A much-needed recovery
21 January 2017

Tour Down Under (st. 4)

Gorka Izagirre gets through calmest day in Australia, will tackle tomorrow's Queen stage in 2nd place overall. Jasha Sütterlin takes 9th in Campbelltown behind dominant Caleb Ewan (ORS)

Heavily bandaged, yet without really much pain and in good spirits after a good night's sleep, Gorka Izagirre (Movistar Team) got back on his bike on Friday's Tour Down Under stage four – 149.5km from Norwood to Campbelltown – as he looked to get through this rolling, not-so-lumpy route as easy as he could before taking on the two ascents of Old Willunga Hill on Saturday. He was successful.

Always well covered by the likes of the Herrada brothers, Soler, De La Parte or Barbero, the Basque rider always kept the front of the bunch and retained his 2nd spot in the overall standings, still 20" behind ochre jersey Richie Porte (BMC). At the sprint, Jasha Sütterlin took a courageous attempt from a long distance to claim his best result of the week, ninth over the line, as Caleb Ewan (ORS) prevailed once again.

It was, all in all, a very calm day, less hot than the previous ones, and a way for the bunch to recover before the biggest battle of the race in just 24 hours' time.

Result