Tour Down Under – Von Hoff wins stage 4

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NFTO’s star signing for 2015 is already making waves in the World of cycling after winning stage 4 of the Tour Down Under

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Tour Down Under – Von Hoff wins stage 4

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Australian Steele Von Hoff grabbed the victory at the end of a crash marred finish of Bupa Stage 4 in Mount Barker.

Von Hoff crossed the line at the end of the 144.5 kilometre stage from the beachside suburb of Glenelg in a time of 3:24:28 holding off South African Daryl Impey (Orica-GreenEDGE) with Dutch rider Wouter Wippert (Drapac Professional) third.

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Steele Von Hoff (NFTO) wins stage 4 of the Tour Down Under. Photo – Regallo

The 27 year old Victorian gave the UniSA-Australia national team its second stage win of the week. The first was that of Jack Bobridge who claimed early glory on stage one and today played a pivotal role in the action.

“Jack Bobridge was looking after me,” said Von Hoff. “He was telling me ‘be patient, be patient’. I trusted him and he delivered me where I had to be. He told me to mark (Etixx) Quick Step (team) because (Mark) Renshaw was there and I managed to find my way to victory.”

Von Hoff, who raced with World Tour team Garmin-Sharp in 2013 and 2014 lost out when the team merged with Cannondale and is this year on the roster of British registered continental team NFTO. “My goal is to get back into the World Tour,” said Von Hoff. “The merger between Cannondale and Garmin left me behind this time but this win today will help me to go back to the highest level.”

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NFTO rider Steele Von Hoff on the podium after Bupa stage 4.Photo – Regallo

Sixty-eight riders had regrouped at the front as the race swept onto Flaxley Road for the sweeping downhill finish. Massed across the road the peloton hurtled into the final kilometre but 150 metres from the line a touch of wheels brought most crashing down. Only ten sprinted clear with the rest caught up in and behind the wreckage.

Under race rules riders involved in a crash in the final three kilometres are not penalised so all were given the same race time as Hoff, even though some walked across the line with their bikes to ensure they could start tomorrow.

The stage result did not impact overall standings with BMC Racing’s Rohan Dennis still in the Santos Ochre Leader’s Jersey by a seven seconds over his team mate Cadel Evans. Dutchman Tom Dumoulin (Giant-Alpecin) is third overall, nine seconds off the lead.

The day began with a flurry of attacks as teams tested the resolve of BMC who were up to the task and countered any dangerous moves to protect their race leaders.

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Astana Pro Team rider Ruslan Tleubayev leads the breakaway 30 kms from the finish in Mount Barkerv. Photo – Regallo

Eventually four riders, Bobridge, Australian Michael Hepburn (Orica-GreenEDGE), Frenchman Cedric Pineau (FDJ) and Brit Peter Kennaugh (Team SKY), made an attack stick.

As they rode clear to a margin of close to two minutes Bobridge became the race leader on the road and that made him a marked man. But his eyes were on the Subaru King of the Mountain contest that today was a category two climb up Sellicks Hill, 44 kilometres into the stage. He made sure he grabbed the maximum points on offer over the top of the climb to take over the lead in the polka dot jersey competition.

Behind him on the climb was Hepburn then Kennaugh and Pineau and by then the group’s advantage was down to 1:30 as BMC powered the chase.

“It was a very hard race at the start,” said Bobridge who returned to the bunch after the climb. “I saw the opportunity to go up the road for the KOM competition, so I did but as soon as I collected the points, I dropped back to the bunch to repay Steele [Von Hoff] for his help in the first few days.

“Everyone was going crazy before the (final) sprint so I told him to stay calm and relax,” explained Bobridge. “He did a perfect sprint for himself. He just shows his classiness.

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Huge crowds lined the start of Bupa Stage 4 Glenelg to Mt Barker. Photo – Regallo

Once Bobridge sat up the leaders should have had a better chance of staying clear but disunity in the trio and the increased chase pace from BMC conspired against them.

“The cooperation wasn’t good,” said Pineau. “Bobdridge was up there only for the KOM. Then Hepburn stopped contributing because his team-mates wanted to do echelons at the front of the peloton.

“Kennaugh stopped riding too so I just remained alone at the front,” he said. “I continued but with no illusions. It’s frustrating to fight so hard for a breakaway with people who actually don’t want to stay away.”

The first of the day’s two iiNet Sprints was contested at Ashbourne, 90 kilometres into the stage, and it was Impey who collected the top points and the three second time bonus to move him up to fourth overall at 13 seconds. Luke Rowe (Team SKY) and Mark Renshaw (Etixx QuickStep) followed behind.

After the sprint Astana’s Ruslan Tleubayev, Maxim Belkov (Katusha) and Pieter Serry (Etixx QuickStep) skipped away to a lead of more than two minutes and contested the second iiNet sprint at Macclesfield, less than 30 kilometres from the finish line. Belkov took the points ahead of Tleubayev with Serry third.

Then Movistar kicked into gear for their sprinter Juan Jose Lobato Del Valle and the pace split the peloton. Missing out in the maneuver was sprint favourite Marcel Kittel (Giant Alpecin) who would eventually finish well behind the stage winner.

As the race headed into the final ten kilometres the chase had caught the escapees and that sparked a counter-attack by former Tour Down Under winner Luis Leon Sanchez Gil (Astana), team mate Lars Boom and Gorka Izaguirre Insausti (Movistar).

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 Lotto NL-Jumbo riders and Astana’s Lars Boom finish the stage on foot. Photo – Regallo

But Orica-GreenEDGE shut them down and it was then up to the sprinters to battle for the win.

Tomorrow is the Queen stage where the race is traditionally decided on the slopes of Old WIllunga Hill.

BikeExchange Stage 5 is a 151 kilometre course that begins in beautiful Mclaren Vale and loops along the coastal holiday strip of Aldinga Beach three times before turning for the first of two ascents of Old Wilunga Hill, the second time to finish the stage.

Results Snapshot – Bupa Stage 4

• Stage winner – Steele Von Hoff (UniSA-Australia)
• Santos Tour Down Under race leader – Rohan Dennis (BMC Racing)
• iiNet Sprint leader – Daryl Impey (Orica-GreenEDGE)
• Subaru King of the Mountain leader – Jack Bobridge (UniSA-Australia)
• Virgin Australia Leading Team – BMC Racing
• Cycle Instead Young Rider – Rohan Dennis (BMC Racing)
• Europcar Most Competitive Rider – Cedric Pineau (FDJ)

STAGE 4
1 VON HOFF Steele AUS 03:24:28
2 IMPEY Daryl OGE mt
3 WIPPERT Wouter DPC mt
4 HAUSSLER Heinrich IAM mt
5 DUMOULIN Samuel ALM mt
6 BONIFAZIO Niccolo LAM mt
7 SELIG Rudiger KAT mt
8 MEERSMAN Gianni EQS mt
9 ALAFACI Eugenio TFR mt
10 DE KORT Koen TGA mt
11 ROY Jérémy FDJ mt
12 KLUGE Roger IAM mt
13 ROGERS Michael TCS mt
14 ZAUGG Oliver TCS mt
15 VILLELLA Davide TCG mt
16 GESCHKE Simon TGA mt
17 LAGUTIN Sergei KAT mt
18 DUMOULIN Tom TGA mt
19 MACHADO Tiago KAT mt
20 HANSEN Adam LTS mt
21 ROOSEN Timo TLJ mt
22 EVANS Cadel BMC mt
23 SCHÄR Michael BMC mt
24 HAIG Jack AUS mt
25 LASTRAS GARCIA Pablo MOV mt
26 BERARD Julien ALM mt
27 GRMAY Tsgabu Gebremaryam LAM mt
28 PANTANO GOMEZ Jarlison IAM mt
29 LINDEMAN Bertjan TLJ mt
30 WYSS Danilo BMC mt
31 MORI Manuele LAM mt
32 DENNIS Rohan BMC mt
33 THOMAS Geraint SKY mt
34 BAK Lars Ytting LTS mt
35 DIDIER Laurent TFR mt
36 SCOTSON Miles AUS mt
37 HENDERSON Greg LTS mt
38 CIMOLAI Davide LAM mt
39 CLEMENT Stef IAM mt
40 PORTE Richie SKY mt
41 DE GENDT Thomas LTS mt
42 BOUET Maxime EQS mt
43 VELITS Martin EQS mt
44 WESTRA Lieuwe AST mt
45 HESJEDAL Ryder TCG mt
46 DOCKX Gert LTS mt
47 POZZOVIVO Domenico ALM mt
48 CARUSO Giampaolo KAT mt
49 ROULSTON Hayden TFR mt
50 TANNER David IAM mt
51 BOBRIDGE Jack AUS mt
52 STANNARD Ian SKY mt
53 MOSER Moreno TCG mt
54 MCCONNELL Daniel TFR mt
55 REYNES MIMO Vicente IAM mt
56 HANSEN Jesper TCS mt
57 STETINA Peter BMC mt
58 DE VREESE Laurens AST mt
59 HAYMAN Mathew OGE mt
60 HERRADA LOPEZ José MOV mt
61 IZAGUIRRE INSAUSTI Gorka MOV mt
62 BRUTT Pavel TCS mt
63 DURASEK Kristijan LAM mt
64 CATALDO Dario AST mt
65 PUCCIO Salvatore SKY mt
66 POWER Robert AUS mt
67 MALACARNE Davide AST mt
68 SANCHEZ GIL Luis Leon AST mt
69 ELMIGER Martin IAM 03:20
70 COLEDAN Marco TFR 0
71 KOHLER Martin DPC mt
72 BOARO Manuele TCS 03:20
73 DE LA CRUZ MELGAREJO David EQS 0
74 LAMPAERT Yves EQS mt
75 RENSHAW Mark EQS mt
76 HOWES Alex TCG mt
77 HAAS Nathan TCG mt
78 HAGA Chad TGA 03:20
79 CAPECCHI Eros MOV 0
80 LOBATO DEL VALLE Juan Jose MOV mt
81 JUUL JENSEN Christopher TCS mt
82 FERNANDEZ Ruben MOV mt
83 BOOM Lars AST mt
84 TJALLINGII Maarten TLJ mt
85 DE HAES Kenny LTS mt
86 MANZIN Lorrenzo FDJ mt
87 VEIKKANEN Jussi FDJ mt
88 CHAVANEL Sébastien FDJ mt
89 BENNETT George TLJ mt
90 JEANNESSON Arnold FDJ mt
91 WATSON Calvin TFR mt
92 DURBRIDGE Luke OGE mt
93 ISAYCHEV Vladimir KAT mt
94 MEYER Cameron OGE 03:20
95 TCATEVICH Aleksei KAT 0
96 LE GAC Olivier FDJ mt
97 KEIZER Martijn TLJ 03:20
98 BEWLEY Sam OGE mt
99 SANZ Enrique MOV mt
100 EDMONDSON Alexander AUS mt
101 KERBY Jordan DPC mt
102 FLENS Rick TLJ mt
103 HEPBURN Michael OGE mt
104 VAN DER PLOEG Neil AUS mt
105 FERRARI Roberto LAM mt
106 ROE Timothy DPC mt
107 CLARKE Simon OGE 0
108 CLARKE William DPC 03:20
109 TLEUBAYEV Ruslan AST mt
110 DILLIER Silvan BMC mt
111 TIMMER Albert TGA mt
112 KADRI Blel ALM 03:45
113 GOUGEARD Alexis ALM mt
114 RIBLON Christophe ALM mt
115 PINEAU Cédric FDJ mt
116 BELKOV Maxim KAT mt
117 BONO Matteo LAM mt
118 ROWE Luke SKY mt
119 KENNAUGH Peter SKY mt
120 BAUER Jack TCG 04:40
121 SERRY Pieter EQS 04:45
122 BROWN Graeme DPC 0
123 MEYER Travis DPC mt
124 KITTEL Marcel TGA 13:23
125 SUTTON Christopher SKY mt
126 HANSEN Lasse Norman TCG mt
127 DOMONT Axel ALM mt
128 NIZZOLO Giacomo TFR mt
129 VALLEE Boris LTS mt
130 MARKUS Barry TLJ mt

OVERALL
1 DENNIS Rohan BMC 13:41:34
2 EVANS Cadel BMC 7
3 DUMOULIN Tom TGA 9
4 IMPEY Daryl OGE 13
5 PORTE Richie SKY 15
6 ROGERS Michael TCS mt
7 HAIG Jack AUS mt
8 BOUET Maxime EQS mt
9 FERNANDEZ Ruben MOV mt
10 POZZOVIVO Domenico ALM mt
11 GESCHKE Simon TGA 23
12 MACHADO Tiago KAT 25
13 SANCHEZ GIL Luis Leon AST mt
14 GRMAY Tsgabu Gebremaryam LAM mt
15 IZAGUIRRE INSAUSTI Gorka MOV 27
16 BERARD Julien ALM 28
17 PANTANO GOMEZ Jarlison IAM mt
18 BENNETT George TLJ mt
19 HANSEN Adam LTS 31
20 HAAS Nathan TCG mt
21 BAK Lars Ytting LTS mt
22 CAPECCHI Eros MOV mt
23 STETINA Peter BMC mt
24 MORI Manuele LAM 37
25 BOBRIDGE Jack AUS 39
26 WESTRA Lieuwe AST 43
27 HERRADA LOPEZ José MOV 45
28 LAGUTIN Sergei KAT 52
29 TANNER David IAM mt
30 ROY Jérémy FDJ mt
31 HANSEN Jesper TCS mt
32 JEANNESSON Arnold FDJ mt
33 LINDEMAN Bertjan TLJ 01:00
34 MCCONNELL Daniel TFR mt
35 DE LA CRUZ MELGAREJO David EQS 01:17
36 DUMOULIN Samuel ALM 01:24
37 JUUL JENSEN Christopher TCS mt
38 CLARKE Simon OGE mt
39 POWER Robert AUS 01:25
40 VILLELLA Davide TCG 01:26
41 TCATEVICH Aleksei KAT 01:34
42 HESJEDAL Ryder TCG mt
43 THOMAS Geraint SKY 01:38
44 MOSER Moreno TCG mt
45 VELITS Martin EQS 01:52
46 ZAUGG Oliver TCS 01:59
47 DIDIER Laurent TFR mt
48 REYNES MIMO Vicente IAM 02:06
49 DURASEK Kristijan LAM 02:09
50 MALACARNE Davide AST 02:33
51 LASTRAS GARCIA Pablo MOV 02:41
52 MEYER Travis DPC 02:42
53 ROULSTON Hayden TFR 02:51
54 MEERSMAN Gianni EQS 03:03
55 DOCKX Gert LTS 03:05
56 CARUSO Giampaolo KAT 03:06
57 HAUSSLER Heinrich IAM 03:41
58 SCHÄR Michael BMC 03:42
59 ROOSEN Timo TLJ 03:45
60 LE GAC Olivier FDJ mt
61 DURBRIDGE Luke OGE 03:51
62 CLEMENT Stef IAM 03:52
63 HAYMAN Mathew OGE 04:08
64 WYSS Danilo BMC 04:31
65 VEIKKANEN Jussi FDJ 04:44
66 CHAVANEL Sébastien FDJ 04:52
67 STANNARD Ian SKY 05:11
68 BOOM Lars AST 05:16
69 CATALDO Dario AST 05:18
70 BONIFAZIO Niccolo LAM 05:28
71 MEYER Cameron OGE 05:29
72 HOWES Alex TCG 05:54
73 DE KORT Koen TGA 06:10
74 ELMIGER Martin IAM 06:18
75 ROE Timothy DPC 06:44
76 VON HOFF Steele AUS 07:24
77 BELKOV Maxim KAT mt
78 KADRI Blel ALM 07:30
79 DE VREESE Laurens AST 07:44
80 ISAYCHEV Vladimir KAT 07:51
81 PINEAU Cédric FDJ 07:55
82 HENDERSON Greg LTS 07:57
83 LAMPAERT Yves EQS 08:14
84 KEIZER Martijn TLJ 08:20
85 HAGA Chad TGA 08:26
86 DILLIER Silvan BMC 08:55
87 ALAFACI Eugenio TFR 09:29
88 KENNAUGH Peter SKY 09:39
89 RENSHAW Mark EQS 09:45
90 SERRY Pieter EQS 09:56
91 TLEUBAYEV Ruslan AST 10:13
92 BOARO Manuele TCS 10:17
93 KLUGE Roger IAM 10:32
94 BRUTT Pavel TCS 11:18
95 CIMOLAI Davide LAM 11:32
96 LOBATO DEL VALLE Juan Jose MOV 11:35
97 BAUER Jack TCG 11:38
98 CLARKE William DPC 11:49
99 WATSON Calvin TFR 12:09
100 EDMONDSON Alexander AUS 12:32
101 BEWLEY Sam OGE 12:44
102 KOHLER Martin DPC 13:31
103 FLENS Rick TLJ 14:00
104 TIMMER Albert TGA 15:04
105 BROWN Graeme DPC 15:18
106 DE GENDT Thomas LTS 15:46
107 BONO Matteo LAM 15:47
108 SCOTSON Miles AUS 16:25
109 VAN DER PLOEG Neil AUS 17:53
110 DE HAES Kenny LTS 18:12
111 TJALLINGII Maarten TLJ mt
112 HEPBURN Michael OGE 18:33
113 ROWE Luke SKY 18:44
114 PUCCIO Salvatore SKY 18:51
115 MANZIN Lorrenzo FDJ 19:04
116 SELIG Rudiger KAT 20:01
117 COLEDAN Marco TFR 23:24
118 RIBLON Christophe ALM 23:46
119 KERBY Jordan DPC 25:23:00
120 HANSEN Lasse Norman TCG 25:54:00
121 FERRARI Roberto LAM 26:52:00
122 SANZ Enrique MOV 29:05:00
123 WIPPERT Wouter DPC 31:17:00
124 GOUGEARD Alexis ALM 31:41:00
125 KITTEL Marcel TGA 35:51:00
126 MARKUS Barry TLJ 36:56:00
127 DOMONT Axel ALM 38:49:00
128 SUTTON Christopher SKY 38:51:00
129 VALLEE Boris LTS 42:02:00
130 NIZZOLO Giacomo TFR 45:02:00

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