Veteran German sprinter Andre Greipel (Lotto Soudal) captured his 17th career stage victory in a wild sprint finish on Stage 1 at the 2018 Tour Down Under.
The first stage of the 2018 Santos Tour Down Under, which kicked off the World Tour for this year, set off from Historic Port Adelaide in Australia.
Riders were tasked with a 145 kilometer route from the coast to the hilly inland town of Lyndoch.
Will Clarke (EF Education First - Drapac) was the main leader in the breakaway early in the stage, before being caught by the sprint trains of the peloton 10 kilometers from the finish.
Greipel was lead out perfectly by the Lotto Soudal squad, and was able to finish the job, beating out an impressive cadre of riders, which included Caleb Ewan (Mitchelton-Scott), Peter Sagan (Bora-Hansgrohe), and Elia Viviani (Quick Step Floors), in a push for the stage victory.
Stage 2 will take the riders 148.6 kilometers from Unley in metropolitan Adelaide south and into the hills up to the town of Stirling.
Stage 1 Top 10 Finishers:
1st: Andre Greipel (Lotto Soudal)
2nd: Caleb Ewan (Mitchelton-Scott)
3rd: Peter Sagan (Bora-Hansgrohe)
4th: Elia Viviani (Quick Step Floors)
5th: Simone Consonni (UAE Team Emirates)
6th: Phil Bauhaus (Team Sunweb)
7th: Nathan Haas (Katusha-Alpecin)
8th: Matteo Mantaguti (AG2R La Mondiale)
9th: Ramunas Navarsdauskas (Bahrain-Merida)
10th: Riccardo Minali (Astana Pro Team)
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