Tour Down Under: Ewan wins stage 1
Orica-GreenEdge sprinter pulls on first leader's jersey
Caleb Ewan (Orica-GreenEdge) delivered on his favourite status in front of home crowds to win the first WorldTour stage of the season ahead of Mark Renshaw (Dimension Data) and Wouter Wippert (Cannondale). Ewan will now wear the ochre jersey for stage 2, his first stint in the leader’s jersey at WorldTour level.
With victory in Sunday’s Down Under Classic criterium, Ewan’s odds as the sprinter to beat at the Tour Down Under shortened but when the 21-year-old hit out with around 200 metres to go, there were several bike lengths back to Renshaw when he crossed the line.
"I felt really good all day and the team obviously backed me all day because they rode from the start and I’m just super happy that I could finish it off for them," Ewan said in a post-race television interview. "In the road race you have to be super conservative during the day… because the sprinters are so fast these days it’s usually down to the freshest legs and the strongest team in the end.
"I need to thank Gerro for sharing the team with me. If he says to the team that he wants them to do the drive for him, they would have to do that. So for a guy like that who can really win the overall, to say ‘yeah you can have your go on the day there’s so many sprints’ it means a lot. It’s a really proud moment for me, I’ve never led a WorldTour race before and to lead my first one in my home country is a real honour for me."
Orica-GreenEdge missed out on winning a stage at the 2015 edition of the race and as Australia's sole WorldTour team are expected to perform in Adelaide each January. Ewan's stage win is an early pressure release before the team looks to two important stages for Simon Gerrans and his quest for a fourth win.
The early stages
It was grupo compacto for the first two kilometres of the stage before a trio of Sean Lake (UniSA-Australia), Alexis Gougeard (AG2R-La Mondiale) and Martijn Keizer (LottoNL-Jumbo) jumped away from the peloton to quickly build an advantage of two minutes. The Tea Three Gully Hill offered up the only KOM points of the day and it was Lake winning the sprint ahead of Keizer to secure the jersey on his first day of WorldTour racing.
Back in the peloton, Orica-GreenEdge was controlling the pace with Lampre-Merida offering some early assistance. With the riders approaching the Barossa circuit that passed through the towns of Williamstown, Lyndoch and Cockatoo Valley, the three leaders saw their advantage yo-yo from 1:30 to just over two minutes with temperatures still on the hot side of 35 degrees Celsius.
On the first pass through Lyndoch, winds had whipped up the dry lands to see plenty of dust particles floating through the air. Lake led the trio through the finishing arch with their lead hovering around two minutes. At the first intermediate sprint point, Gougeard lead out and held off Keizer for the maximum points.
At the 65km kilometre mark to go, the trio saw their lead drop to less than one minute due to Orica-GreenEdge’s work in the peloton but then went out to 1:20 within a handful of kilometres. AG2R and Tinkoff were sitting in next behind the local WorldTour team with Lampre-Merida continuing to stay near the front.
A second sprint win for Gougeard secured him six bonus seconds as the efforts of the day got to Keizer, who bid farewell to his breakaway companions with 42km to race. As Gougeard and Lake forged on, it was Hepburn continuing on the front of the peloton as AG2R riders sat in behind.
With 22km to go, Lake upped the pace to drop Gougeard, who did enough to earn the combativity award, and go solo as the sprinters teams were getting into position ready for the bunch gallop. Lake continued to turn the pedals over to hold a 55 second lead at 16km to race with Hepburn and Tsgabu Grmay (Lampre-Merida) controlling the tempo.
With 11km to race, Hayman punctured and chased back on as Lake continued to hold onto his lead of 35 seconds. The 24-year-old was eventually captured with 5.8km to go as Team Sky stormed to the front for Ben Swift. Orica-GreenEdge kept cool as Jack Bobridge came to the front for a spell, joined by IAM Cycling and Movistar, but as the peloton entered the final straight, the aero tuck sprint position of Ewan saw him power past his rivals up through the middle of the road for win number six in season 2016.
With a 15 second time bonus on the line for the winner, Ewan's win catapulted him into the ochre jersey while Gougeard's intermediate wins see the Frenchman occupy third place on GC and will wear the best young rider jersey tomorrow with second placed Renshaw to wear the points jersey.
With all the GC favourites arriving on the same time, stage 2 into Stirling will see the first significant time gaps open up on the general classification.
Full Results
# | Rider Name (Country) Team | Result |
---|---|---|
1 | Caleb Ewan (Aus) Orica–GreenEdge | 3:24:13 |
2 | Mark Renshaw (Aus) Team Dimension Data | Row 1 - Cell 2 |
3 | Wouter Wippert (Ned) Cannondale | Row 2 - Cell 2 |
4 | Marko Kump (Slo) Lampre–Merida | Row 3 - Cell 2 |
5 | Adam Blythe (GBr) Tinkoff | Row 4 - Cell 2 |
6 | Giacomo Nizzolo (Ita) Trek–Segafredo | Row 5 - Cell 2 |
7 | Ben Swift (GBr) Team Sky | Row 6 - Cell 2 |
8 | Steele von Hoff (Aus) UniSA-Australia | Row 7 - Cell 2 |
9 | José Joaquin Rojas (Esp) Team Movistar | Row 8 - Cell 2 |
10 | Greg Henderson (NZl) Lotto Soudal | Row 9 - Cell 2 |
11 | Brenton Jones (Aus) Drapac Pro Cycling | Row 10 - Cell 2 |
12 | Enrico Battaglin (Ita) LottoNL–Jumbo | Row 11 - Cell 2 |
13 | Patrick Bevin (NZl) Cannondale | Row 12 - Cell 2 |
14 | Aleksejs Saramotins (Lat) IAM Cycling | Row 13 - Cell 2 |
15 | Arman Kamyshev (Kaz) Astana | Row 14 - Cell 2 |
16 | Davide Martinelli (Ita) Etixx–Quick-Step | Row 15 - Cell 2 |
17 | Roger Kluge (Ger) IAM Cycling | Row 16 - Cell 2 |
18 | Koen De Kort (Ned) Giant–Alpecin | Row 17 - Cell 2 |
19 | Alexey Tsatevitch (Rus) Team Katusha | Row 18 - Cell 2 |
20 | Anthony Giacoppo (Aus) UniSA-Australia | Row 19 - Cell 2 |
21 | Yoann Offredo (Fra) FDJ | Row 20 - Cell 2 |
22 | Gediminas Bagdonas (Ltu) AG2R La Mondiale | Row 21 - Cell 2 |
23 | Juan José Lobato Del Valle (Esp) Team Movistar | Row 22 - Cell 2 |
24 | Anthony Roux (Fra) FDJ | Row 23 - Cell 2 |
25 | Michael Albasini (Sui) Orica–GreenEdge | Row 24 - Cell 2 |
26 | Simon Gerrans (Aus) Orica–GreenEdge | Row 25 - Cell 2 |
27 | Tobias Ludvigsson (Swe) Giant–Alpecin | Row 26 - Cell 2 |
28 | Reinardt Janse Van Rensburg (Rsa) | Row 27 - Cell 2 |
29 | Dmitriy Gruzdev (Kaz) Astana | Row 28 - Cell 2 |
30 | Patrick Shaw (Aus) UniSA-Australia | Row 29 - Cell 2 |
31 | Federico Zurlo (Ita) Lampre–Merida | Row 30 - Cell 2 |
32 | Alberto Bettiol (Ita) Cannondale | Row 31 - Cell 2 |
33 | Luka Pibernik (Slo) Lampre–Merida | Row 32 - Cell 2 |
34 | Adam Phelan (Aus) Drapac Pro Cycling | Row 33 - Cell 2 |
35 | Lieuwe Westra (Ned) Astana | Row 34 - Cell 2 |
36 | Nathan Haas (Aus) Team Dimension Data | Row 35 - Cell 2 |
37 | Julian Arredondo (Col) Trek–Segafredo | Row 36 - Cell 2 |
38 | Kiel Reijnen (USA) Trek–Segafredo | Row 37 - Cell 2 |
39 | Rafael Valls Ferri (Esp) Lotto Soudal | Row 38 - Cell 2 |
40 | Laurens De Vreese (Bel) Astana | Row 39 - Cell 2 |
41 | Simon Clarke (Aus) Cannondale | Row 40 - Cell 2 |
42 | Cameron Meyer (Aus) Team Dimension Data | Row 41 - Cell 2 |
43 | Luke Rowe (GBr) Team Sky | Row 42 - Cell 2 |
44 | Jarlinson Pantano (Col) IAM Cycling | Row 43 - Cell 2 |
45 | Luis Leon Sanchez Gil (Esp) Astana | Row 44 - Cell 2 |
46 | Davide Malacarne (Ita) Astana | Row 45 - Cell 2 |
47 | Egor Silin (Rus) Team Katusha | Row 46 - Cell 2 |
48 | Martin Velits (Svk) Etixx–Quick-Step | Row 47 - Cell 2 |
49 | Jascha Sütterlin (Ger) Team Movistar | Row 48 - Cell 2 |
50 | Carlos Verona (Esp) Etixx–Quick-Step | Row 49 - Cell 2 |
51 | Geraint Thomas (GBr) Team Sky | Row 50 - Cell 2 |
52 | Oscar Gatto (Ita) Tinkoff | Row 51 - Cell 2 |
53 | Steve Morabito (Sui) FDJ | Row 52 - Cell 2 |
54 | Jay McCarthy (Aus) Tinkoff | Row 53 - Cell 2 |
55 | Sergio Henao (Col) Team Sky | Row 54 - Cell 2 |
56 | Manuele Boaro (Ita) Tinkoff | Row 55 - Cell 2 |
57 | Ruben Fernandez Andujar (Esp) Team Movistar | Row 56 - Cell 2 |
58 | Floris Gerts (Ned) BMC Racing Team | Row 57 - Cell 2 |
59 | Diego Ulissi (Ita) Lampre–Merida | Row 58 - Cell 2 |
60 | Nelson Oliveira (Por) Team Movistar | Row 59 - Cell 2 |
61 | Pim Ligthart (Ned) Lotto Soudal | Row 60 - Cell 2 |
62 | Matteo Montaguti (Ita) AG2R La Mondiale | Row 61 - Cell 2 |
63 | Murilo Fischer (Bra) FDJ | Row 62 - Cell 2 |
64 | Samuel Spokes (Aus) Drapac Pro Cycling | Row 63 - Cell 2 |
65 | Michael Gogl (Aut) Tinkoff | Row 64 - Cell 2 |
66 | Daryl Impey (Rsa) Orica–GreenEdge | Row 65 - Cell 2 |
67 | Peter Kennaugh (GBr) Team Sky | Row 66 - Cell 2 |
68 | David Tanner (Aus) IAM Cycling | Row 67 - Cell 2 |
69 | Louis Meintjes (Rsa) Lampre–Merida | Row 68 - Cell 2 |
70 | Bram Tankink (Ned) LottoNL–Jumbo | Row 69 - Cell 2 |
71 | Tiago Machado (Por) Team Katusha | Row 70 - Cell 2 |
72 | Michael Valgren Andersen (Den) Tinkoff | Row 71 - Cell 2 |
73 | Lucas Hamilton (Aus) UniSA-Australia | Row 72 - Cell 2 |
74 | Rohan Dennis (Aus) BMC Racing Team | Row 73 - Cell 2 |
75 | Nathan Earle (Aus) Drapac Pro Cycling | Row 74 - Cell 2 |
76 | Lars Ytting Bak (Den) Lotto Soudal | Row 75 - Cell 2 |
77 | David De La Cruz (Esp) Etixx–Quick-Step | Row 76 - Cell 2 |
78 | Marcus Burghardt (Ger) BMC Racing Team | Row 77 - Cell 2 |
79 | Peter Velits (Svk) BMC Racing Team | Row 78 - Cell 2 |
80 | Richie Porte (Aus) BMC Racing Team | Row 79 - Cell 2 |
81 | Adam Hansen (Aus) Lotto Soudal | Row 80 - Cell 2 |
82 | Ruben Zepuntke (Ger) Cannondale | Row 81 - Cell 2 |
83 | George Bennett (NZl) LottoNL–Jumbo | Row 82 - Cell 2 |
84 | Maarten Tjallingii (Ned) LottoNL–Jumbo | Row 83 - Cell 2 |
85 | Rory Sutherland (Aus) Team Movistar | Row 84 - Cell 2 |
86 | Primoz Roglic (Slo) LottoNL–Jumbo | Row 85 - Cell 2 |
87 | Peter Stetina (USA) Trek–Segafredo | Row 86 - Cell 2 |
88 | Jesús Herrada (Esp) Team Movistar | Row 87 - Cell 2 |
89 | Bert-Jan Lindeman (Ned) LottoNL–Jumbo | Row 88 - Cell 2 |
90 | Alexis Gougeard (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale | Row 89 - Cell 2 |
91 | Lars Boom (Ned) Astana | Row 90 - Cell 2 |
92 | Georg Preidler (Aut) Giant–Alpecin | Row 91 - Cell 2 |
93 | Michael Woods (Can) Cannondale | Row 92 - Cell 2 |
94 | Ivan Rovny (Rus) Tinkoff | Row 93 - Cell 2 |
95 | Domenico Pozzovivo (Ita) AG2R La Mondiale | Row 94 - Cell 2 |
96 | Cyril Gautier (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale | Row 95 - Cell 2 |
97 | Leigh Howard (Aus) IAM Cycling | Row 96 - Cell 2 |
98 | Tsgabu Gebremaryam Grmay (Eth) Lampre–Merida | Row 97 - Cell 2 |
99 | Guillaume Van Keirsbulck (Bel) Etixx–Quick-Step | Row 98 - Cell 2 |
100 | Petr Vakoc (Cze) Etixx–Quick-Step | Row 99 - Cell 2 |
101 | Salvatore Puccio (Ita) Team Sky | Row 100 - Cell 2 |
102 | Gavin Mannion (USA) Drapac Pro Cycling | Row 101 - Cell 2 |
103 | Songezo Jim (Rsa) Team Dimension Data | Row 102 - Cell 2 |
104 | Danilo Wyss (Sui) BMC Racing Team | Row 103 - Cell 2 |
105 | Gert Dockx (Bel) Lotto Soudal | Row 104 - Cell 2 |
106 | Maxim Belkov (Rus) Team Katusha | Row 105 - Cell 2 |
107 | Patrick Lane (Aus) UniSA-Australia | Row 106 - Cell 2 |
108 | Sean Lake (Aus) UniSA-Australia | Row 107 - Cell 2 |
109 | Moreno Moser (Ita) Cannondale | Row 108 - Cell 2 |
110 | Carter Jones (USA) Giant–Alpecin | Row 109 - Cell 2 |
111 | Chris Hamilton (Aus) UniSA-Australia | Row 110 - Cell 2 |
112 | Lachlan Norris (Aus) Drapac Pro Cycling | Row 111 - Cell 2 |
113 | Vladimir Isaychev (Rus) Team Katusha | Row 112 - Cell 2 |
114 | Rein Taaramäe (Est) Team Katusha | Row 113 - Cell 2 |
115 | Johan Le Bon (Fra) FDJ | Row 114 - Cell 2 |
116 | Ryder Hesjedal (Can) Trek–Segafredo | Row 115 - Cell 2 |
117 | Laurent Pichon (Fra) FDJ | Row 116 - Cell 2 |
118 | Christophe Riblon (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale | Row 117 - Cell 2 |
119 | Jack Bobridge (Aus) Trek–Segafredo | Row 118 - Cell 2 |
120 | Pieter Serry (Bel) Etixx–Quick-Step | Row 119 - Cell 2 |
121 | Jesse Sergent (NZl) AG2R La Mondiale | Row 120 - Cell 2 |
122 | Manuele Mori (Ita) Lampre–Merida | Row 121 - Cell 2 |
123 | Thomas De Gendt (Bel) Lotto Soudal | Row 122 - Cell 2 |
124 | Jaco Venter (Rsa) Team Dimension Data | Row 123 - Cell 2 |
125 | Benoit Vaugrenard (Fra) FDJ | Row 124 - Cell 2 |
126 | Sergey Lagutin (Rus) Team Katusha | Row 125 - Cell 2 |
127 | Graeme Brown (Aus) Drapac Pro Cycling | Row 126 - Cell 2 |
128 | Boy Van Poppel (Ned) Trek–Segafredo | 0:00:19 |
129 | Bert De Backer (Bel) Giant–Alpecin | 0:00:22 |
130 | Luke Durbridge (Aus) Orica–GreenEdge | 0:00:40 |
131 | Alessandro De Marchi (Ita) BMC Racing Team | Row 130 - Cell 2 |
132 | Simon Geschke (Ger) Giant–Alpecin | 0:00:48 |
133 | Tyler Farrar (USA) Team Dimension Data | 0:01:01 |
134 | Mathew Hayman (Aus) Orica–GreenEdge | 0:01:05 |
135 | Ian Stannard (GBr) Team Sky | Row 134 - Cell 2 |
136 | Cheng Ji (Chn) Giant–Alpecin | 0:02:46 |
137 | Marcel Aregger (Sui) IAM Cycling | 0:05:29 |
138 | Matteo Pelucchi (Ita) IAM Cycling | Row 137 - Cell 2 |
139 | Martijn Keizer (Ned) LottoNL–Jumbo | 0:05:32 |
140 | Michael Hepburn (Aus) Orica–GreenEdge | 0:07:56 |
# | Rider Name (Country) Team | Result | Header Cell - Column 3 |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Alexis Gougeard (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale | 5 | pts |
2 | Martijn Keizer (Ned) LottoNL–Jumbo | 3 | Row 1 - Cell 3 |
3 | Sean Lake (Aus) UniSA-Australia | 2 | Row 2 - Cell 3 |
# | Rider Name (Country) Team | Result | Header Cell - Column 3 |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Alexis Gougeard (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale | 5 | pts |
2 | Sean Lake (Aus) UniSA-Australia | 3 | Row 1 - Cell 3 |
3 | Martijn Keizer (Ned) LottoNL–Jumbo | 2 | Row 2 - Cell 3 |
# | Rider Name (Country) Team | Result | Header Cell - Column 3 |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Caleb Ewan (Aus) Orica–GreenEdge | 15 | pts |
2 | Mark Renshaw (Aus) Team Dimension Data | 14 | Row 1 - Cell 3 |
3 | Wouter Wippert (Ned) Cannondale | 13 | Row 2 - Cell 3 |
4 | Marko Kump (Slo) Lampre–Merida | 12 | Row 3 - Cell 3 |
5 | Adam Blythe (GBr) Tinkoff | 11 | Row 4 - Cell 3 |
6 | Giacomo Nizzolo (Ita) Trek–Segafredo | 10 | Row 5 - Cell 3 |
7 | Ben Swift (GBr) Team Sky | 9 | Row 6 - Cell 3 |
8 | Steele von Hoff (Aus) UniSA-Australia | 8 | Row 7 - Cell 3 |
9 | José Joaquin Rojas (Esp) Team Movistar | 7 | Row 8 - Cell 3 |
10 | Greg Henderson (NZl) Lotto Soudal | 6 | Row 9 - Cell 3 |
# | Rider Name (Country) Team | Result | Header Cell - Column 3 |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Sean Lake (Aus) UniSA-Australia | 10 | pts |
2 | Martijn Keizer (Ned) LottoNL–Jumbo | 6 | Row 1 - Cell 3 |
3 | Alexis Gougeard (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale | 4 | Row 2 - Cell 3 |
4 | Michael Hepburn (Aus) Orica–GreenEdge | 2 | Row 3 - Cell 3 |
# | Rider Name (Country) Team | Result |
---|---|---|
1 | Caleb Ewan (Aus) Orica–GreenEdge | 3:24:13 |
2 | Brenton Jones (Aus) Drapac Pro Cycling | Row 1 - Cell 2 |
3 | Patrick Bevin (NZl) Cannondale | Row 2 - Cell 2 |
4 | Arman Kamyshev (Kaz) Astana | Row 3 - Cell 2 |
5 | Davide Martinelli (Ita) Etixx–Quick-Step | Row 4 - Cell 2 |
6 | Tobias Ludvigsson (Swe) Giant–Alpecin | Row 5 - Cell 2 |
7 | Federico Zurlo (Ita) Lampre–Merida | Row 6 - Cell 2 |
8 | Alberto Bettiol (Ita) Cannondale | Row 7 - Cell 2 |
9 | Luka Pibernik (Slo) Lampre–Merida | Row 8 - Cell 2 |
10 | Adam Phelan (Aus) Drapac Pro Cycling | Row 9 - Cell 2 |
11 | Jascha Sütterlin (Ger) Team Movistar | Row 10 - Cell 2 |
12 | Carlos Verona (Esp) Etixx–Quick-Step | Row 11 - Cell 2 |
13 | Jay McCarthy (Aus) Tinkoff | Row 12 - Cell 2 |
14 | Ruben Fernandez Andujar (Esp) Team Movistar | Row 13 - Cell 2 |
15 | Floris Gerts (Ned) BMC Racing Team | Row 14 - Cell 2 |
16 | Samuel Spokes (Aus) Drapac Pro Cycling | Row 15 - Cell 2 |
17 | Michael Gogl (Aut) Tinkoff | Row 16 - Cell 2 |
18 | Louis Meintjes (Rsa) Lampre–Merida | Row 17 - Cell 2 |
19 | Michael Valgren Andersen (Den) Tinkoff | Row 18 - Cell 2 |
20 | Lucas Hamilton (Aus) UniSA-Australia | Row 19 - Cell 2 |
21 | Ruben Zepuntke (Ger) Cannondale | Row 20 - Cell 2 |
22 | Tsgabu Gebremaryam Grmay (Eth) Lampre–Merida |