Murray Bridge (Australia), January 24th – Santos Tour Down Under continued with stage 4, the longest of this edition and a point-to-point one, from Norwood to Murray Bridge (152.8km).
After an undulating first part running through the Adelaide Hills, the course featured a plain second part towards the finish, where a bunch sprint was expected.
GC contenders were initially very active to take time bonuses, then a breakaway was established, but the sprinters’ teams could manage to control it, despite crosswinds.
“It was quite a bit stressful day because of the wind. In the end, it was all about fighting for positions almost all day” Luka Pibernik commented. Today he was working hard to protect the team’s leaders Hermann Pernsteiner and Santiago Buitrago. “We were always on the front in the crucial moment. The finale was stressful too, like always in case of sprint, even more, if the finish is technical as today. Our mission was to keep safe especially Santiago, who did a really good job and he is still fighting for the white jersey”.
Caleb Ewan took his second stage win of this edition of the Tour Down Under, with Richie Porte maintaining the overall leadership. Impey reduced the gap to him thanks to bonus seconds in the intermediate sprint and he’s now at only 3 seconds. Our Buitrago improved his overall ranking place, moving into the top twenty. The young Colombian rider is now 19th.
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