This is the 'queen stage', but the key is the fact that the organisers have made this the final day of racing, rather than the penultimate stage, like it was in the past," says Mitchelton-Scott head sports director Matt White. "In previous years, if you were within 10 seconds of the race lead after Willunga Hill, and going into the final day of racing, you still had a chance of winning the overall on the last day. That dynamic has been taken away, and that puts more importance on Willunga and the result there.
"There are no second chances this year. On Willunga, everyone knows where Richie Porte attacks. It's around the one-kilometre-to-go banner. However, nobody has been able to match his incredible accelerations. The time gaps in those last couple of minutes are always a mystery to a certain extent with cars being barraged and race radio delays, and key riders know they can hold nothing back all the way to the line."
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'Bounced off barbed wire' - Lauren De Crescenzo escapes serious injury but goes runner-up to Emily Newsom at Homegrown Gravel in Georgia
'I could tell she wasn't feeling great. It was pretty epic' eventual winner said about the defending champion's unexpected sideways move and dramatic 30-mile chase -
Great Britain captures calendar spot for 2026-27 UCI Cyclo-cross World Cup with Glasgow confirmed as host
Full schedule for 12-race series now completed, with first two rounds in Czechia before 'cross competition in Scotland -
'Florian Vermeersch was too generous to Mathieu van der Poel' – Sean Kelly questions tactics on display at Opening Weekend
In his recent Cyclingnews column, the Irishman dissects the major tactical talking points as the Classics got underway -
After nine months of teasing, Specialized finally launches new tubeless cotton tyres
Specialized has launched the tyres that the pros were racing on at Opening Weekend
