2024-01-17 00:00:00
On January 16th, the Santos Tour Down Under begins in Australia, located in the southern hemisphere. The first day was a group sprint, and Sam Welsford (Australia, Bora-Hansgrohe) won following a good lead out from Van Poppel.
Santos Tour Down Under, the first race of the 2024 World Tour, begins photo: CorVos
As usual, the 2024 road season will begin in Adelaide, Australia. The course details and notable athletes for all six stages of the Midsummer Santos Tour Down Under are detailed in the race preview, but the race organizer is aiming for a mountainous finish on two consecutive days, with Willunga Hill on the fifth day and Mt Lofty on the sixth and final day. Prepare. As a result, it was contested on a tough course that has rarely been seen in recent years.
The first day of the competition will be 144km, consisting of three laps of a 48km course starting and ending in Tanunda. Most of the course is flat, but in the second half there is a short steep slope called Mengler’s Hill with a maximum gradient of 14.4%. However, it wasn’t enough to put out the sprinters, so it looked like there would be a lot of group sprinting, just like last year’s first stage.
Georg Zimmermann (Germany, Intermarche Wanty) and Louis Barret (France, Arkea B&B Hotels) form the escape photo:CorVos
Immediately following the actual start flag was waved, Quinn Simmons (Riddle Trek) jumped out wearing a flashy American champion jersey. Georg Zimmermann (Germany, Intermarche Wanty) and others followed suit, but they were unable to break away and Finn Fischer Black (New Zealand, UAE Team Emirates) ran the first intermediate sprint with bonus time as a single group. ) passed the top. The 22-year-old young all-rounder, who won -3 seconds, asserted himself as the team’s overall ace.
Zimmermann and Louis Barre (France, Alkea B&B Hotels) who jumped out immediately following, decided to escape, and the race finally calmed down. Barre passed first on Menglas Hill, a 4th class mountain, earning him the right to the mountaineering award jersey, and Zimmermann passed the second intermediate sprint in first place. The first two riders had a lead of up to three minutes over the main group controlled by Israeli Premier Tech and others.
Temperatures rose to a maximum of 34 degrees on the first day of the tournament photo: CorVos
Julien Alaphilippe (France, Soudal Quick-Step) and Australian champion Luke Plapp (Jaco Al-Ullah) competing for the first time in 10 years photo: CorVos
The race reached temperatures of up to 34 degrees Celsius, and although Australia’s U23 time trial champion Jackson Midway (Team Bridge Lane) and Nicolo Blatti (Italy, Bahrain Victorious) crashed, they completed the distance smoothly. The peloton then picked up the two runners as it picked up speed for the group sprint, and the riders rushed down the final straight, reaching a maximum speed of 85km/h on the descent.
Bora-Hansgrohe formed the train at the front of the group. The new ace from Australia, Sam Welsford, will start the sprint with the cooperation of Ben Ziehoff (Germany) and lead-out expert Danny van Poppel (Netherlands).
As Welsford struggled along the fence on the left side of the course, Caleb Ewan (Australia, Jayco AlUla) accelerated from the center of the course. Further to the right, Phil Bauhaus (Germany, Bahrain Victorious) and Biniyam Girmay (Eritrea, Intermarche Wanty) also pursued closely, but they were unable to reach Welsford, who fired from a good position. And Welsford, who reached the finish line first, let out a roar of victory.
Sam Welsford (Australia, Bora-Hansgrohe) won the sprint and Danny van Poppel (Netherlands) celebrates at the back photo: CorVos
Sam Welsford (Australia, Bora-Hansgrohe) won on the first day in his home country of Australia photo: CorVos
“I’m so happy I have no words. There were moments when I almost crashed, but my teammates kept me calm and gave me a great assist. It was my first race win with them. It feels special.” “I’ll do it,” Welsford said happily.
In second place was Bauhaus, who won the first stage of last year’s competition, and in third place was Gilmay, who gave a strong chase just before the finish. Ewan, who missed the Down Under Classic three days earlier following falling ill while training in Australia in the high temperatures, was unable to improve his speed and finished fourth.
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