Tour Down Under stage 4: Sam Welsford continues sprint dominance with third stage victory

Sam Welsford’s dominance at the Tour Down Under continued as the Bora-Hansgrohe rider secured his third victory in four days in a straightforward bunch sprint into Port Elliot on stage 4.

The Australian’s lead-out from his team wasn’t as efficient as on previous stages but that didn’t matter as he expertly surfed the wheels before unleashing a vicious kick in the final two hundred metres to ease to the win ahead of Biniam Girmay (Intermarché-Wanty) in second and Lars Boven (Alpecin-Deceuninck) in third.

While there had been a small chance of crosswinds prior to the stage, these never materialised and it proved to be another routine victory for Welsford who added to his wins on stages 1 and 3.

“I’m lost for words. That was crazy, it was such a fast run-in," he reflected after the finish. "I don’t know how it all happened but I just had a good run out of the final corner. I wasn’t directly on Danny (van Poppel), but he knew where I was the whole time and I just used the guys in front of me as that lead-out.

“It’s just amazing again, it’s just been a perfect start to the year for us. It’s pretty special for me to come into a team and get that backing straight away.”

• Read more: Tour Down Under stage 3: Sam Welsford powers to another dominant sprint victory

The result wasn’t enough to wrestle the leader’s jersey away from Isaac del Toro (UAE Team Emirates) whose lead is likely to come under serious threat over the last two stages when the GC battle will spring to life with summit finishes atop the famous Willunga Hill followed by Mount Lofty on the final day.

Easy day for the sprint teams as crosswinds fail to materialise

Packing in only 1055m of climbing, stage 4 laid claim to the easiest profile of the race with barely a ripple in the road to worry the sprint teams, barring one categorised climb falling over 40km before the finish in Port Elliot. That didn’t necessarily mean that it would be plain sailing for the sprinters and it was within 10km of the finish that the main danger lay, with the prospect of crosswinds guaranteeing a nervy finale.

Things got off to a bad start for one of the sprint teams, Jayco-AlUla, who started the day without Luke Plapp. The Australian champion suffered significant road rash, cuts and bruises after a heavy crash on stage 3 and was forced to abandon the race ahead of the stage.

Plapp’s loss impacted the team’s firepower and they took a back seat as the rest of the sprint teams, joined by UAE Team Emirates, set about controlling the early fight for the breakaway which was more hotly contested than previous days. Julian Alaphilippe (Soudal Quick-Step), who had been relatively quiet over the opening three stages, was a surprising early trier but his effort was short lived.

Soudal were clearly intent on getting someone into the break and Pieter Serry was the next rider in the team to attack. The Belgian’s efforts proved to be more successful than his teammate’s and he quickly started forging a gap with the help of Jackson Medway (Australia), who had bridged across. Vinícius Rangel (Movistar) put in a big effort to catch the leaders at which point Serry decided to halt his effort early to drop back to the peloton.

While there were still signs of interest behind, things eventually settled down to leave Medway and Rangel with a long day out at the front of the race. The duo’s lead rose quickly to nearly five minutes but was swiftly cut down to just over three minutes where it hovered for the next 60 kilometres as the race set into an uneventful rhythm.

The first intermediate sprint with just under 70km remaining provided some welcome action in the peloton, although the front two simply rolled through with Medway taking the maximum bonus seconds. With one bonus second still up for grabs, there was more interest behind. Ineos Grenadiers’ Jhonatan Narváez, who many have marked as a potential winner of the race, struck out in pursuit of it but he was denied by Kelland O'Brien (Jayco-AlUla) who was working in the interests of the team’s GC leader Simon Yates.

There was little time to rest before the second and final intermediate sprint but, fully focussed on holding off the peloton, the breakaway once again rolled across the line with Rangel taking the three bonus seconds. Campbell Stewart secured the final bonus second for Jayco-AlUla once again, as the team snuffed out any threat from the other teams.

Only one classified climb stood between the riders and a flat run-in to the finish in the form of Gemmell Hill. Crested 47.9km from the finish and averaging only 3.9%, it was a mere bump in the road which the riders cruised over with minimum fuss. Rangel claimed the maximum KoM points ahead of Medway, while Luke Burns (Australia) extended his lead in the classification by mopping up the remaining point.

Now holding a lead of just over a minute, the breakaway’s lead out front was perilously small but the two escapees mounted a last stand to hold off the chasers until 15km remaining, when the charging sprint teams reeled them back in.

All attention now turned to the finish and, with barely a breeze to worry the riders, it proved to be a straightforward run to the line.

Unlike previous stages, Bora-Hansgrohe struggled to control things with Ineos Grenadiers doing the bulk of the work but that didn’t impact Welsford who surfed wheels in a frenzied finale before launching a ferocious kick which no one else could match. It proved to be enough to take the win comfortably ahead of Girmay and Boven.