Australian Simon Gerrans claimed a record fourth Tour Down Under when he finished safely in the peloton after the 90km final stage yesterday.
Gerrans finished the season-opening UCI race nine seconds ahead of countryman Richie Porte of BMC Racing.
Colombia’s Sergio Henao from Team Sky was third overall, 11 seconds behind Gerrans.
Photo: AFP
Gerrans’ Orica Greenedge teammate Caleb Ewan won the final stage in a sprint finish, adding to his victory in the opening stage on Tuesday.
The powerful Ewan surged for the line from 80m out, winning by a bike length from Australia’s Mark Renshaw (Team Dimension Data) and Italian Giacomo Nizzolo (Trek-Segafredo).
However, the day’s racing belonged to Gerrans, whose nine-second overnight lead meant he only had to stay out of trouble yesterday to ensure a win in the general classification.
GIANT CRASH
AFP, MADRID
German sprint specialist John Degenkolb has undergone surgery to repair a deep cut on his leg and suffered a fractured forearm as he and five other Giant-Alpecin teammates were hit by an English driver while training near Alicante, Spain, on Saturday.
“Given the circumstances, I am fine,” Degenkolb wrote on Facebook.
Warren Barguil, Chad Haga, Fredrik Ludvigsson, Ramon Sinkeldam and Max Walscheid were also taken to hospital in Alicante, but were said to be in stable conditions.
“They are lucky to be alive,” Degenkolb’s agent Jorg Werner told reporters.
According to a team statement, France’s Barguil suffered a fractured scaphoid that might require surgery.
American Haga was airlifted to hospital and underwent successful surgery on neck and chin wounds with an orbital fracture to be treated once the swelling around his eye recedes, it said.
German Walscheid is also likely to need surgery on a fractured hand and tibia, reports said. Ludvigsson and Sinkeldam had cuts and bruises.
Tour de San Luis
Reuters, BUENOS AIRES
Italian Adriano Malori, individual time-trial runner-up at last year’s world cycling championships, is in a “stable condition” after crashing at the Tour de San Luis in Argentina.
A doctor said in a statement on Saturday that Malori was in intensive care, but that his condition had improved in the first 24 hours since he was taken to San Luis hospital on Friday.
The Movistar team rider was involved in a massive pile-up due to a pothole on the road 30km from the finish of the fifth stage.
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