

Bunch in the bunch Simon Clarke (Orica-GreenEdge) has dropped back to the team car for a chat

Simon Gerrans

124km remaining from 145km

Like yesterday, the break is being given a lead somewhere between two to three minutes

Geraint Thomas (Sky)

124km remaining from 145km

No change with the break remaining steady at 2:20.

Diego Ulissi (Lampre-Merida)

Caleb Ewan (UniSA)

Yukiya Arashiro (Europcar)

119km remaining from 145km

The gap is at 2:20 and its 10km until the first sprint points on the day are set to be decided

Cadel Evans (BMC):

Daryl Impey (Orica-GreenEdge)

112km remaining from 145km

The riders are approaching the first sprint point for the day

The lead is 2:25 back to the main bunch at the moment

107km remaining from 145km

Just about to contest the sprint

106km remaining from 145km

Travis Meyer took out the sprint point

Sprint results

1: Travis Meyer (Drapac) 5 pts/3 seconds
2: Andriy Grivko (Astana) 3 pts/ 2 seconds
3: Jérôme Cousin (Europcar) 2 pts/ 1 second
 

While Mark Cavendish isn't at the Tour Down Under this year, how he goes with Mark Renshaw leading him out again will be one of the things to watch in 2014. You can read how Cav's approaching 2014 right here

The riders are feeling the warm weather out on the roads with Anthony Giacoppo and Darren Lapthorne the next guys to drop back to the team cars

With under 100km to race, the lead four have a lead of 2:20 which has remained steady almost since the break was made

Up next is the second sprint point of the day which comes 53.5km into the race

Not much change with the break working togther and the peloton happy to let them enjoy some TV time.

Once the riders go through the feedzone with 64km to race, things will heat up 

91km remaining from 145km

The results for sprint point two are:

1- Andriy Grivko (Astana) 5 pts/ 3 second
2 - Travis Meyer (Drapac) 3 pts/ 2 second
3 - Jérôme Cousin (Europcar) 2 pts/ 1 second

89km remaining from 145km

The break having gone through the sprint point are sitting with a lead of 2:20 over the bunch

André Greipel (Lotto-Belisol):

83km remaining from 145km

The four leaders have 2:25 over the bunch and with little change to proceedings in the last 30 minutes

Caleb Ewan (UniSA) and Robert Gesink (Belkin) have dropped back to their team cars for a drink

After 65km of racing, the average speed is 37.8kmh but that will pick up significantly on the way to the Corkscrew

The riders will soon enter the feedzone which is in Mt Pleasant and everyone will be hoping for some nice cool bidons

75km remaining from 145km

The gap is getting close to dropping under two minutes

Grivko is the virtual leader on the road with 1:25 over Gerrans at this point in the race

The members of the group seem to be enjoying each others company and are happy to keep themselves on the TV screen. Drapac will be pleased they've made the break for the third straight day

The peloton has passed through the feedzone so expect the chase to start in earnest rather soon

Its under 60km to go with Orica-GreenEdge on the front of the peloton lead by Matt Goss

60km remaining from 145km

The lead has dropped under 2:00 minutes with GreenEdge driving the bunch

Greipel (Lotto-Belisol) has swapped the white knicks for black today as he sits in around 13th wheel behind Team Sky

57km remaining from 145km

The lead is 1:50 and this break won't stay away for too much longer

In a around one hour, the riders will hit the slopes of the Corkscrew where we should see some fireworks

53km remaining from 145km

Its a three man break now as Cousin has fallen off the back and will be collected by the peloton in a bit

51km remaining from 145km

The lead is back out over 2:00 now

47km remaining from 145km

Goss is still on the front for GreenEdge and its Matthew behind him.

The man known as 'Bling' had a tumble yesterday and said after the race he was feeling a little sore. He's looking good out there today

44km remaining from 145km

Cousin has joined his teammates back in the bunch now. 

43km remaining from 145km

The bunch getting a little strung out on the descent while up ahead, Grivko is taking a turn on the front

41km remaining from 145km

2:20 is the gap as Bling is now on the front

Gerrans is looking very relaxed in the bunch with teammates to the left and right keeping him safe

40km remaining from 145km

With Voigt in the break, they aren't giving up easy as the time gap remains at 2:20

Its mostly downhill to the base of the climb and after the riders make their way up the Corkscrew, it'll be a very fast descent

Team Sky have two cards to play with Thomas and Porte but also have Deigan and Earle for support, Porte will be hungry to get a good result today

The last 5km has seen the pace increase with an average speed of 47kmh

As a narrow climb, anyone with aspirations today will need to be in the top ten positions when the peloton hits the base of the Corkscrew

Weather update

Still about 29 degrees in the hills. Campbelltown is about 35 degrees now but the freshening WNW wind should cool the finish line to about 31 degrees by Stage end.

35km remaining from 145km

The lead is steady at 2:10

31km remaining from 145km

The race is heating up with several teams moving toward the front but the break is still 2:00 to the good

24km remaining from 145km

Its a lead of 1:30 now

Bradley Linfield (UniSA) and an Ag2r rider have crashed on a hairpin bend.

The lead is only 1:05 now as the peloton is trying to make the catch before the climb

The break is in the gorge just before the beginning of the climb

21km remaining from 145km

The lead has been cut down to under 1 minute now with just 45 seconds between the break and the peloton. Catch should now happen before the climb

FDJ rider down on a corner

The rider to go down was Pierre-Henri Lecuisinier (FDJ)

20km remaining from 145km

30 seconds is now the time gap

16km remaining from 145km

Omega Pharma-Quick Step and Sky are at the front now as the break has been caught

Voigt and Grivko were the last to be caught

Cannondale and Lampre also moving up

14km remaining from 145km

The peloton is strung out with Sky setting it up for Thomas and Porte as everyone is trying to get into position

BMC and Greipel are now on the front with Lotto looking to protect Hansen's lead in the KOM

13km remaining from 145km

The riders are getting into position for the corner that leads into the Corkscrew

Its Lotto and Giant-Shimano on the front

Garmin have a strong representation here looking to set it up for Rohan Dennis

9km remaining from 145km

Hansen is looking good in third wheel while BMC are looking to get Evans across the line in first place

8km remaining from 145km

Evans is siting in second wheel here

BMC are splintering the pack and there are only around 20 riders left now

Its Porte and Evans who are at the head of the race while Robert Gesink and Simon Gerrans are watching very closely

Evans and Porte are riding away now and Gerrans is trying to catch them

Evans is riding off on is own now

7km remaining from 145km

Evans is putting lengths into Porte here and Gerrans is with him

With 7.5km to go Evans is riding alone here and with 200m to go the summit he will need to descend to his best ability here

Evans has 15 seconds ahead of Porte and Gerrans

Evans is riding like a local on the descent

The speed of that climb was 24.5kmh by Evans

Its 5.7km to go for Evans

5km remaining from 145km

Evans is still alone and hitting the corners hard and building his lead

Its 25-seconds between Evans and the chasing duo

4km remaining from 145km

Porte has tried to get away from Gerrans

Evans has extended his lead on the descent to around 18-seconds as the group behind is about to catch the duo of Porte and Gerrans

Just 2.5km to go and the big group is trying to get organised to catch Evans

2km remaining from 145km

Evans is time trialling his way to the win

Evans is into the final kilometre now

Evans will take the win but now its a matter of whether he can grab the Ochre jersey as well

Evans wins and Gerrans misses bonus seconds

Evans hardly celebrated as he tried to get as much time as possible

Results Provisional stage 3 result # Rider Name (Country) Team Result 1 Cadel Evans (Aus) BMC Racing Team 3:34:06   2 Nathan Haas (Aus) Garmin Sharp 0:00:14   3 Diego Ulissi (Ita) Lampre-Merida     4 Adam Hansen (Aus) Lotto Belisol     5 Simon Gerrans (Aus) Orica Greenedge     6 Rory Sutherland (Aus) Tinkoff-Saxo     7 Brent Bookwalter (USA) BMC Racing Team     8 Ben Hermans (Bel) BMC Racing Team     9 Daryl Impey (RSA) Orica Greenedge     10 Robert Gesink (Ned) Belkin-Pro Cycling Team     overall classification # Rider Name (Country) Team Result 1 Cadel Evans (Aus) BMC Racing Team 10:46:40   2 Simon Gerrans (Aus) Orica Greenedge 0:00:11   3 Diego Ulissi (Ita) Lampre-Merida 0:00:14   4 Nathan Haas (Aus) Garmin Sharp 0:00:26   5 Robert Gesink (Ned) Belkin-Pro Cycling Team 0:00:28   6 Geraint Thomas (GBr) Team Sky     7 Daryl Impey (RSA) Orica Greenedge 0:00:32   8 Brent Bookwalter (USA) BMC Racing Team     9 Rory Sutherland (Aus) Tinkoff-Saxo     10 Ben Hermans (Bel) BMC Racing Team    

Thanks for joining us to see Evans claim his first win of 2014 and jump into the lead of the Tour Down Under. Click back to the Tour Down Under page for full results, photos, standings and what happened today.