Tanunda, January 21st – UCI WorldTour officially started today with the opening stage of the Tour Down Under, that was also the first-ever WorldTour race of our team.
After kicking off the season with a criterium in Adelaide, Team Bahrain McLaren lined up in the first big event of the 2020 calendar, that will be remembered as a historical moment.
Stage 1 of the 6-day Australian race was one for the sprinters. Riders faced five laps of a 30-km circuit, in the picturesque Barossa region, with start and finish in Tanunda. The course included a short and punchy climb, but that wasn’t selective enough to prevent the expected sprint finish.
“As the circuit was nice and wide there were no surprises throughout the day and the peloton could easily manage to control the breakaway” Marco Haller explained, “Race became intensive in the last 10 km like expected and there was also some crashes, that didn’t involve none of us, that means our goal is achieved”.
Mission was in fact to protect the captain Rafael Valls, who will try on the next most demanding stages to fight for the overall jersey. He was also our best-placed rider, finishing 20th.
Today sprinters didn’t miss the first opportunity, with Sam Bennet taking it ahead of Philipsen.
Tour Down Under continues tomorrow with stage 2, a circuit around Stirling and a well-known course and finish.
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