Bloodied home rider Sam Welsford yesterday fought back from an early crash to thrillingly win his second straight stage of the Tour Down Under.
It was the Australian’s fifth career stage win at the season-opening UCI World Tour race and yet again he owed much to his Dutch lead-out rider Danny van Poppel and his other Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe teammates to position him for the final push.
Welsford, with his ochre leader’s jersey ripped on his bloodied right shoulder and his cycle shorts shredded from the fall, surged past Van Poppel to take the 128.8km stage in Tanunda Township in South Australia’s Barossa wine district.
Photo: AFP
It was a more convincing win for Welsford than his tight victory on Tuesday over Germany’s Arne Marit of Intermarche-Wanty and Frenchman Bryan Coquard of Cofidis.
Welsford takes a 14-second lead over Marit and British Team Visma rider Matthew Brennan into today’s 147.5km third stage.
“I lost some bark [skin] off in the first five kilometers of the race, that was less than ideal, it was a pretty hard day out there,” Welsford said. “On the last time up the climb I was on my limit, but I had the boys around the whole time, we kept calm, we knew it was a long, hard finish.”
Welsford, who won three stages in last year’s Tour Down Under, praised the selfless work of his teammate Van Poppel to again present him the opportunity to finish it off.
“He put me back on after the climb and I was happy to finish it off for him alone,” he said. “We knew if we got back on to the peloton we would be in with a sniff, and I said to the boys: ‘Get me back on and I’m going to win this bloody thing.’”
It was a hair-raising sprint into Tanunda with Welsford bumping shoulders with rival riders to get himself into position behind Van Poppel.
The second stage was the last chance for the sprinters until Sunday’s sixth and final stage. From today it is more conducive for the climbers and the general classification contenders.
Fergus Browning of ARA Australia increased his lead in the King of the Mountain to 26 points after forming part of an early three-rider breakaway.
The pressure was already on Real Madrid coach Xabi Alonso before their 2-1 defeat to Manchester City on Wednesday in the UEFA Champions League raised further questions about his future. Arsenal remain perfect in this season’s competition and three points clear at the top of the standings after a 3-0 win against Club Brugge, while defending champions Paris Saint-Germain were held 0-0 at Athletic Bilbao. The clash between Madrid and City was the standout game of the round amid reports this week that Alonso had lost control of the locker room. Speculation over his position is likely to intensify after the latest
‘HIGH STANDARD’: The Thunder are on track for a Finals-Cup double after they scored 22 three-pointers in equaling the best 25-game start to a season in NBA history The Oklahoma City Thunder on Wednesday bagged a 16th straight victory, thrashing the Phoenix Suns 138-89 to romp into an NBA Cup semi-final clash with the San Antonio Spurs, who stunned the Los Angeles Lakers 132-119. NBA Most Valuable Player Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 28 points to lead the reigning NBA champions Thunder, who improved to 24-1 to equal the best 25-game start to a season in league history. They dominated from start to finish to book their place in the final four of the in-season tournament in Las Vegas, where they are tomorrow to take on the Spurs. The New York Knicks and
Italian Luca de Aliprandini described Saturday’s World Cup giant slalom at Val d’Isere as the hardest race of his life, coming two days after his Swiss partner Michelle Gisin suffered a heavy fall in training which required neck surgery. De Aliprandini finished 26th in the men’s event won by Loic Meillard, but the result paled into insignificance with two-time Olympic ski champion Gisin in hospital with injuries to her wrist, knee and cervical spine (neck). “It was Michelle’s wish that I race here. I couldn’t say no to her, but it was the toughest race of my entire life,” an emotional De
By the time Cameron Menzies finally left the arena on Monday, the blood gushing from the gash on his right hand had trickled down his wrist, part of his forearm and — somehow — up to his face. Smeared in crimson and regret, and already mouthing sheepish apologies to the crowd, he disappeared down the steps, pursued by a stern-looking Matt Porter, the chief executive of Professional Darts Corp (PDC). The physical scars from Menzies’ encounter with the Alexandra Palace drinks table after his 3-2 defeat against Charlie Manby at the Darts World Championship would be gone within a few weeks.
RSS