January 24, Stage 5: McLaren Vale - Wilunga Hill 151km
January 24, 2015: McLaren Vale - Wilunga Hill 151km
Matt White says: "This is traditionally the queen stage of the Tour Down Under, even more so since they changed it to an uphill finish. It's a dangerous stage for all the climbers as a split in the final kilometre can be the difference in winning the race or not. It's the biggest day for crowds and it's a very, very important day at the office for everybody.
The way the stage is set out, it can be windy and splits occur early in the stage, but it all boils down to the two laps up Willunga. The first lap is the first natural selection where you get rid of all the non-climbers but you still get a pretty big group going into the bottom for the last time. I guess BMC are going to have a few cards to play with two guys who will climb very fast up Willunga and that's when they need to put pressure on the non-climbers. As we saw in 2014 when Cadel lost contact in that last 300 metres, it ain't over till it's over as that split really made life hard for him to win the tour."
Winner - Richie Porte (Team Sky)
Stage details
Get The Leadout Newsletter
The latest race content, interviews, features, reviews and expert buying guides, direct to your inbox!
Latest on Cyclingnews
-
Justin Peck and Jen Tavé win muddy Ukiah Mendo Gravel Epic in fourth round of Grasshopper Adventure Series
Tavé rode solo for most of the 76-mile contest to step up from second place finish last year -
'It's a bit of an obsession to reach 100 wins' - Alexander Kristoff to pass the baton to younger brother Felix Ørn-Kristoff and retire at close of 2025 season
Norwegian's 19-year-old sibling a stage winner in Tour de Bretagne this week -
Tour de Romandie: Sam Watson wins prologue
Briton tops Ivo Oliveira and Ivan Romeo for first WorldTour victory -
The rocky pathway into pro cycling - Troy Fields overcomes concussion, broken bones to restart career with 'unfinished business' at US Nationals
21-year-old is ready to rejoin the peloton after a Challenge Mallorca crash and time off from being struck by driver of a car while training