Tour Down Under stage 1 live coverage

Welcome to Cyclingnews' live coverage of stage 1 of the Tour Down Under, a 149km stage around Tanunda. The stage starts at 11:30am local time or 2:00am CET and 8pm EST and finishes roughly four hours later.

We're just moments away from the start of Stage 1 of the Santos Tour Down Under. At 150km, today's stage is the second longest of this year's edition and will be one slated for the sprinters. 

Today's stage starts and finishes in Tanunda and 139 riders are rolling through the neutral at the moment. The big crowds in Tanunda will see the peloton fly by four times. 

It looks like race director, Stuart O'Grady, is slowing down the peloton due to a rider receiving help for a mechanical. Once the rider is back in the bunch, the former sprinter will drop the red flag to indicate the official start. 

And we have our first attack coming from the Australian champion Luke Plapp.

But Plapp is reabsorbed and there's a counter from Taco van der Hoorn (Intermarche).

But that move was also brought back and it's all together at the moment. The sprinters' teams are policing the front, along with EF Education First who are protecting their race leader, Alberto Bettiol. 

The weather is an unusual sight for the so often hot TDU, with riders setting off in mild overcast conditions and a forecast top of just 24 degrees in Adelaide. Those stocking sales might not peak as much as normal in Adelaide this year, with riders unlikely to be as quick to reach for the ice packed hosiery to keep them cool. 

Nans Peters (AG2R) has taken off up the road, but no one seems keen to join him. 

Lots of chatting in the main bunch at this point in the race. No one team is leading the bunch. 

The peloton is approaching 127km to go, with Nans Peters up the road for AG2R. 

Caleb Ewan has dropped back to his team car. It looks like he is thinking about changing to his spare bike. 

Peters already has a 2'45" advantage on the peloton with 122km to go. 

The reports are that Peters is edging an advantage up to five minutes at this point. EF Education First have come to the front to manage this time gap. 

It looks like there's a small pileup toward the back of the peloton with Phil Bauhaus involved. He's up and moving again. 

The peloton isn't going full flight at the moment, so the riders caught up in this crash don't have to panic. There's still 116km to go. 

Nans Peters (AG2R) is off the front with a 4'20 second advantage on the peloton. 

110 km to go

The riders are flying toward the finish line in Tanunda for the first time.

Nans Peters will of course be the first back into town. He's about 4'15" ahead of the peloton. 

EF Education First are still at the front, but other teams are starting to fall in line besides them to try and pick up the second and third place in the first ZipTrack intermediate sprint. 

Bettiol is contesting this, but he's caught back a little way. Israel Premier Tech is in control of the front.

Peters picked up the 3 points and three bonus seconds, and back in the peloton, Michael Matthews outsprinted Ethan Hayter for second. 

EF Education First is back on the front after the excitement of the first intermediate sprint. 

100km to go

With 100km to go, the gap to Peters is down to 2 minutes after the speeds going into Tanunda. 

It's been reported that Paddy Bevin (Bora Hansgrohe) had to abandon the race following some injuries he sustained a couple of days ago. 

The gap keeps dropping down for Peters, who at one point had a lead of almost five minutes. It's now sitting inside two minutes with just 1.5km to go before the base of the KOM climb. 

And of course, Peters gets the max KOM points the first time over Menglers Hill (Cat. 4). 

82 km to go

Peters has his head down as he goes across the finish line once again. That's the third time through Tanunda. He takes a bidon since there are no intermediate sprint opportunities this lap. Next lap will be the second and final intermediate sprint. 

With 75km to go, the gap is looking very slender to Peters. It looks like they'll have the French rider back by the time they come back around for the intermediate sprint. 

Today's pre-race favourite, Caleb Ewan (AUS) has his Australian National team all around him. 

The young 20-year-old American, Magnus Sheffield (Ineos), is currently in the best young rider jersey after yesterday's prologue.

66km to go

James Moriaty (Australia National Team) is leading the peloton for the team's sprinter, and possible stage winner, Caleb Ewan. 

Now Israel - Premier Tech are leading the charge with Chris Froome at the front. However, Peters has nosed out a bit more time, and now sits at 1'37."

There are still two circuits to come, and the gap is down to 40 seconds. EF Education First has done most of the work in bringing Peters' time down to within striking distance. 

And there's a crash toward the back of the peloton. It affected about 6 riders, and the race isn't hanging around. The peloton is setting up for the intermediate sprint, so it's going to be a challenge to catch back on.

55km to go

It's all together and the bunch is still about a kilometre away from the intermediate, but already the elbows are flying as the teams get their sprinters in position.

Corbin Strong (Israel Premier Tech) takes the max points in the intermediate sprint ahead of Michael Matthews, who takes two bonus seconds, and Ethan Hayer gets one. 

Italian Mattia Cattaneo and James Knox (GBR) of Team Soudal Quick-Step have a chat earlier in the stage. We have less than 50km left in the stage. 

Jumbo Visma is starting to organise their train behind EF Education First. 

The peloton has calmed a bit now before preparing for the final opportunity to get points at the KOM. The current leader in that competition is Peters, who got the max points earlier in the race. 

Peters is working his way up through the peloton, despite spending the majority of the stage off the front. He's going to give it a go on this climb. 

Menglers Hill (Cat. 4) is 3.6km long, and averages 3.6 percent. However it does get as steep as 13 percent in places. 

And Nans Peters (AG2R) goes on the attack! But he's tracked down by a small group that includes Leo Hayter. 

Peters is giving it his all toward the top, but it looks like Alessandro Covi (UAE) will take the max points ahead of Lucas Plapp (Ineos). That puts Plapp in the jersey at the end of the stage. 

35km to go

The peloton passes through Menglers Hill (446m) after the final KOM. Just 30 km remaining in today's stage.

We're heading back into Tanunda and soon the peloton will be on their final lap. EF Education First is still on the front.

They hear the bell for the final lap - 25km to go!

Another crash - this time it's three Jumbo Visma riders and one AG2R rider. 

Robert Gesnik was one of the riders who went down in that fall, and he's told his two teammates not to wait for him. 

20km to go

The sprinters are making their way up through the peloton. Phil Bauhaus and Caleb Ewan are amongst them.

But they still have one more time up Menglers Hill, and Jumbo Visma are at the front ready to make it as hard as possible. 

Israel Premier Tech is on the left for Corbin Strong, who revealed his form during the second intermediate sprint. We're getting closer to the sprint, just 14km to go. 

Bahrain Victorious is also lined up for Phil Bauhaus, who has a crash early on in the stage. 

10km to go

And Matthews is also up there with his team. He's on the hunt for the ochre jersey as well as a stage win. Ewan, however, is surfing around teams without any teammates. 

It's getting down to crunch time as the sprinters start to jostle. 

The peloton is swirling around as they reach the flamme rouge. It's anyone's guess who will take this sprint. There isn't much cohesion from any one team.

There's a crash in the middle of the bunch which has stopped many riders. 

And it's a win for Phil Bauhaus (Bahrain Victorious)! 

Caleb Ewan (AUS) was second, and Michael Matthews (Jayco-Alula) claimed third. Alberto Bettiol (EF Education First) will stay in the ochre jersey heading into stage 3. 

Phil Bauhaus wins stage 1 of the Santos Tour Down Under. Alberto Bettiol retains his lead in the ochre leaders jersey. 

In that late crash right before the line, third place Magnus Sheffield (Ineos) went down and sustained cuts on both knees. He didn't go to the podium for best young rider, but seemed okay after medical treatment.