Tour Down Under (st. 3)

Javi Moreno becomes a solid leader again by finishing 6th in Stirling -with Visconti in 5th place- after a carousel of attacks from Movistar Team in the final 45k of a demanding day three in Australia

After coming close to success on stage two of the 2013 Tour Down Under, Movistar Team did not stop searching for the first victory of the season and led an offensive exhibition in the final 45k of stage three, starting at Unley and including six laps of a rolling circuit with an uphill finish at Stirling (139km in total).

The riders directed by José Luis Arrieta were in charge of chasing down the day’s breakaway -formed up by Simon Clarke (OGE) and William Clarke (ARS)- as they participated in no less than three splits: a first, short attempt by Iván Gutiérrez; a ten-man attack with José Herrada and Andrey Amador, rapidly aborted; and a third move with eight men, the most remarkable one featuring Andrey Amador, which the bunch did not let go more than 25 seconds apart.

As the Costa Rican’s notable effort was chased down with 5k from the finish, Javi Moreno took a perfect position into the final sprint of about forty riders and stood well against the final charge to take 6th and conserved his privileged position overall -only Slagter (BLA), the day’s winner, went between the Spaniard and race leader Geraint Thomas (SKY) thanks to bonus seconds-.

Giovanni Visconti, well recovered from his crash yesterday, came in 5th and underlined the excellent overall level from the telephone squad, just two days before Saturday’s showdown atop Old Willunga Hill. Before that, on Friday, another flat, apparently calm stage will be covered, 127km from Modbury to Tanunda. It will be another chance for the team’s fastest man José Joaquín Rojas, who made it into the elite group today.