Tour Down Under (st. 2)

135km breakaway for Spanish U23 TT champion from Movistar Team grants him visit to podium as Most Competitive rider on TDU stage two. Barbero 10th into restricted sprint.

Jaime Castrillo brought some joy to the Movistar Team camp during stage two of the 2018 Tour Down Under, held Wednesday over a 148km route from Unley to Stirling which included four ascents to the Aldgate hill, where new GC leader Caleb Ewan (MTS) came victorious.

The 21-year-old from Jaca, Aragón in northern Spain got into a four-man breakaway formed right after the gun, and later reduced to three men as Clarke (EFD) and Bowden (AUS) joined the Spanish U23 TT champion with a gap close to seven minutes. Under scorching hot conditions, temperatures rising to nearly 40ºC, Castrillo decided to carry on solo after one of the day’s intermediate sprints, and completed the final 50km of his adventure -he was caught with thirteen kilometers to go- with no help ahead of the bunch. The Spaniard earned himself a visit to the podium as Most Competitive rider of the day.

The series of ascents and the fast pace by the group in the finale -even though they reached the finish line 30 minutes behind schedule, a slower pace in the early stages being responsible for that- left less than 50 riders into the main field at the final sprint, where Carlos Barbero took 10th place to now sit in ninth overall. Rubén Fernández and Marc Soler did not lose any time and remain fully in contention for the GC.

Pure sprinters should be again playing for the day’s honours on Thursday’s stage three, a heat-shortened 120.5km from Glenelg to Victor Harbor, before the mountains come out in force starting on Friday.

All pictures (c): Dario Belingheri / BettiniPhoto.net