Santos Tour Down Under 2014: Stage 5

 Hello and welcome to Cyclingnews live coverage of Stage 5 which is set to decide the overall classification at the 2014 Tour Down Under

Good morning. Its its the big event today on Willunga Hill today with large crowds expected to turn up and create a festive atmosphere. The riders will climb the hill twice today as they cover a total length of 151.5km. The climb is sure to shake up the gc but we could see either Simon Gerrans or Cadel Evans chasing bonus seconds tomorrow in order to claim the overall victory.

If you're catching up on the latest news in cycling, click here to have a read about how the WorldTour teams are trying to revolutionise the sport

Racing today will begin at 11am with just 500m of the neutral zone which is short in comparison to the several kilometre length zones we've seen this week

Over in the UK, Brad Wiggins has spoken about his desire to return to racing at the Tour Down Under. You can read his comments by clicking here

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Riders are signing on at McLaren Vale and certainly having the obligatory joey photos taken

Over in Argentina, Nairo Quintana may not know which grand tour's he'll ride in 2014 but for now he's riding the Tour de San Luis and leading the race. Read the race report from the Stage 5 ITT by clicking here

Today's weather:  Similarly cool and windy as Stage 4. Not many trees to shelter from these winds compared to the other stages. Currently it is sunny near the beach with low cloud in the hills clearing to a mostly sunny day. There are SSE winds 20-30km/h with gusts to about 35km/h (a head-wind for the two climbs up Willunga Hill). There will be a breeze just as testy as Stage 4 particularly during cross-wind sections. Finally, the temperature is 22-25 degrees near the beach (22 degrees for the start at McLaren Vale) and near 20 degrees in the Willunga Hill area.

What are the details of the climb today? Willunga Hill KOM - about 3km of climb, from 146 metres altitude to 369 metres altitude (average gradient about 7% with a maximum gradient near 12%)

To recap the overall standings and jersey leaders, this is how it stands with Australian leading the four classifications

GC: 1st - Cadel Evans (BMC) 14:19:46

Points classification - Simon Gerrans (Orica-GreenEdge) 62 points

KOM: Adam Hansen (Lotto-Belisol) 24 points

Young riders classification: Jack Haig (UniSA) 14:21:04

Team classification: BMC 43:00:38

The last few winners atop Willunga Hill are some of cycling's biggest names. Here is a recap of who has taken out the stage in recent years.

2013 - Simon Gerrans (Orica-GreenEdge)
2012 - Alejandro Valverde (Movistar)
2011 - Francisco Ventoso (Movistar)
2010 - Luis Leon Sanchez (Caisse d'Epargne)

Last few sips of coffee by the riders with 10 minutes until show time. Time to put the joey down and strap the helmet on

Just minutes away from the start now

Some pros have posted their Strava times for Willinga so to give you an idea of how long it'll take the likes of Evans, Gerrans and Gesink here are some times.

Luke Roberts who set the KOM in 2010 with 7:39 while Gesink was the fastest racer on Strava last year doing a 7:53

Once again there are two intermediate sprint points today. The are both located at Snapper Point coming after 63.4km and then 103.4km

There are two KOM points today with the two ascents of Willunga set to decide the eventual winner of the classification. The climbs of Willunga are 129.1km and 151.5km

151km remaining from 151km

There are plenty of people at the start line to watch the riders roll out

The count from 10 seconds has been made the riders start Stage 5

While there has been plenty of talk about Simon Gerrans, Robert Gesink has flown under the radar and is feeling good about his chances for a podium position

It will be interesting to see how Orica-GreenEdge react to a break today as the team will be working to get Gerrans the intermediate sprint bonus seconds

150km remaining from 151km

Team UniSA start the race by sending a rider up the road, its Mark O'Brien 

Kevin Reza joins O'Brien

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So joing Reza (Europcar) and O'Brien are four other riders but that little group has been brought back together for now

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Jens Voigt (Trek) is leading a group  now of five with representation from Movistar, Katusha and Omega Pharma-Quick Step

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Travis Meyer (Drapac) is the next rider to try his luck and get away from the bunch

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So the situation on the road is a small group with a few hundred meters ahead of the bunch with Jens Voigt (Trek), Mikhail Ignatyev (Katusha), Juan Jose Lobato (Movistar) and Matteo Trentin (Omega Pharma-Quick Step)

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It seems the bunch is happy for this group to be the day's break but how much time will GreenEdge and BMC give them?

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The group of four now has a lead over 1:00 minute

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The riders will do one loop of the course with no sprint points, KOM or feedzones to distract the. On the second and third laps is when the racing will heat up

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So the break has been established and has built a lead of 2:00. Once again the riders in the break are Jens Voigt (Trek), Mikhail Ignatyev (Katusha), Juan Jose Lobato (Movistar) and Matteo Trentin (Omega Pharma-Quick Step)

In a change from the past few days, there is neither a Drapac or UniSA rider that made the break

139km remaining from 151km

While no one single team is organising the peloton to keep the break's advantage within check, Garmin-Sharp, Giant-Shimano and BMC are all up the front.

The break have a time gap of 2:20 back to the main bunch

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A darkhorse to move up the standings is Diego Ulissi who is just 14 seconds behind Cadel Evans (BMC)

The race today takes in one of the many wine regions of the South Australia and there are some very nice scenic shots from today

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The break of four has almost a lead of 4:00 minutes now after 20 minutes of racing

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Team BMC are now taking control of the peloton and have moved up with Evans tucked in behind his teammates

The average speed of the first 10km is 47km/h so its another fast start to a stage

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South Australia may have just had a heatwave, Cadel Evans is wearing arm warmers at the moment

126km remaining from 151km

The time gap between the break and main bunch is now 5:10

With 30 minutes raced, the group of Jens Voigt (Trek), Mikhail Ignatyev (Katusha), Juan Jose Lobato (Movistar) and Matteo Trentin (Omega Pharma-Quick Step) have built themselves a nice little lead as BMC relaxed the chase a touch but remain on the front of the peloton

124km remaining from 151km

Its Danilo Wyss's (BMC) time to spend some time on the front and set the tempo

123km remaining from 151km

Lobato (Movistar) has dropped back to the team car and rejoins his breakaway companions in a sign that the pace isn't too high among the leaders on the road

Egor Silin (Katusha) is back with the Russian team in 2014 having ridden with the outfit from 2010-11 before joining Astana fir 2012-13.
He has had success in Australia before when in 2011 he won Stage 4 of the Herald Sun Tour

120km remaining from 151km

The break's lead has gone up to 6:00 minutes which is the biggest gap so far at the Tour Down Under in 2014

Time for some quotes from the riders this morning

Richie Porte (Team Sky)

Nathan Haas (Garmin-Sharp):

120km remaining from 151km

At the front of the pack alongside BMC are Garmin-Sharp, Lotto-Belisol and Sky

Also moving toward the front are the bright colours of Cannondale and Tinkoff-Saxo

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Juan José Lobato (Movistar) is riding his first WorldTour event for the Movistar team having previously ridden for Euskaltel-Euskadi

118km remaining from 151km

Matteo Trentin (Omega Pharma-Quick Step) has just the one win to his name so far but what a win it is, a stage at the Tour de France.

Maxime Bouet Ag2r La Mondiale):

115km remaining from 151km

The break's lead has swelled out to 7:20 minutes now

Jack Haig (UniSA):

Andre Greipel (Lotto-Belisol):

It's likely that winds could cause some drama today and there may just be some Strava records that are safe after today with a headwind on the Willunga Hill climb at the moment

112km remaining from 151km

In just 53 minutes of racing, the leaders have over 8:00 minutes between themselves and the bunch now

111km remaining from 151km

The riders are about to go through McLaren Vale again having completed the first lap of the course

Brent Bookwalter (BMC):

There is no virtual leader on the road from this break today with the four riders all some way of the time of Cadel Evans

110km remaining from 151km

The break once again is Jens Voigt (Trek), Mikhail Ignatyev (Katusha), Juan Jose Lobato (Movistar) and Matteo Trentin (Omega Pharma-Quick Step)

Back in the main pack, Team Sky and Orica-GreenEdge have decided to up the speed a little

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Having worn a skinsuit yesterday, Andre Greipel (Lotto-Belisol) is back in his normal team kit and is wearing white knicks 

Graeme Brown (Belkin):

109km remaining from 151km

The gap is now up to 8:50 minutes 

Cadel Evans (BMC):

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GreenEdge and Sky are sharing the duties on the front but the break's time continues to grow

Matt Goss (Orica-GreenEdge):

Simon Gerrans (Orica-GreenEdge):

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The break of four riders are starting to be chased down with GreenEdge deciding that eight minutes is too large a gap

George Bennett (Cannondale):

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There is an impressive crowd in Willunga cheering on the riders with plenty of cow bells being rung

The actual distance on the road between the break and the peloton is 6km

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The peloton is being led by Team Sky, BMC and GreenEdge which is no surprise 

101km remaining from 151km

The gap is under eight minutes with the peloton upping their chase speed thanks also to a little more organisation at the front

Cadel Evans (BMC) is sitting mid-pack and is looking very comfortable with several teammates keeping him safe

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The break is still pedelling along and enjoying a nice lead

The gap to the break is around 6:00 minutes now having come down following GreenEdge and Sky's efforts

In the last 10km the average speed of the peloton is a touch of 50km/h

89km remaining from 151km

The riders are about to contest the first sprint point of the day

No contest there by the break as Mikhail Ignatyev (Katusha) led Jens Voigt (Trek) over the line

Correction, the sprint points were awarded to Mikhail Ignatyev (Katusha), Matteo Trentin (Omega Pharma-Quick Step), Jens Voigt (Trek) and then Jose Lobato (Movistar)

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The gap to the main bunch has now dropped to under 6:00 minutes as the break leaves Snapper Point

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Jens Voigt (Trek), Mikhail Ignatyev (Katusha), Juan Jose Lobato (Movistar) and Matteo Trentin (Omega Pharma-Quick Step) have a lead of 5:52 minutes

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With an hour and half having been ridden so far there has been little change to proceedings. Since the four man break got free Sky and GreenEdge have mostly been the teams controlling the tempo with help from BMC at times

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5:29 minutes is the new time gap 

Matt Goss (Orica-GreenEdge) is leading the peloton much like he has all week in an attempt to bring down the four leaders' advantage

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The bright pink of Lampre has become more visible in the few minutes but its still GreenEdge and Sky at the front with Garmin-Sharp just off to the side

77km remaining from 151km

The bright pink of Lampre has become more visible in the last few minutes but its still GreenEdge and Sky at the front with Garmin-Sharp just off to the side

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Getting close to two hours or racing time and it will be the third hour of racing when the gc men come to the fore

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Bernie Eisel (Sky) has been spending a fair bit of time on the front today in order to bring the break back 

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Lobato (Movistar) is taking a turn on the front for the break

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The time difference is now 4:38 with under 70km to the finishline

Just after the half-way point of the race, its largely been the same situation since the break went away in the first few kilometers of the race

The pace of the break is slowly dropping as they feel the efforts of their ride. The feedzone is about to come to offer some assistance 

The break is on Main Rd and about to head through to pick up some food as they get ready to head out to Snapper Point for the last time

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Greipel has come to the front to up the speed of the peloton's chase

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Tinkoff-Saxo have come to the front and working with Lotto are putting the hammer down as the break's lead is around 3:30 minutes

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The effort from Tinkoff-Saxo has seen the lead drop to 3:00 minutes now

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For the last 10km, the peloton's average speed is 40km/h while for the leaders, their average speed for the 90km raced so far is 41km/h

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Lotto are trying their best to cause a split in the cross winds as they chase the four leaders

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The leading four make their way onto the beach for the last time with the second intermediate sprint point not too far away but the peloton won't catch them before then

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The lead of the 4 riders is just 2:34 minutes

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The four leaders pass through the intermediate sprint point again and there is no contest for the bonus seconds

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So after the two intermediate sprint points Cadel Evans (BMC) will be content with the fact that he didn't have to chase down any rivals for bonus seconds. Simon Gerrans (Orica-GreenEdge) missed out so there are no changes to the pointy end of the gc

The sprint point was won by Mikhail Ignatyev (Katusha) with Juan Jose Lobato (Movistar) second and in third place it was Jens Voigt (Trek)

The leading four riders will begin the ascent up Willunga Hill soon but first need to complete the last of the circuit to McLaren Vale

The leading four riders will begin the ascent up Willunga Hill soon but first need to complete the last of the circuit to McLaren Vale

42km remaining from 151km

With 42km to race, the 42-year-old Jens Voigt is still going strong on his number 42 bike

While some riders go left or right around the roundabout, several riders just went straight over it

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The break is still up ahead and pulling away a little by getting back out over 3:00 minutes with Gerrans and Evans letting their teammates protect them in the bunch as

The peloton has now decided to lift its pace and the breakaway is now just 2:58 minutes ahead

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Astana and Giant-Shimano are helping Sky with the chase now as the head towards the turn onto Main Rd and begin the climb up Willunga Hill

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The gap the break has is 2:45 minutes now

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To recap what's happened so far. A break of four which includes Jens Voigt (Trek), Mikhail Ignatyev (Katusha), Juan Jose Lobato (Movistar) and Matteo Trentin (Omega Pharma-Quick Step) gained a maximum advantage of eight minutes as the peloton let them ride off and away. The break gobbled up the bonus seconds negating Simon Gerrans chances of collecting time prior to the climb. As the race now makes it way onto the first ascent of Willunga they have a lead of around two and a half minutes

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It won't be too long know until the large crowd on the hill will see the peloton pass by and crest the summit before heading down Range Rd, Pennys Hill Rd, McMurtie Rd and onto Main Rd  for the fifth and last time today

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It may have been expected that Evans (BMC) was going to attack on the Corkscrew but no one could go with him. Will any one by able to hold his wheel if he attacks early?

The peloton will be thinned significantly once they hit the slopes of the climb but watch as Adam Hansen is likely to want to defend his KOM jersey

27km remaining from 151km

The break have a lead of 2:38 minutes which is coming down by the metre now as they are in sight of the peloton

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The break's lead is now only 1:30 minutes which the peloton keen to make this catch as soon as possible

Matteo Trentin (Omega Pharma-Quick Step) leads the break onto the climb

Lobato (Movistar) has been dropped by the break, unable to hold the speed 

25km remaining from 151km

Mikhail Ignatyev (Katusha) is trying to get away and Jens Voigt (Trek) is chasing him down

25km remaining from 151km

The leading three have just 1:00 minute over the peloton as they make their way up the climb

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Lachlan Morton and Nathan Haas (Garmin-Sharp) are setting the tempo up the climb

Lobato (Movistar) has now been caught by the peloton

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Wes Sulzberger (Drapac) and a Movistar rider have launched a counter attack from the bunch once Lobato was sucked up 

Its Ruben Plaza (Movistar) who got away with Sulzberger and they are trying to catch the three leaders

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There is no reaction from the peloton as Garmin are still on the front controlling the tempo of the bunch as the leaders have only 44 seconds advantage

22km remaining from 151km

The leaders have around 20 seconds on the two chasers, Plaza and Sulzberger, while the peloton is 20 seconds off the two riders in the middle

The crowds are two to three deep on the side of the road and are cheering the three riders on

Its Jens Voigt who leads the break over the top of the climb to claim the points

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Sulzberger and Plaza were caught and it was Azel Domont (Ag2r) and Adam Hansen (Lotto) who sprint for the other points on offer and the Frenchman won ahead of Hansen

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GreenEdge are driving the bunch down the back of Willunga and Tinkoff-Saxo are just behind them

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On the descent the three leaders have 30 seconds over the chasing peloton which was thinned in the climb up Willunga

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Having saved their energy up that climb, the overall contenders will leave nothing on the road up the climb

KOM points: Jens Voigt (Trek), Mikhail Ignatyev (Katusha), Matteo Trentin OMega Pharma-Quick Step), Axel Domont (Ag2r), Adam Hansen (Lotto) and Nathan Haas (Garmin-Sharp)

17km remaining from 151km

Mikhail Ignatyev (Katusha) has sat up and now it Jens Voigt (Trek) and Matteo Trentin (Omega Pharma-Quick Step) alone out in front

15km remaining from 151km

Evans is well placed and has his teammates protecting him from the win

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Michael Matthews and Luke Durbridge (Orica-GreenEdge) are driving the peloton hoping to set it up for Gerrans on the climb up Willunga

There would be some nervous and anxious riders on the fast desecnt with speeds of around 100km/h

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On that descent the two leaders were caught and Jurgen Roelandts has snuck ahead of the peloton and is enjoying some TV time

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Its all GreenEdge on the front of the peloton as Voigt and Trentin are in sight

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On that descent Jurgen Roelandts has snuck ahead of the peloton and is enjoying some TV time

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 Voigt has attacked the peloton on the flat and recevies a large cheer from the crowds

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Voigt has just wrapped up the most agressive award for the day with his effort and his built a small 10 second gap over the peloton

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Cadel Evans (BMC) has only two teamamtes with him which will be a disadvantage against the strong GreenEdge outfit

There is just 5km left to race and Voigt has hit the wall as the pace continues to increase with everyone wanting to get onto the climb in first place

Adam Hansen has Andre Greipel and Jurgen Roelandts helping him out here to claim as many KOM points as possible

3km remaining from 151km

The riders are about to get onto the slopes and Voigt is still maintaining his lead

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Voigt is caught and is dropping back now as BMC take control of the race

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All the big names are at the front of the climb

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Its BMC one-two-three at the bottom of the hill and Gerrans is having trouble holding on

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Richie Porte is well place behind Evans and looking strong as he will wait until the steep slopes

Wes Sulzberger (Drapap) has tried to get away

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Porte has attacked and getting a few lengths

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Behind Porte is Evans, Ulissi, Hansen and Gerrans

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Porte has around 100m on Evans and is riding away for the win and bonus seconds

Porte has time to look back and can just see Evans who is closing the attack down

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its under 1km to go and Porte is riding to a podium place

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Ulissi and Gerrans have caught Evans

Evans, Ulissi and Gerrans are chasing down Porte who is riding away for the win and possibly the overall lead as well

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Porte is about to claim the win alone

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Porte wins alone

It was Ulissi in second and Gerrans in third place to claim the bonus seconds

Porte has won the stage and Evans has lost 6 seconds to Gerrans

Gerrans put the hammer down in the final 100m to crack Evans who wasn't able to hold onto his wheel and losses valuable time

Results Stage result 5#Rider Name (Country) TeamResult 1Richie Porte (Aus) Team Sky3:42:20  2Diego Ulissi (Ita) Lampre-Merida0:00:10  3Simon Gerrans (Aus) Orica Greenedge   4Robert Gesink (Ned) Belkin-Pro Cycling Team0:00:14  5Daryl Impey (RSA) Orica Greenedge   6Cadel Evans (Aus) BMC Racing Team   7Nathan Haas (Aus) Garmin Sharp0:00:16  8Egor Silin (Rus) Team Katusha   9Adam Hansen (Aus) Lotto Belisol   10Geraint Thomas (GBr) Team Sky0:00:20 

With his attack Richie Porte has shaken up the overall as Cadel Evans loses his lead by 1 second and Simon Gerrans moves back into the race lead with the help of bonus seconds

Thanks for joining us for live coverage on an exciting day which saw Evans lose his overall lead to Gerrans while Porte rode away for an impressive solo win. Check back to our Tour Down Under page for a full race wrap and post-race coverage