Santos Tour Down Under

The race continues Wednesday with another short but hot stage, which ended up changing the leader of the general classification. After leaving behind Norwood, the riders entered on a 35km anti-clockwise circuit, whose main difficulty was Fox Creed, a 1.6km climb averaging 7.5%.

Just like on the previous stage, two riders went in the breakaway, but despite opening a huge gap of more than six minutes, they stood no chance against the peloton. Soudal Quick-Step were among the teams working hard at the front, helping the chasers bring back the escapees and keeping things together on the last lap. As the speed increased in anticipation of the final climb, Pieter Serry put in a massive effort that split the peloton, leaving only a handful of riders in the frame, including Julian Alaphilippe.

The double World Champion was very active in the finale, chasing a strong duo that escaped over the top of the hill, in the hope that it would come down to a reduced bunch sprint. The catch was made with one kilometer to go, but a late attack of Isaac Del Toro (UAE Team Emirates) foiled the group’s plans, and the Mexican took the win. For the second day in a row, Antoine Huby was the first Soudal Quick-Step member to cross the finish line, and the young Frenchman remains our team’s highest-ranked rider in the overall standings.

“The guys showed some beautiful teamwork today. They worked hard and positioned themselves well to guide Julian in the final kilometers. The signs are encouraging for the next stages of the race, where we’ll keep trying to get a good result”, said Soudal Quick-Step sports director Geert Van Bondt.

Photo credit: ©Tim De Waele / Getty Images