"We've used this stage before, and it's the first guaranteed day for the GC riders to hit the front," Matt White, head sports director at Mitchelton-Scott, explains. "We've had that approach, the final climb and then the descent a number of times, and it's incredibly important in terms of the overall battle. The Corkscrew climb is longer and harder than Willunga Hill, and you can have a situation in which one rider goes clear, takes five seconds at the top of the climb and is able to survive until the finish if they know the descent well enough or are willing to take risks.
"You could also see a larger group of around 10 contesting a reduced sprint, but the pure sprinters won't survive the climb. It might even be too hard for Peter Sagan. By the finish we'll see who is really in contention to win the overall. If you lose time on this stage, then your race is over because Corkscrew has the potential to be more selective than Willunga."
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Mathieu van der Poel: I was not good enough
World champion's winning streak comes to an end at Hotondcross -
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Toon Aerts ends Mathieu van der Poel's winning streak at Hotondcross
Eli Iserbyt second, Mathieu Van Der Poel third -
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Australia secures gold in women's Madison at Track World Cup Brisbane
Day 2: Hong Kong's Lee wins women's Sprint, Gate takes men's Omnium for New Zealand -
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Ceylin del Carmen Alvarado wins elite women's Hotondcross
777 teammates Worst second and Kastelijn third
