Source: Kev Monks
Darryl Impey Wins TOur Down Under
Darryl Impey
of Mitchelton Scott has won the Santos Tour Down Under for the second time in a
row.
CCC Polish Team’s Paddy Bevin, was in the ochre
jersey again for the sixth and final 151.5km stage from McLaren Vale to
Willunga Hill.
131 riders started
the stage and seven riders including British rider Alex Dowsett plus Thomas De
Gendt, Bagdonas, Danny Van Poppel, Postelberger, Jasha Sutterllin and White of
UniSA were away early doors, taking a lead of 1.24 with 133kms of the stage to
go.
With less than one
hundred kilometres to go, that lead had gone out to 3.39 before Danny Van
Poppel took the first sprint.
Van Poppel took the next
sprint points at Snapper Hill, putting him into second place in the sprints
competition.
Dowsett dropped back
from the leaders with 33kms to go as the lead steadied at 2.31.
Talking of dropping
back, race leader Paddy Bevin was doing the same in the peloton, struggling with
the injuries he picked up from a crash on stage five as the riders started on
the climb up Willunga Hill.
Only White was still
clear with the rest of the break having returned to the fold and a kilometre
from the top, he was caught by the Team Sky duo of Poels and Ellisonde who took
the points on offer.
Carretero of
Movistar attacked but everyone was back together with nine kilometres to go.
Mitchelton Scott’s
Darryl Impey, now the virtual leader on the road, started to move up for the final
climb.
Under the flam rouge
and Richie Porte of Trek Segafredo, who knows this stage very well, put in an
attack that saw him take the win in 3.30.34 ahead of Wout Poels of Team Sky and
Darryl Impey took the overall victory with a winning margin of thirteen seconds
over Richie Porte.
A delighted Impey
told his team’s press office: “I took the pressure but having the faith of the
team goes a long way. We saw the boys committed right to the end. I couldn’t
believe they (Porte and Poels) were that close so I just dug deep and went for
it.
“That’s special to go back to back. I never dreamed
to come here and win twice in a row. Every year we come here with strong
ambitions. I knew the competition is always tough. I just believed in myself,
and it was just fantastic to pull it off.
“Yesterday we really dug deep, and we took some
valuable seconds. We knew we had some seconds on the climbing group. The stage
win gave us a lot of momentum, and we started to believe we had a chance to win
the race. The whole team rode great. The guys picked me up during the week.
“Last year I was a lot more ecstatic because I felt
like I made a big step. I feel like I am maturing more as a rider, and that’s
so exciting.
“I want to dedicate the win to him (Mathew Hayman).
He’s been a fantastic team mate, a lot of my victories have come with Maty. To
let him go out this way, we were going to celebrate his career anyway tonight,
but to win the race overall, it’ll be a double celebration
.read full article