Emerging sprinter Caleb Ewan of Orica-Scott won his second stage at the season-opening Tour Down Under in Australia yesterday.
The 22-year-old produced a powerful finish to surge home from the final turn and claim the 144km third stage from Glenelg to Victor Harbour in 3 hours, 24 minutes, 45 seconds.
Dutchman Danny van Poppel looked set to claim the victory as they rounded the final turn, with Ewan back in eighth, but the Australian prevailed in a hectic dash.
Photo: EPA
World champion Peter Sagan weaved his way through traffic to cross a close second, with Italian Niccolo Bonifazio in third and Van Poppel fourth.
After what he described as a nervous and stressful leg, Tasmanian Richie Porte retained his overall lead for BMC Racing and remained the man to beat for the general classification with three stages remaining.
The final push to the finish took a toll on the peloton, with several riders, including second-placed Spaniard Gorka Izaguirre, crashing to the tarmac.
Movistar’s Izaguirre did not lose any time as the fall occurred with just under 3km to ride and he remained 20 seconds behind Porte, with Colombia’s Esteban Chaves of Orica-Scott two seconds further back in third.
Ewan said he thought he was in trouble heading for the finish.
“I was a bit far back on the last turn,” he said. “I was jumping around on wheels and luckily I got through in the end.”
He said he struggled for much of the stage, after Wednesday’s arduous second stage in the Adelaide Hills.
“Today was pretty tough backing up after yesterday. It took me probably three-quarters of the race to get into it again,” he said.
A pack of four formed a breakaway early in the stage and proved hard to chase down.
Belgian Thomas de Gendt was the first to move and was soon joined by Clement Chevrier, Jeremy Maison and Vegard Laengen.
With about 30km remaining the peloton started to reel the quartet in. Norway’s Laengen eventually dropped the other three and made a determined bid to hang on, only to be hauled in with about 5km to go.
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