Orica GreenEdge's team leader Simon Gerrans remains the man to beat at the Santos Tour Down Under as stormed away to an emphatic second straight stage win today.
Gerrans out-muscled Great Britain's Ben Swift (Sky) and Italian Giacomo Nizzolo (Trek Segafredo) to take line honours in the coastal township of Victor Harbor.
image: Marcus Speed | Bikeroar
Gerrans also won this stage back in 2014, and admitted that his knowledge of the course helped immensely. "Daryl (Impey, the lead-out specialist at Orica GreenEdge) also knows that finish very well indeed, so between us we had it covered," he said.
115,000 fans lined the course today, most of them cheering for the trio of Gerrans, wonder boy Caleb Ewan, and homegrown hero Rohan Dennis of BMC.
Gerrans and his team had all the answers, shutting down breakaways, stealing bonus sprint point throughout the day, and ultimately taking out the stage win too.
The victory puts Gerrans 14 seconds clear of young Aussie Jay McCarthy (Tinkoff) and 26 seconds ahead of defending champion Dennis.
"I've increased my lead, but tomorrow is Willunga Hill, so there's still a lot of work to be done," said Gerrans.
RELATED ARTICLE:
TDU: Simon Snatches Stage Three, Farrar Snatches Fan's Bike
Precisely one year ago BikeRoar predicted that Caleb Ewan, the pocket rocket with power to burn, would be the next big thing in professional racing. In 2015 he claimed...READ MORE
RELATED ARTICLE:
Sprint like you stole it: How to master sprint training
Most sprinting success comes from timing, experience, and lots of trial and error, but there are a few simple things you can do to speed up the learning curve; today we'll examine...READ MORE
