Elia Viviani was the man of the day in the Tour Down Under, capitalizing on his teammates’ excellent work as well as his fantastic speed and cunningness on the way to a maiden stage victory at the Australian World Tour race, where he returned for the first time since 2014.
It was the hottest day of this year’s Tour Down Under, with temperatures hitting 47 degrees, and for that very reason the organizers decided to reduce the stage between Glenelg and Victor Harbor by 26 kilometers. Despite the scorching heat, three riders broke clear from the outset of the stage and enjoyed a three-minute buffer before the peloton pegged them back one by one, with the catch being made on the final lap of the Victor Harbor circuit.
Podium / Elia VIVIANI (ITA)/ Celebration /
Colley Tce, Glenelg – The Esplanade, Victor Harbor
(120,5km) / Race shortened due to high temperatures / Men / TDU / © Tim De Waele
With under ten kilometers to go, Dries Devenyns, Fabio Sabatini and Michael Mørkøv brought Elia Viviani to the front of the peloton, knowing the final part of the stage was a very technical one, with one roundabout and two tight corners packed in the closing 1500 meters. The experienced Dane dropped off Viviani with 200 meters to go and the Italian blasted past race leader Caleb Ewan (Mitchelton-Scott) despite the ground he had to make, taking a convincing victory by two bike lengths.
“Today it was very hot and that only made the stage harder. For that matter, it was very important to keep hydrating and make sure there’s some energy left in the tank for the final 200 meters. The guys did a perfect job today and I want to thank them for helping me get this win. The victory is important not only for the confidence, but also because it shows that I had a good winter preparation”, said Elia Viviani, as he stood against the railings at the finish.
Only the sixth Italian rider to put his name on the winners’ sheet at the Tour Down Under, Elia drew a lot of satisfaction from Thursday’s spectacular victory: “The first win of the year is always the hardest one to get. I was determined to start the season on the right foot and this success gives me great joy. I had good legs this week, you could see I was always there in the other stages, but needed just a few days to get that race feeling with my teammates and put things into place. I’m very happy everything went perfect today and I netted a victory so early in the season.”
Caleb Ewan retains leaders jersey
Stage two winner Caleb Ewan finished third in stage three to retain the race lead by 10 seconds.
It’s the first time in history Ewan has retained the jersey for consecutive days having held it for one-day in the past two editions.
Ewan blamed a personal error for costing him the stage but praised his Mitchelton-SCOTT teammates on another perfect lead out.
“I’m pretty disappointed with that to be honest,” said Ewan after the stage. “My team gave me an absolutely perfect lead out and I stuffed it up in the end. It was a bit of a headwind so I didn’t want to go too early, I waited a little bit too long and Viviani got the jump on me.”
“I can’t fault the team they were absolutely perfect and they did exactly what I asked them to do. There’s been four different winners over the last four races here so it just shows he depth of the sprint field here at this race.”
“I can still take confidence out of all my sprints the last few days. I haven’t quite nailed them all as I would have hoped but I am super confident with how the team is riding and I don’t think I have ever had lead outs this good before. The times I haven’t won it’s been more because of myself rather than the team.”
2018 Tour Down Under – Stage 3 Results
- Elia Viviani (Quick.Steo Floors) 3:04:40
- Paul Bauhaus (Team Sunweb) ST
- Caleb Ewan (Mitchelton-SCOTT) ST
General classification after stage three:
- Caleb Ewan (Mitchelton-SCOTT) 10:58:36
- Elia Viviani (Quick.Steo Floors) +0:10
- Daryl Impey (Mitchelton-SCOTT) +0:14
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