Today, Tour Down Under was finally decided in a galloping bunch sprint after 18 laps on a 4.75 kilometer long circuit in Adelaide where the sprinter teams including Orica-GreenEdge and Tinkoff-Saxo took turns controlling the numerous and continuous attacks from the field.
Tinkoff-Saxo stuck to the plan and were eager setting up young newcomer, Michael Kolar for the sprint and he sprinted his way to 9th position in the furious finale after a solid lead-out by his teammates. Tinkoff-Saxo Aussie, Rory Sutherland finished 11th overall.
DS, Fabrizio Guidi states:
“We went all in for our new young sprinter and finishing 9th in your very first World Tour bunch sprint is a very nice debut. Generally I think we can be happy with the start of the season as young and older riders worked brilliantly together and followed the plan precisely and they were also able to change tactics halfway through the stage and dedicate and sacrifice themselves. If we can keep up this level of enthusiasm, we’ll have a great season,” says Guidi.
Simon Gerrans (Orica-GreenEdge) retained the overall lead and was celebrated from the top spot of the podium