Hello and welcome to Cyclingnews' live coverage of the Tour Down Under's final stage for 2016. Today's 91km Adelaide city circuit is one for the sprinters with Simon Gerrans defending a nine-second lead over Richie Porte, all but assured of winning a fourth title.
Tour Down Under: Porte wins on Willunga Hill
Tour Down Under 2016
Bridie O'Donnell sets new women's UCI Hour Record
Geraint Thomas' 2016 Team Sky Pinarello Dogma F8
Vote for your favourite WorldTour jersey of 2016
Hello and welcome to live coverage for the final stage of the 2016 Tour Down Under. Racing starts in just over one hour's time
Over in Argentina, Maxi Lopez of Astana held off the Quintana brothers to win stage 7 of the race. To read the race report, click here
There was some bad news this morning with Giant-Alpecin riders hit head on while out for a training ride in Spain. Six-riders were injured in the crash, leaving the entire team in shock. To read team manager Iwan Spekenbrink's comments on the incident, click here
With one stage to go at the Tour de San Luis, it's a Quintana leading the race but probably not the one you are thinking about. Dayer, not Nairo, lead the race with just one stage to come. To read about the younger of the Colombian brothers, click here
We had a look at the Pinarello Dogma F8 of Geraint Thomas earlier this week. To have a closer look at the bike and how Thomas likes his set up, click here
Our man in the blimp, Brett Dutscke, has the weather forecast for today. Here's what to expect for stage 6
Louis Meintjes (Lampre-Merida) has penned his second blog for Cyclingnews from the Tour Down Under. To read what he made of yesterday's Willunga Hill stage, click here
If you haven't yet caught up on yesterday's stage, click here for the report
And to see the video highlights of the stage, click here to watch
BMC's Marcus Burghardt is out of action for six weeks after elbow fracture at the Tour Down Under. To find out more about his recovery, click here
Just a little over 20 minutes until racing gets underway
Down to just a tad over five minutes until we start racing now
Caleb Ewan is the man to beat today but he will face challenges from the likes of Wouter Wippert, who won this stage last year, Steele von Hoff, Giacomo Nizzolo and Marko Kump
As it stands, Simon Gerrans leads the overall classification and points classification. Jay McCarthy leads the young rider classification and Sergio Henao leads the KOM classification
Stage 6 is underway!
Here's what Orica-GreenEdge sports director Matt White has to say about today's stage
"It can either be a pretty straight forward sprint stage or it can be an extremely nail biting day. With two intermediate sprints worth valuable seconds it could be the difference between winning or losing the tour. Our plan for the day will be determined by our general classification goals. We could still be chasing vital seconds on that stage but if GC is sorted, it's a pure sprinters stage and the sprinter's teams will control it for a bunch sprint."
There are a few early attacks on the first lap as the breakaway tries to get established for the day
Drapac, Astana, Lotto Jumbo, and Etixx-Quick Step are represented in this early move
Laurens De Vreese (Astana), Lieuwe Westra (Astana), Carlos Verona (Etixx-Quick Step), George Bennett (Lotto Jumbo) and Adam Phelan (Drapac) are the breakaway riders.
On Lap 2 of 20, it's Orica-GreenEdge controlling the tempo in the peloton
The average speed of the first lap was 44km/h for the peloton
Simon Gerrans' first Tour Down Under victory came in 2006, winning the title seven seconds ahead of Luis Leon Sanchez. In 2012, Gerrans won the race on placings ahead of Alejandro Valverde with 2014 another tight affair, winning the race one second ahead of Cadel Evans. As it stands now, Gerrans' winning margin in 2016 will be his biggest yet as he leads Richie Porte by nine seconds
The breakaway has 18 seconds on the peloton now the riders are on to lap 3 of the 20
Orica-GreenEdge are riding for Calen Ewan today with the 21-year-old sitting in last wheel, just tucked in behind race leader Simon Gerrans
Coming through the start/finish arch, the peloton very much has the breakaway in its sights.
The peloton is strung out in one long line with the breakaway's advantage down to 11 seconds
The Australians are five from five at the Tour Down Under so fat this year, will the locals make it a perfect six?
The first intermediate sprint point comes on lap 8, 36km, today
Tinkoff, BMC and Astana are behind Orica-GreenEdge in the chasing peloton
There are two KOM's on the course today, both featuring on Montefiore Hill at 43.6km then 66.3km
Lap 5 and the break has been caught
Thomas De Gent (Lotto Soudal) and Maarten Tjallingii (Lotto Jumbo) have counter atacked
Sam Spokes is trying to join the two-leaders
Thomas De Gent (Lotto Soudal) and Maarten Tjallingii (Lotto Jumbo) sit 20 seconds ahead on the road now
Thomas De Gendt and Maarten Tjallingii have 20 seconds on the peloton
Lap 6 and De Gendt and Tjallingii have been brought back by the peloton
Last year's winner on this stage Wouter Wippert had a few words on the start line this afternoon
"I won here last year and I have good memories. It would be great to win today to finish what's been a great week. My team is doing a great job setting me up for the sprints. I hope I will have the legs."
Lap 8 sees the first intermediate sprint point with three bonus seconds on the line for first, two seconds for second, and one second for third
Nathan Earle is the Drapac rider trying to make the catch of the two leaders at the moment
Lithe climber Lucas Hamilton (UniSA-Australia) has had a dig to try and bridge across the gap to the leaders
The Tinkoff team and Cannondale are moving their riders forward in anticipation of the sprint point in one lap's time. Michael Woods and Jay McCarthy are on the same time at the moment
It's just De Gendt and Tjallingii out in front with Earle and Hamilton back in the bunch around 25 seconds behind
Trek Segafredo also have a rider sitting in second wheel as the peloton look to set it up for the sprint point
The two leaders have 34 seconds on the bunch who are setting up for the sprint point and one bonus second on the line
Daryl Impey plays the spoiling role to nip and take third place at the sprint point ahead of McCarthy
Maarten Tjallingi took the maximum sprint points without contest
Following the fast sprint, the breakaway is now at 23 seconds on lap 9
FDJ are looking to ensure Steve Morabito retains his ninth place overall today, Anthony Roux explained the team's approach for the stage today.
"It's a short race but we actually have a lot of work to do to protect Steve Morabito's ninth place, which means scoring World Tour points for FDJ. Patrick Bevin is only three seconds behind him. We know he's fast in addition to being a climber and a time trialist. The finale is also a question of avoiding splits in the bunch since a lot of riders let it go after preparing the sprint for their leader."
We are getting close to the half-way mark of the race today
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So onto Lap 10 now and the two leaders are at 20 seconds
The first KOM of the stage features on this lap
Floris Gerts has had a crash at the back of the peloton
Thomas De Gendt claims the first KOM points on offer today
Going over the KOM, the two-leaders now have 28 seconds over the peloton
The second sprint point for today comes on lap 12 and McCarthy is likely to challenge for the points and bonus seconds once again
Trek-Segafredo and UniSA-Australia have placed riders on the front of the peloton at the moment
Next time through the finish/start line will be for the second intermediate sprint point of the stage
IAM Cycling are moving forward to help keep the speed high with Leigh Howard their man for the sprint
It's a fast opening hour today with 46.6kmh the average speed
Johan Le Bon from FDJ rider has launched an attack to try and make the bridge to the leaders
Thomas De Gendt rolled over the intermediate sprint point in first place, ahead of Tjallingii and Le Bon
Two Colombian climbers are driving the peloton now with Julián Arredondo (Trek-Segafredo) and Jarlinson Pantano (IAM Cycling)
Trek-Segafredo are working for Giacomo Nizzolo today. The Italian sprinter is looking to claim the sprint win as he explained;
"I came here for winning a stage so today is my last chance. I'm 100% focused on that last stage. We'll go full gas."
The breakaway's advantage has dropped and is hovering around 20 seconds now on lap 14
Cannondale will look to claim the stage today with Wouter Wippert and the man behind the team's successful week of racing is new signing Simon Clarke. Click here to read Clarke's take on the race and his debut in argyle
Orica-GreenEdge have hardly been seen in the last few laps, letting the likes of IAM Cycling and Trek-Segafredo control the pace on lap 14
The leaders have just 15 seconds on the peloton in the early stages of lap 15
Maarten Tjallingii takes out the sixth and final most combative award of this year's race
Maarten Tjallingii also picked up the second KOM with the peloton rolling through 30 seconds later
Astana are attacking with De Vresse and Westra
Laurens De Vreese and Westra attack the peloton for Astana
Tjallingii has dropped De Gendt and has gone solo
It's De Vreese and Westra in pursuit of Tjallingii
Lieuwe Westra and Tjallingii are now the two leaders on the road
The two leaders have 14 seconds on the Drapac controlled peloton on lap 17
Dimension Data are moving forward now
On lap 18 Tinkoff are joining Dimension Data to control the peloton
The gap is 12 seconds to the leaders now
The breakaway has now been caught on lap 19 and the peloton is ready for the sprint finish
Sergio Henao is doing some work for team Sky now who are riding for Ben Swift
The average speed of the first 18 laps was 46.5kmh
Second last time over Montefiore Hill
Although the sprinters are lining it up, a late attack is always possible so watch for moves into the final 5km
Final lap!
Tinkoff leading at the start of lap 20
The average speed is 49km/h
Team Sky are riding hard!
Dimension Data are also at the front riding hard and fast
Orica GreenEdge are sitting up there in the front but its not a train like Sky and Dimension Data
Luke Durbridge winding up for the climb and now its a fast run in to the line. Can Ewan finish the job?
Team Sky are leading the race at the moment with orica GreenEdge in behind
Here comes Trek Segefredo
Caleb Ewan goes long and fast to simply blast away the other rivals and claim his second stage win of the race
Caleb Ewan wins Orica-GreenEdge's fourth stage of the week sprinting to the win ahead of Mark Renshaw
There was no change to the to the top ten on GC as Gerrans crossed the line to ensure he is the 2016 winner of the Tour Down Under. His fourth win at the Australian race
Stay tuned as we'll bring you a full race report, results, photos, video highlights and news from today's final stage of the Tour Down Under
Thanks for joining us this week for live coverage of all six stages of this year's Tour Down Under!
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