Santos Tour Down Under

Tanunda, the small town located some 60 kilometers from Adelaide, welcomed the peloton for the fourth consecutive time at the Tour Down Under, with a 128.8km hilly loop that didn’t bring any significant changes to the rankings.

A crash right in the middle of the bunch just seconds after the start saw several riders hit the ground, including James Knox, but fortunately the Brit was soon back up and able to continue the race. Moments after those involved in the pile-up returned, three men jumped away and established a breakaway whose 2:20 maximum advantage allowed them to stay off the front until the last 44 kilometers of the day.

Menglers Hill (2.8km, 6.7%) was the main difficulty of the day, featuring three times on the course, but despite the accelerations that came near the top last time up, the peloton remained as one. More attacks followed on the descent, as several riders tried opening a gap before the teams got themselves organised, but nothing could prevent another bunch sprint in Tanunda, where Sam Welsford (Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe) took the victory.

For the second day in a row, Andrea Raccagni was the first Soudal Quick-Step rider home. After a solid job of his teammates in the closing kilometers of the stage, the 20-year-old neo-pro came close to his first top ten finish in the World Tour, concluding the stage in 12th place, a result that helped him move up to 17th on the overall standings.

Photo credit: ©Dario Belingheri / Getty Images