Australian Jack Bobridge led a defiant breakaway group of four cyclists to take the first stage of the Union Cycliste Internationale season-opening Tour Down Under in South Australia yesterday.
Bobridge, riding for the local UniSa team, made his move with 200m to go to outsprint his rivals and win the 136.2km stage in 2 hours, 59 minutes, 44 seconds.
Fellow breakaway riders Lieuwe Westra (Astana), Luke Durbridge (Orica GreenEdge) and Maxim Belkov (Katusha) finished just behind Bobridge, only meters ahead of the peloton, which left its run too late and failed to reel in the four leaders.
Photo: AFP
The Tour Down Under began in the Barossa Valley wine growing town of Tanunda yesterday morning in overcast and muggy conditions.
The break began after just 5km and although the four riders never built a massive lead, the peloton was not interested in chasing them down.
The lead was still more than one minute when they reached the bottom of the climb up Checkers Hill, but soon after the summit it was down to 16 seconds and it looked as though the front group would be swallowed up with 10km to go.
However, the peloton eased up and the leaders were again able to get away and when they were 40 seconds out with 3km to go it became clear that they would hold on for a rare successful break.
The leaders began to play cat and mouse as the finish line neared, with Belkov trying to force the issue with 1km to go.
However, Bobridge kept his nerve and attacked on an uphill stretch 200m from the finish to claim the first ochre leader’s jersey of this year’s race.
Bobridge said he was surprised the group was able hold on until the end.
“To be honest, coming through Williamstown at halfway, the lead was down to 30 seconds and all the guys had given up, but we played it perfectly and kept our heads when the peloton was playing games with us,” he said. “We played the big game at the end and stayed away.”
Bobridge grew up in Adelaide and said that had been a huge help.
“The biggest advantage was knowing the roads. I do not know how many times I have been up that road — it was a massive advantage,” he said.
He also said he had to resist the urge to attack too early towards the finish when the peloton was closing so quickly.
“When you see a bunch charging at you that hard it is pretty nerve-racking and it is pretty easy to go early, but I kept my nerve and it worked out perfectly,” he said.
Today’s 150.5km stage takes the riders from inner-city Unley to the Adelaide Hills town of Stirling.
Marta Kostyuk’s maiden WTA 1000 title in Madrid came on Saturday thanks to her power, poise and a pair of unexpected lucky shorts. The world No. 23 beat eighth-ranked Mirra Andreeva 6-3, 7-5 in under 90 minutes to secure the most prestigious trophy of her career, her third professional singles title and second in less than a month after Rouen. Yet as the 23-year-old Ukrainian posed for photographs at the Caja Magica, it was not just the silverware that caught the eye. Held alongside her team and her two dogs, Kostyuk showed off a piece of black men’s underwear, prompting
Throwing more than US$5 billion at a divisive new tour and walking away after five seasons does not look like good business, but LIV Golf was not all bad news for Saudi Arabia. Oil-funded LIV, which poached top stars and sent golf’s establishment into a tailspin, helped push the conservative kingdom into global view — one of its key aims, experts said. The exit, confirmed on Thursday after weeks of speculation, does not signal a flight of Saudi money from sport, even after the Middle East war that sparked Iranian attacks around the Gulf, they said. “Saudi Arabia is not
Arsenal stormed six points clear at the top of the English Premier League as Bukayo Saka and Viktor Gyokeres put Fulham to the sword in a 3-0 win, while West Ham United’s defeat at Brentford offered Tottenham Hotspur a lifeline in the battle for survival. The Gunners have stumbled toward the finish line in their quest for a first league title in 22 years, blowing a sizeable lead over Manchester City in a series of nervous displays. However, the return of Saka, making his first start in six weeks, freed up Mikel Arteta’s men in a dominant performance that shrugged
China’s Wu Yize on Monday won the World Snooker Championship for the first time with a dramatic 18-17 victory over Shaun Murphy in the final. Wu held his nerve to seal his thrilling triumph in a tense last frame shoot-out at Sheffield’s Crucible Theatre. The 22-year-old is the second Chinese player to win the world title after Zhao Xintong beat Mark Williams to make history as the first Asian to lift the trophy last year. Wu is also the second-youngest player to be crowned world champion at the Crucible after Stephen Hendry, who was 21 when he won in 1990. “I have been trying
RSS