The 2019 UCI cycling season officially got underway on January 13, as Caleb Ewan of team Lotto-Soudal took the win at the Tour Down Under Classic.
The Santos Tour Down Under is a six-stage UCI WorldTour race that began in 1999, and take riders through some of the most scenic and historic areas of South Australia.
The Tour Down Under Classic is the first day of the men's race, and consists of a one hour plus one lap race around Rymill Park in Adelaide. The Classic is held before the six official stages as a way to kick off the event and allow for a spectator-friendly circuit. Nonetheless, the Classic is a competitive day, as both individual riders and teams are able to test out their legs and tactics on the WorldTour stage.
As expected, the pack held together until a quick final lap that tested the top riders sprinting legs. Lead out trains abounded in the criterium-style race, however a major crash occurred ahead of the final meters and took out a large chuck of the pack and contenders for the stage victory, such as Deceuninck-Quick Step rider Elia Viviani.
The top twelve riders came in all within ten second of each other, but in the end the final sprint was hard-fought between a group of three. Ultimately, Ewan was able to hold off the challenge from Bora-Hangrohe rider and world champion Peter Sagan, as well as Mitchelton-Scott's Alexander Edmonson to take victory in his home country at the Classic.
Strong rides were also put on by the 3rd through 7th place finishers, consisting of Roger Kluge of the same team as Caleb Ewan, Lotto-Soudal, Daniel Oss of the same team as Peter Sagan, Bora-Hansgrohe, as well as Owen Doull and Luke Rowe of Team Sky.
Stage 1 of the 2019 Santos Tour Down Under will being on Tuesday, January 15th, as riders will face a 129-kilometer stage from North Adelaide to Port Adelaide that is sure to produce a quick and competitive sprint finish.
Comments
Post a Comment