January 23, Stage 5: McLaren Vale - Willunga Hill 151.5km

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Tour Down Under: Stage 5 preview

Orica-GreenEdge sports director Matt White says...

"Again it's a stage that will determine the winner of the race and a simple thing like losing the wheel in the last 500 meters of whatever group you're in can and has changed the final classification. I think no matter who comes out , the race tactics will be quite simple. There will be an early breakaway then it will be pulled in sometime on the final circuit.


"Teams will want to make the climb as hard as possible so they can shell the likes of Gerrans who aren't pure climbers. Whether that's Sky, BMC or someone else with a pure climber who is looking for a stage win, the pace at the bottom of the climb will be incredibly fast. It's a climb that isn't that long and you can get a wide variety of guys challenging for victory on Willunga, not just our pure climbers. There are always few hidden gems in the early season bunch, people who aren't ready to go day-in-day-out for GC but when they get to the end of the week with just one climb, they could target a stage win. Someone like a Domenico Pozzovivo could challenge while teams like Movistar always have somebody who is always flying in January. Let's also not forget Ritchie Porte has made the climb his own the last two years."

Prediction - Sergio Henao (Team Sky)

 

 

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