Santos Tour Down Under

Stage 3 of the race brought the first hard test of this edition: Knotts Hill, a climb never before used by the Tour Down Under – and to make things more complicated, the riders had to tackle it twice. The second of these ascents came around six kilometers from the finish, which was enough incentive for those willing to shake up the general classification to make a move on the demanding gradients of this 2.7km climb.

With the sprinters – including the leader of the GC – dropped in the last 25 kilometers after suffering throughout the day on the small hills which gave no moment of respite, it became clear the red ochre jersey will change hands in Uraidla, where the race returned for the first time since 2019. The attacks came thick and fast in the final 500 meters of Knotts Hill, as soon as the gradients reached 22%, leaving only a dozen or so riders in the select front group.

From there, Javier Romo (Movistar) zipped away in the closing kilometers and took the victory by a handful of seconds. Soudal Quick-Step’s first man to come home was Junior Lecerf, who managed to remain with the favourites until the steepest part of the last ascent and then did his best to limit the losses in the final part of the stage, concluding just outside the top 20 after four hard hours in the saddle.

Photo credit: ©Dario Belingheri / Getty Images