Tour Down Under: Gibbons moves into white jersey for final stage
19 January 2019 04:00
Ryan Gibbons arrived at the Tour Down Under as Dimension Data's seventh choice general classification candidate but, going into Sunday's final stage, he finds himself fourth on GC and leading the young rider white jersey competition. The South African-registered team came to the 2019 WorldTour opener with a former Tour Down Under winner in Tom-Jelte Slagter, along with proven climber Ben O'Connor, and puncheur Michael Valgren in a squad with a number of options. Speaking after the stage 5 finish in Strathalbyn on Saturday, Gibbons admitted the white jersey wasn't a complete surprise.ADVERTISEMENT "We saw today that I was on the same time and I was actually only one place behind [Chris] Hamilton on countback after yesterday so I just needed to finish one place in front of him today," he said. "It wasn't really the main goal. The main goal was the stage but it was quite a stressful final. Across the finish line, though, I couldn't see Hamilton so I knew I had it." Gibbons' eighth-place finish today sits alongside a fifth-place finish, two 12th places and a 31st. Although the results have not made headlines, Gibbons' consistency can be commended in race with the sprint field featuring the likes of Peter Sagan (Bora-Hansgrohe), Elia Viviani (Deceuninck-QuickStep), Caleb Ewan (Lotto Soudal), Phil Bauhaus (Bahrain-Merida) and stage 5 winner Jasper Philipsen (UAE Team Emirates).
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