Soudal Quick-Step teammate Pepijn Reinderink animates the hardest stage of the race so far.
Uraidla welcomed the Tour Down Under peloton again, and Soudal Quick-Step’s Filippo Zana took there a result that bodes well for the rest of the week and his general classification ambitions.
Pepijn Reinderink was our first rider to be in the spotlight on Wednesday, when he booked a place in the strong seven-man breakaway that formed right after the start. The powerful Dutchman helped the group take their small advantage to a full three minutes before the first time up the Corkscrew Road, the main difficulty of the day.
Now in his third season with the Wolfpack, Reinderink was extremely active at the front of the race, attacking on the climbs to pick up points that put him in contention for the KOM jersey. When the group splintered on the final ascent, Pepijn was among the three riders to remain in the lead and continue to push hard, forcing the peloton to increase the tempo in order to reel them in. It came as no surprise that at the end of the day, the 23-year-old was rewarded with the most combative rider prize.
As soon as this happened, the race exploded and the bunch was split to pieces. Two riders went clear, while behind them, a strong chasing group featuring Filippo Zana formed. The Italian, who this week is racing for the first time in the Soudal Quick-Step jersey, produced a solid effort behind the duo, taking some strong pulls in the group who tried to reduce the deficit while keeping their margin over those trying to join them.
Zana finished a solid fifth as Jay Vine (UAE Team Emirates) scored the win, a result that now puts the Tour Down Under debutant just outside the top ten overall, one second behind teammate Andrea Raccagni. The young Italian was another Soudal Quick-Step rider to impress and show the remarkable improvements he has made on the climbs, which not only have moved him to eighth on the GC, but also kept him in the fight for the white jersey.
“Today was one of the hardest stages of the week. I felt good and tried to do my best. On the last ascent, when the attacks came, I tried to survive and just give everything to stay with that group. It wasn’t easy, but getting in the top five at the end of the day is a confidence-boosting result. Hopefully, I’ll be in the mix also in the other GC stages, I’m motivated to be there, but we’ll just see how things go”, Filippo said at the finish.
Photo credit: ©Con Chronis / Getty Images
