A battered and bruised Sam Welsford (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) received a perfect leadout from his BORA-hansgrohe teammates to take his second win in so many days at the 2005 Tour Down Under.
Arne Marit (Intermarché-Wanty) took second and Bryan Coquard (Cofidis) was third in the fast and hectic stage 2 finale.
After crashing within the first five kilometers of the stage, Welsford continued on despite his ripped shorts. His team controlled the early breakaway and later rallied around him when he faced challenges on the third ascent of Menglers Hill, losing contact with the peloton with 25 kilometres remaining. Thanks to his teammates' support and after going deep, Welsford rejoined the group roughly 10 kilometres later.
The Australian then stayed on Danny van Poppel’s wheel, as he moved him up to the front as others behind battled to get his wheel. Welsford launched his sprint with less than 100 meters to go, and held on to the line. Van Poppel pulled off, first going left to the centre of the road to let Welsford go to his right and then moving right to close the door on Tobias Lund Andresen (Picnic PostNL), who in reaction had to go further left, forcing Phil Bauhaus (Bahrain-Victorious) to hit the brakes.
"Bloody hell - it was bike off in the first 5k to the race, and that was less than ideal. It was a pretty hard day out there. The break of three came back quite early, and then everyone started getting quite nervous, then last time up the climb I was on my limit,” Welsford said.
“I think it's always hard to win again - everyone looks at you even more. The parcours didn't suit us as well as yesterday, but we made it our race. I think it's a really dream start for us here.”
Welsford praised the work of his teammates, especially his final leadout man Van Poppel.
“Oh, man, I don't think I can describe how that was. He pulled me back on after the climb, and then still managed to do that 20-second lead out at God knows what power. That was amazing. I'm just happy to finish it off for him, and Laurence [Pithie] - Ben [Zwiehoff], Ryan [Mullen] - all the guys came back on the climb and tried to help me get back on.”
Marit, who was taken out of contention for stage 1 sprint due to a puncture, was also dropped on Menglers Hill and finally rejoined the pack with 10 kilometres to go.
“I came back, but I gambled so much. It was full gas, but actually I still had some legs, so I didn't do any pulls in the back. In the end, I found my teammates. I was actually not quite sure about my legs, but as a sprinter, you can always do something more when you see the line,” Marit said.
“I knew the wind was coming from the left, so the space was left, and Dries [De Pooter] actually brought me perfect position. He was not doubting anything about me. So I really have to thank the team. And this second place gives a lot of confidence, really.
Van Poppel, who originally crossed the line in tenth place, was relegated to 118th, the last position in the group he finished with.
Welsford retained the ochre leader’s jersey with Marit in second place and Matthew Brennan (Visma-Lease A Bike) in third. Both are tied at 14 seconds back.
Welsford also leads the point classification. Fergus Browing (ARA Australia) nabbed more KOM points after another day in the break, and has a solid 26-point lead in the mountains classification. Brennan retained the best young rider jersey.
After two days for the sprinters, it will be time for the climbers and overall contenders to shine on stage 3 which will change the GC dramatically. The 147.5km route from Norwood to Uraidla features Norton Summit and a new climb, Knott's Hill, with its punishing 22.2% grade, which the racers will tackle twice.
How it unfolded
The 128.8km Tanunda stage provided even more relief from the heat that had hit the women’s race, with the forecast for the town in the heart of the Barossa wine region 29°C, though with blue skies and a blazing sun, the ice stockings were still in the back of the jerseys.
The flag dropped and Fergus Browning (ARA Australian Cycling Team) was off and away, he’d experienced what it felt like to line up in the KOM jersey and wanted to do it again. Given the first points were on offer at just 8km into the day of racing there was no room to linger.
It turned out that off the front was a good place to be, with a crash back in the peloton that caught up a number of riders, including James Knox (Soudal-QuickStep) and the ochre-clad Sam Welsford (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe), with the right leg of his shorts ripped to shreds he chased back to the peloton with teammate Filip Maciejuk to pace him back.
The easing in the pace in the bunch to allow the race leader to join back on played into the hands of the break, which was now three as Patrick Konrad (Lidl-Trek) and Georg Zimmermann (Intermarché-Wanty) jumped over.
The breakaway companions were content to allow the determined 21-year-old Browning to take the 10 points that were up for grabs for the first position on the first pass of the category 1 climb of Menglers HIll. The 2.7km climb with an average gradient of 6.9%, peaking at 12.2%, would feature three times on the course today, which looped around Tanunda providing an obstacle for the sprinters, particularly on its final appearance at 22km to the finish.
The gap, shrinking to about one-and-a-half minutes, by the intermediate sprint at 97.6km to go, and the riders out the front had every incentive to take what they could while they could, Konrad topping Zimmerman on the line.
The riders out front, however, kept and even extended their gap a little as they passed the Tanunda start/finish the first time and then headed toward Menglers Hill again, with the peloton easing off and the gap heading toward two-and-a-half minutes as Browning once again claimed top points.
The sprinters' teams, however, were intensifying the chase, Visma-Lease a Bike sending a rider to the front to help Red Bull-Bora Hansgrohe keep pressure on the gap. The break of Browning, Konrad and Zimmermann succumbed at around 45km to go, so the field was altogether as it passed the landmark stretch of palms lining the road alongside Seppeltsfield Wines and worked its way, with care in the wind-prone sections, to the start/finish line for the penultimate pass.
The field was stretched with Connor Swift (Ineos Grenadiers) applying the pressure as the field hit the base of the climb of Menglers Hill for the last time. An attack from Juan Pedro López (Lidl-Trek) spurred some action but it was short-lived, likely much to the relief of the sprinters.
Still, Welsford could be seen hanging off the back of the field – the ochre-clad sprinter had some serious work to do and energy to be spent in the pursuit. The pressure remained on at the front, with the jabs continuing, though Welsford’s teammates helped haul him back into the fray at around 15km to go.
The field remained stretched, though then settled at around 8km to go, the peloton bunching up and allowing the sprinters to get ready for the dash ahead. The shuffling and re-shuffling of the peloton continued for the next kilometres as they sped around road furniture while Welsford was moved up to the front with 2.5 kilometres to go. Behind him, the fight raged to hold his wheel.
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