Italy’s Elia Viviani yesterday slipped through a tiny gap near the finish line to win the first stage of the Tour Down Under as the riders faced the dual challenge of extreme heat and strong winds.
Viviani was tucked back in the peloton, behind triple world champion Peter Sagan, as riders raced toward the finish of the 129km stage in Port Adelaide.
First Danny van Poppel of the Netherlands, then Germany’s Maximilian Walscheid hit the front in the straight sprint to the finish, and Walscheid looked to have made the winning burst, but Viviani, who fell during the 50km tour prelude on Sunday, showed fearlessness as he threaded his way along the barriers to dash past Walsheid for the stage victory.
Photo: AFP
Riders had to contend with temperatures in the high 30s Celsius as they raced through the Adelaide Hills, then contended with heat and crosswinds on the long ride along a broad and exposed motorway to the finish.
Organizers had intended to finish with a 3.4km circuit, but after concerns about the heat, winds and possible traffic problems, they opted instead for a straight run into the finish.
“Today, the plan was to wait a little bit and put me in the best position,” Viviani said. “Also the lead-out guys had to bring some wind in the face from five kilometers to one kilometer out. Sometimes the danger is you don’t have the space to go through, but I found a little space on the left on the barriers.”
Viviani claimed the victory for Deceuninck-Quick-Step ahead of Team Sunweb’s Walscheid, while CCC’s Jakub Mareczko was third.
Sagan of Bora-Hansgrohe finished in eighth place with the same time as the winner.
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