Impey wins the 2019 Tour Down Under as Porte takes Willunga

Image 1 of 43

Richie Porte (Trek-Segafredo) claimed his sixth straight win on Willunga Hill on stage 6 of the 2019 Tour Down Under as Daryl Impey (Mitchelton-Scott) became the first rider in the race's history to retain his crown.

Porte attacked several times on the final ascent, first to battle back and catch Wout Poels (Team Sky) and then to push clear inside the final 600 meters. Impey, just as he did in 2018, paced his effort perfectly to finish just a few bike lengths behind Porte and Poels. Overnight race leader Patrick Bevin (CCC Team) battled through the stage but was dropped on the first ascent of Willunga Hill, clearly suffering the effects of his stage 5 crash.

In the battle for the overall, Impey finished clear of Porte by 13 seconds, with Poels rounding out the podium four seconds later.

Impey came into the final stage seven seconds down on Bevin, and the favourite to retain his overall crown after the CCC rider crashed the previous day. Impey was paced up the final climb by his teammates and although he was put under pressure from Poels, Porte and Michael Woods, he battled back in the final few hundred meters as the incline eased.

"It's a hard race for someone like me to win, with just one uphill finish but I came here with my new team and the boys were fantastic all week and today," Porte said at the finish.

"Hats off to Daryl Impey but to win on Willunga for a sixth time is a great feeling. It's a great way to start the year with a new team."

Watch video highlights from Willunga Hill

2019 Tour Down Under race tech

• Tour Down Under 2019 WorldTour tech gallery
• Michael Valgren's BMC Teammachine SLR01 Disc — gallery
• New lace up shoes from Rapha seen at Tour Down Under
  
• Unreleased POC helmet at Tour Down Under
  
• New lightweight Specialized climbing shoe spotted at the Tour Down Under
  
• A close look at SRAMs new 12-speed eTap groupset
• Ewan's 2019 Ridley Noah Fast - Gallery
• EF Education First aim to 'disrupt' pro peloton with bright pink kit - Gallery
  

As expected, the overall battle came down the final climb up Willunga Hill. With Bevin already out of contention, Team Sky set a furious pace on both ascents of the climb. On the final time up the slopes, Dylan van Baarle and Kenny Elissonde took control with the Frenchman even going clear with two kilometres to go. The move caused panic in the group of GC riders before Poels accelerated 300m later. The two Team Sky riders kept a slender lead before Sunweb took up the chase with Impey holding firm in the middle of the group.

With 1.3km to go Porte took flight. At first he was matched by several riders, including Chris Hamilton, Woods and George Bennett, but none could hold the Australian when he kicked again and made his way up to Poels, who had already used up Elissonde. Poels managed to stay on Porte's wheel until 600m to go before the Australian accelerated once more. As a number of GC contenders began to fade, Impey came through the field, taking third on the line and punching the air as Porte celebrated a few meters ahead.

Early break as Bevin fades

The morning was dominated by news that Bevin had passed a late concussion test and could start the stage. The CCC Team rider had dominated the Tour Down Under until a crash on stage 5 saw his race almost end. However, he was on the startline on Sunday morning and was in no mood to throw in the towel. He would have wanted a calm start, but the fight for the early break ensured that the pace was high from the outset.

Thomas De Gendt (Lotto Soudal), Nick White (UniSA-Australia), Alex Dowsett (Katusha Alpecin), Danny van Poppel (Jumbo-Visma), Lukas Pöstlberger (Bora-Hansgrohe), Gediminas Bagdonas (AG2R La Mondiale) and Jasha Sütterlin (Movistar) went clear and established a lead before the GC teams began to control the pace.

Bevin, bandaged but present, was in contention until the first ascent of Willunga. On the lower slopes, as the early break began to splinter, the New Zealand rider began to lose the wheels and within the space of a few hundred meters his overall challenge was over. It was a sad sight to see for a rider who had taken the race by the scruff of the neck and challenged the more established teams during the opening stages. If he had not crashed on stage 5, he would have surely been in contention for his first overall stage racing win at WorldTour level.

It was Team Sky who used the first ascent of Willunga to test the waters. They propelled Elissonde up the road before Poels joined him ahead of the summit as the last man standing from the break, White, as reeled in. By the top of the climb the Team Sky tandem had eased, well aware that a headwind and more than 20 kilometres were still ahead of them. At that point, Bevin was just over two minutes down, his only consolation the fact that if he finished the race he would receive the points jersey.

Porte's joy of six

On the descent, Daniel Oss (Bora-Hansgrohe), Héctor Carretero (Movistar) and Tomasz Marczynski (Lotto Soudal) formed a counter attack. They were brought back inside the final 10 kilometres as Astana and Sanchez moved to the front. Impey sat in the bunch, dropped off by the retiring Mat Hayman inside the final four kilometres as Team Sky saw their opportunity.

Just as with the first ascent of Willunga Hill, they powered to the front. First Dylan van Baarle set the pace before Elissonde once again took over. Poels looked as though he was too far back, but within a matter of pedal strokes the Dutch climber was clear and seemingly on his way to a stage win and possible GC win.

At first it wasn't clear whether Porte was struggling or playing a waiting game, but with 1.3km to go he kicked clear. As has often been the case, riders tried to match the Australian's initial acceleration. It proved an almost worthless task, however, as he quickly ate into the lead of Poels and the fading Elissonde. The headwind, as per last year, helped Impey and the chasers but when Porte jumped free of Poels it was clear that the Trek-Segafredo rider would take the stage, his sixth straight win on Willunga Hill.

The only remaining question was whether Impey could hold on. Within seconds we had our answer as Impey swung around the final corner with a flourish of strength once again worthy of winning this race for a second straight year.

Full Results