Tour Down Under (st. 3)

Heat and hellish approach to Corkscrew Hill ruin Movistar Team's chances at first big finish of Tour Down Under -Evans (BMC) seizes leader's jersey

Former road world champion Cadel Evans (BMC) is the new leader of the 16th Tour Down Under after making his strength and versatility count on a difficult finish in Campbelltown, ending point of stage three over 145km from Norwood including the decisive ascent through Corkscrew Road, whose summit was just 7k away from the finish. The impressive chasing pace behind the day’s break -Voigt (TFR), Meyer (DPC), Cousin (EUC) y Grivko (AST)- before the ascent made things complicated for the Movistar Team, whose five remnants did their best to help out Javi Moreno and Rubén Plaza until the final stages.

The two Spaniards were dropped out of an initial selection of about 20 riders which later saw the winning jump by Evans, pursuited by Porte (SKY) and Gerrans (OGE) before a ten-man group absorbed them, not able to take the stage and the ochre jersey off the local’s hands. Plaza came across the finish exactly one minunte after Evans, with Moreno at 1.34, which means that the telephone squad will now focus their efforts on the Queen stage in Willunga, . However, there are still two nice sprint chances left on Sunday (Adelaide) and especially tomorrow, with 149km to be covered between Unley and Victor Harbor.

Photo (c) Santos Tour Down Under / Regallo