Willunga Hill too much for Gorka
21 January 2017

Tour Down Under (st. 5)

Izagirre's pain from Thursday's crash costly on Tour Down Under's Queen stage; Jesús Herrada just 9" short for top-ten overall as Porte (BMC) dominates

Despite completing the first of two climbs towards Old Willunga Hill within the top contenders, supported by a Movistar Team which kept him calm before the last 25km, Gorka Izagirre's body took its toll on stage five of the Tour Down Under following his crash on Thursday.

The Basque, choked by the furious pace both into the climb and through the descent against the wind, ended up losing contact just on the foot of the final ascent. Responsibility was, thus, on the shoulders of Jesús Herrada, who took 15th over the line, 32” behind unstoppable ochre jersey Richie Porte (BMC) and 12" off the favourites' group, where Nathan Haas (DDD) and Esteban Chaves (ORS) secured their respective, other two podium places.

Racing in Australia will come to an end on Friday as José Luis Arrieta's squad -2nd in the teams' standings behind UniSA-Australia- tackles the 20 laps (90km) of Adelaide's CBD circuit, with the only little climb of Montefiore Road in the north of the city.

REACTION:

Gorka Izagirre (courtesy Tour Down Under): The pain from my injuries finally caught up with me. I made it OK through yesterday but that was not a hard stage and I knew after the first passage up Willunga that it would not be easy. I tried to hang on, but when the attacks came, it was too much. It’s a shame to lose the podium, but that is bike racing.

Result