Tour Down Under Stage 4

Three time World Champion Peter Sagan will trade his rainbow jersey for the Santos Ochre Leader’s Jersey after winning Bupa Stage 4 of the Santos Tour Down Under in Uraidla.

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Tour Down Under Stage 4

Sagan shows sizzling form to grab stage win and race lead

Three time World Champion Peter Sagan will trade his rainbow jersey for the Santos Ochre Leader’s Jersey after winning Bupa Stage 4 of the Santos Tour Down Under in Uraidla.

Photos: Santos Tour Down Under / Regallo

The Slovakian sprint sensation flew across the line at the end of 128 kilometres to claim his first stage win of the Tour ahead of South African Daryl Impey (Mitchelton Scott) with 2005 Tour winner, Luis Leon Sanchez (Astana Pro Team) third. “I already won the opening criterium (People’s Choice Classic) but it’s nice to grab my first stage of the Santos Tour Down Under,” said Sagan. “It’s very good for the organisation and very nice for the fans to have a different stage winner every day.”

Bupa Stage 4 began in the leafy shopping strip of Norwood and took the race out through Gorge Road into the Adelaide Hills. The start time was brought forward an hour in a bid to minimise the impact of the extreme heat that has hit Southern Australia this week. Even so the riders started the stage with the temperature already in the high 30’s and it soon rose above 40 degrees. Despite the stifling conditions around 70 thousand fans flocked to the race today in support.
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The teams were well prepared with extra support being provided and a relaxation of the usual rules to ensure the riders were hydrated. “It’s been a very hard day of racing but maybe not the hottest in my career so far as I’ve experienced something slightly hotter in California a couple of years ago,” said Sagan.

The stage included the famous Norton Summit, a mecca for cyclists who swarm to Adelaide at this time of year. The 5.6 kilometre climb has a gradient of five percent which gave the climbing big guns the chance to break up the race and make their bid for overall honours. The summit was eight kilometres from Uraidla and It was \ a fast twisting mainly downhill race from there to the finish line. It was the four time Tour champion, Simon Gerrans, setting the tempo on the front for his Mitchelton Scott team mate, Impey, as the race headed up the climb. But whilst it tested some in the peloton, there was still a bunch of 35 riders together with Sagan at the finish.

“It was a free-for-all in the finale,” said Impey. “It was a bit easier than I expected on the final climb (but) I knew with Peter Sagan there, it wasn’t going to be easy.” The win has given the world champion a two second lead over Impey with Sagan’s Bora Hansgrohe team mate, Jay McCarthy sitting third, nine seconds off the lead.

A winner of the CiCLE Classic among other races in the UK, Zak Dempster made the podium in the Tour Down Under today. Photos: Santos Tour Down Under / Regallo

“Tomorrow will be again another story,” said Sagan. “I’m in the ochre jersey now but we all know we are racing here for Jay McCarthy. It’s his home race. He’ll have a much harder climb than today to have his say tomorrow.” Stage 5 traditionally decides the race and there are 33 riders within 14 seconds of the lead which has set up a thrilling contest as the contenders battle for honours on Willunga Hill.

The stage has been won by Tasmanian Richie Porte for the past four editions and last year it cemented overall victory for the BMC Racing team rider who finished today with the lead group despite feeling less than 100 percent. “I didn’t feel good today, I felt a little bit sick overnight and I had a pretty rough day,” said Porte. “Just a bit of a tummy (upset), it could be the heat, it plays havoc on your body.”

But regardless of how he was feeling Porte wouldn’t have been making the pace today. “Obviously you could see nobody really wanted to take the lead (and) I don’t think it was up to me,” he said. “Hopefully tomorrow we can recover, and Rohan (Dennis) and I can have another good day,” Porte explained. “(Willunga) is not a terribly long climb, and Sagan is on such good form, so he is also a danger.”

Mitchelton Scott team director Matt White says the cumulative effect of the heat is starting to show. “We were riding hard to soften up the Europeans,” said White. “Daryl (Impey) is in good shape, so it’s a question of if he can stay with Richie (Porte) tomorrow. “We all know Richie (Porte) attacks with one kilometre to go. If Richie is as strong as he was last year, he’ll win. If he’s not, then maybe Daryl can hang on. Richie is the favourite to win tomorrow.”

BMC rider Simon Gerrans leads the break up Norton Summit. Photos: Santos Tour Down Under / Regallo

Sagan’s team director Patxi Vila says the team had identified two stages suited to the world champion, yesterday to Stirling and Uraidla. “Here it’s a kind of climb where to drop a good (in form) Peter (Sagan) you need to go very fast,” said Vila of the pace that whilst not fast enough to impact Sagan had a big impact in other areas. “Today was very hectic and so hot. We ran out of water bottles in the team car and we had to stop and get more bottles.

“That’s the first time that’s ever happened,” he explained. “I almost felt bad to ask the guys to ride at the front the peloton. “So with that heat, to have a win today is even more special.” Vila says the team knew they needed to be in a good position after today’s stage to challenge for the overall win. “That will be hard (because) Willunga is another story,” said Vila. “Jay (McCarthy) will be our man for the podium.”

UniSA-Australia kicked off the stage with a breakaway by Zakkari Dempster and Alexander Porter. The pair time trialled strongly and were soon almost ten minutes down the road. They contested the first southaustralia.com Sprint at Birdwood (35.8km) where Dempster took top points ahead of Porter, more than eight minutes later yesterday’s stage winner Elia Viviani (Quick Step Floors) crossed at the head of the peloton for third place sprint points.

The second sprint at Charleston came 70 kilometres into the stage and while the peloton had begun the chase the lead pair were still 5.40 ahead. This time it was Porter who took the points ahead of his team mate Dempster. A flurry of pace from the Quick Step Floors team delivered Viviani across the line in third place. The gap continued to come down dropping to four minutes as the leaders rode into the final 50 kilometres but Porter, 21, decided his day was done and he sat up leaving 30 year old Dempster to ride on alone.

Dempster made a valiant effort to stay clear but to no avail and 15 kilometres and he was caught 15 kilometres from home.

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STAGE 4
1 SAGAN Peter BOH SVK 00″
2 IMPEY Daryl MTS RSA @ same time
3 SANCHEZ GIL Luis Leon AST ESP @ same time
4 ULISSI Diego UAD ITA @ same time
5 MCCARTHY Jay BOH AUS @ same time
6 DEVENYNS Dries QST BEL @ same time
7 POZZOVIVO Domenico TBM ITA @ same time
8 FARIA DA COSTA Rui UAD POR @ same time
9 *LATOUR Pierre Roger ALM FRA @ same time
10 DIDIER Laurent TFS LUX @ same time
11 *BERNAL GOMEZ Egan Arley SKY COL @ same time
12 CHEREL Mikael ALM FRA @ same time
13 PREIDLER Georg FDJ AUT @ same time
14 MEYER Cameron MTS AUS @ same time
15 BENNETT George TLJ NZL @ same time
16 *GUERREIRO Ruben TFS POR @ same time
17 GESINK Robert TLJ NED @ same time
18 *OOMEN Sam SUN NED @ same time
19 EARLE Nathan AUS AUS @ same time
20 IZAGUIRRE Gorka TBM ESP @ same time
21 PORTE Richie BMC AUS @ same time
22 *HAMILTON Chris SUN AUS @ same time
23 VALGREN Michael AST DEN @ same time
24 IZAGUIRRE Jon TBM ESP @ same time
25 CANTY Brendan EFD AUS @ same time
26 MORENO Daniel EFD ESP @ same time
27 CLARKE Simon EFD AUS @ same time
28 BAK Lars Ytting LTS DEN @ same time
29 SLAGTER Tom-Jelte DDD NED @ same time
30 *MAS Enric QST ESP @ same time
31 *DAVIES Scott DDD GBR @ same time
32 DENNIS Rohan BMC AUS @ same time
33 CAPECCHI Eros QST ITA @ same time
34 *O CONNOR Ben DDD AUS @ same time
35 *STORER Michael SUN AUS @ same time
36 HAAS Nathan TKA AUS 54″
37 HANSEN Adam LTS AUS @ same time
38 ROE Timothy AUS AUS 01’21”
39 LAMMERTINK Maurits TKA NED 02’19”
40 *SOLER Marc MOV ESP 02’40”
41 MORI Manuele UAD ITA 03’51”
42 GERRANS Simon BMC AUS 03’56”
43 AGNOLI Valerio TBM ITA @ same time
44 BEPPU Fumiyuki TFS JPN @ same time
45 VANDENBERGH Stijn ALM BEL @ same time
46 ARASHIRO Yukiya TBM JPN @ same time
47 *MATOS Nuno MOV POR @ same time
48 *EG Niklas TFS DEN @ same time
49 ROUX Anthony FDJ FRA 04’05”
50 MARCATO Marco UAD ITA 05’03”
51 DE KORT Koen TFS NED 06’21”
52 ARNDT Nikias SUN GER @ same time
53 OLIVIER Daan TLJ NED 06’38”
54 ZAKHAROV Artyom AST KAZ @ same time
55 DE VREESE Laurens AST BEL @ same time
56 WYSS Danilo BMC SUI @ same time
57 *SCOTSON Miles BMC AUS @ same time
58 BATTAGLIN Enrico TLJ ITA @ same time
59 MORTON Lachlan DDD AUS @ same time
60 HAYMAN Mathew MTS AUS 08’01”
61 TEUNISSEN Mike SUN NED @ same time
62 LADAGNOUS Matthieu FDJ FRA 09’00”
63 BOARO Manuele TBM ITA 09’02”
64 OSS Daniel BOH ITA @ same time
65 *DOULL Owain SKY GBR @ same time
66 GASTAUER Ben ALM LUX @ same time
67 *PETERS Nans ALM FRA @ same time
68 BEVIN Patrick BMC NZL @ same time
69 FERNANDEZ Ruben MOV ESP 10’39”
70 CLARKE William EFD AUS 10’43”
71 DUCHESNE Antoine FDJ CAN @ same time
72 DOCKER Mitchell EFD AUS @ same time
73 *EDMONDSON Alexander MTS AUS 10’46”
74 RENSHAW Mark DDD AUS 11’30”
75 *EWAN Caleb MTS AUS @ same time
76 *DLAMINI Nicholas DDD RSA @ same time
77 *CASTRILLO ZAPATER Jaime MOV ESP @ same time
78 OLIVEIRA Nelson MOV POR @ same time
79 BARBERO CUESTA Carlos MOV ESP @ same time
80 MACHADO Tiago TKA POR @ same time
81 SCULLY Thomas EFD NZL @ same time
82 WYNANTS Maarten TLJ BEL @ same time
83 *BOHLI Tom BMC SUI @ same time
84 MONTAGUTI Matteo ALM ITA @ same time
85 VIVIANI Elia QST ITA @ same time
86 MORKOV Michael QST DEN @ same time
87 PUCCIO Salvatore SKY ITA @ same time
88 *SENECHAL Florian QST FRA @ same time
89 VENTER Jaco DDD RSA @ same time
90 DEMPSTER Zakkari AUS AUS @ same time
91 BONO Matteo UAD ITA @ same time
92 LEEZER Tom TLJ NED @ same time
93 *RESTREPO VALENCIA Jhonatan TKA COL @ same time
94 HAGA Chad SUN USA 13’21”
95 NAVARDAUSKAS Ramunas TBM LTU 14’34”
96 VON HOFF Steele AUS AUS @ same time
97 WAGNER Robert TLJ GER @ same time
98 GATTO Oscar AST ITA 14’37”
99 KENNAUGH Peter BOH GBR @ same time
100 *WELSFORD Sam AUS AUS 15’18”
101 DE GENDT Thomas LTS BEL @ same time
102 *BOWDEN Scott AUS AUS @ same time
103 HOWSON Damien MTS AUS @ same time
104 SELIG Rudiger BOH GER 15’25”
105 *CONSONNI Simone UAD ITA 15’26”
106 SABATINI Fabio QST ITA @ same time
107 *OWEN Logan EFD USA @ same time
108 *DENZ Nico ALM GER @ same time
109 BODNAR Maciej BOH POL @ same time
110 SUTTERLIN Jasha MOV GER 16’32”
111 *PORTER Alexander AUS AUS @ same time
112 WISNIOWSKI Lukasz SKY POL 17’15”
113 SIEBERG Marcel LTS GER @ same time
114 *BAUHAUS Phil SUN GER @ same time
115 *KORSAETH Truls AST NOR @ same time
116 *MINALI Riccardo AST ITA @ same time
117 BENNETT Sam BOH IRL @ same time
118 GONÇALVES Jose TKA POR @ same time
119 GREIPEL Andre LTS GER @ same time
120 *LAWLESS Christopher SKY GBR 18’44”
121 *PEDERSEN Mads TFS DEN @ same time
122 *FRAME Alex TFS NZL @ same time
123 BAUER Jack MTS NZL 19’10”
124 DEBUSSCHERE Jens LTS BEL 19’13”
125 *SCHMIDT Mads Wurtz TKA DEN @ same time
126 KOCHETKOV Pavel TKA RUS @ same time
127 CIMOLAI Davide FDJ ITA 19’33”

OVERALL
Rk Team Nat Time Gap Rk
1 SAGAN Peter BOH SVK 14h19’49” 00″
2 IMPEY Daryl MTS RSA 02″
3 MCCARTHY Jay BOH AUS 09″
4 SANCHEZ GIL Luis Leon AST ESP 10″
5 ULISSI Diego UAD ITA 14″
6 GESINK Robert TLJ NED @ same time
7 FARIA DA COSTA Rui UAD POR @ same time
8 BENNETT George TLJ NZL @ same time
9 DEVENYNS Dries QST BEL @ same time
10 BERNAL GOMEZ Egan Arley SKY COL @ same time
11 IZAGUIRRE Jon TBM ESP @ same time
12 IZAGUIRRE Gorka TBM ESP @ same time
13 LATOUR Pierre Roger ALM FRA @ same time
14 CHEREL Mikael ALM FRA @ same time
15 POZZOVIVO Domenico TBM ITA @ same time
16 PREIDLER Georg FDJ AUT @ same time
17 OOMEN Sam SUN NED @ same time
18 GUERREIRO Ruben TFS POR @ same time
19 HAMILTON Chris SUN AUS @ same time
20 PORTE Richie BMC AUS @ same time
21 CANTY Brendan EFD AUS @ same time
22 EARLE Nathan AUS AUS @ same time
23 BAK Lars Ytting LTS DEN @ same time
24 SLAGTER Tom-Jelte DDD NED @ same time
25 MORENO Daniel EFD ESP @ same time
26 VALGREN Michael AST DEN @ same time
27 DIDIER Laurent TFS LUX @ same time
28 DENNIS Rohan BMC AUS @ same time
29 DAVIES Scott DDD GBR @ same time
30 MAS Enric QST ESP @ same time
31 MEYER Cameron MTS AUS @ same time
32 CAPECCHI Eros QST ITA @ same time
33 O CONNOR Ben DDD AUS @ same time
34 HAAS Nathan TKA AUS 01’05”
35 CLARKE Simon EFD AUS 01’18”
36 HANSEN Adam LTS AUS 01’21”
37 ROE Timothy AUS AUS 01’35”
38 SOLER Marc MOV ESP 02’54”
39 EG Niklas TFS DEN 04’10”
40 ROUX Anthony FDJ FRA 04’19”
41 MORI Manuele UAD ITA 04’37”
42 BEPPU Fumiyuki TFS JPN 04’42”
43 GERRANS Simon BMC AUS @ same time
44 VANDENBERGH Stijn ALM BEL @ same time
45 MATOS Nuno MOV POR 05’14”
46 LAMMERTINK Maurits TKA NED 05’36”
47 MORTON Lachlan DDD AUS 06’52”
48 ARASHIRO Yukiya TBM JPN 06’56”
49 AGNOLI Valerio TBM ITA @ same time
50 MARCATO Marco UAD ITA 07’06”
51 DE KORT Koen TFS NED 07’25”
52 OLIVIER Daan TLJ NED 07’32”
53 ZAKHAROV Artyom AST KAZ 07’34”
54 DE VREESE Laurens AST BEL 08’01”
55 BATTAGLIN Enrico TLJ ITA 08’05”
56 SCOTSON Miles BMC AUS 08’26”
57 TEUNISSEN Mike SUN NED 08’31”
58 ARNDT Nikias SUN GER 09’06”
59 WYSS Danilo BMC SUI 09’10”
60 GASTAUER Ben ALM LUX 09’16”
61 DOULL Owain SKY GBR @ same time
62 STORER Michael SUN AUS 09’32”
63 FERNANDEZ Ruben MOV ESP 10’53”
64 HAYMAN Mathew MTS AUS @ same time
65 EWAN Caleb MTS AUS 11’24”
66 CLARKE William EFD AUS @ same time
67 VIVIANI Elia QST ITA 11’32”
68 RESTREPO VALENCIA Jhonatan TKA COL 11’43”
69 BARBERO CUESTA Carlos MOV ESP 11’44”
70 PUCCIO Salvatore SKY ITA 11’55”
71 BOHLI Tom BMC SUI 12’16”
72 OLIVEIRA Nelson MOV POR @ same time
73 OSS Daniel BOH ITA 12’23”
74 MACHADO Tiago TKA POR 12’38”
75 WYNANTS Maarten TLJ BEL 12’42”
76 PETERS Nans ALM FRA 13’02”
77 DEMPSTER Zakkari AUS AUS 13’25”
78 LEEZER Tom TLJ NED 13’30”
79 BONO Matteo UAD ITA 13’59”
80 SCULLY Thomas EFD NZL 14’19”
81 EDMONDSON Alexander MTS AUS 14’21”
82 MORKOV Michael QST DEN 14’27”
83 MONTAGUTI Matteo ALM ITA 15’30”
84 BEVIN Patrick BMC NZL @ same time
85 CONSONNI Simone UAD ITA 15’40”
86 VON HOFF Steele AUS AUS 15’51”
87 DOCKER Mitchell EFD AUS 16’58”
88 SUTTERLIN Jasha MOV GER 17’26”
89 VENTER Jaco DDD RSA 18’03”
90 RENSHAW Mark DDD AUS 19’05”
91 LADAGNOUS Matthieu FDJ FRA 19’09”
92 HAGA Chad SUN USA 19’29”
93 DE GENDT Thomas LTS BEL 20’22”
94 KENNAUGH Peter BOH GBR 21’16”
95 DUCHESNE Antoine FDJ CAN 21’18”
96 DLAMINI Nicholas DDD RSA 21’58”
97 GATTO Oscar AST ITA 22’14”
98 PORTER Alexander AUS AUS 22’44”
99 MINALI Riccardo AST ITA 23’06”
100 KOCHETKOV Pavel TKA RUS 23’13”
101 SENECHAL Florian QST FRA 23’18”
102 GONÇALVES Jose TKA POR 23’25”
103 DENZ Nico ALM GER 23’27”
104 KORSAETH Truls AST NOR 23’30”
105 BAUER Jack MTS NZL @ same time
106 SABATINI Fabio QST ITA 23’32”
107 CASTRILLO ZAPATER Jaime MOV ESP 23’58”
108 HOWSON Damien MTS AUS 24’05”
109 BOARO Manuele TBM ITA 24’29”
110 GREIPEL Andre LTS GER 24’40”
111 WISNIOWSKI Lukasz SKY POL 25’14”
112 SELIG Rudiger BOH GER 25’34”
113 LAWLESS Christopher SKY GBR 26’19”
114 WAGNER Robert TLJ GER 27’22”
115 SIEBERG Marcel LTS GER 27’24”
116 OWEN Logan EFD USA 27’43”
117 SCHMIDT Mads Wurtz TKA DEN 28’46”
118 PEDERSEN Mads TFS DEN 28’53”
119 BODNAR Maciej BOH POL 29’50”
120 DEBUSSCHERE Jens LTS BEL 30’06”
121 BAUHAUS Phil SUN GER 32’12”
122 BOWDEN Scott AUS AUS 33’50”
123 FRAME Alex TFS NZL 34’49”
124 BENNETT Sam BOH IRL 38’10”
125 NAVARDAUSKAS Ramunas TBM LTU 42’36”
126 WELSFORD Sam AUS AUS 43’20”
127 CIMOLAI Davide FDJ ITA 45’26”

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