Tour Down Under 2018 | Stage 1 Race Report

After a short breather, it’s time for the 2018 WorldTour to begin with this, the 20th edition of the Tour Down Under. This will be the 3rd consecutive year that this familiar finishing circuit around Lyndoch has been used - Caleb Ewan has won the two previous years - could anyone beat Mitchelton-Scott’s pocket rocket?

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With KOM points on offer early in the stage, three riders broke away from the peloton as soon as the flag dropped for the official start. WorldTour debutants Nicholas Dlamini of Dimension Data and Scott Bowden of the UNI-SA team were joined by 7 year Tour Down Under veteran Will Clarke of EF Education First Drapac p/b Cannondale. The trio will have noted km 38 as their first point of interest - the one and only categorised climb of the day at Humbug Scrub - Bowden made an early move as they reached the summit, but Dlamini, in a miserly mood, shut the door on the young Australian, crested the climb first and took an early lead in the King of the Mountains competition.

A very fast downhill run-in to the line, helped by a cross-tailwind, meant positioning round the final corner was crucial. Quickstep had their man Viviani in a good place at the final bend, and the Italian took his chances with 200 metres to go, but Greipel had timed his effort perfectly to just arrive ahead of Sagan and Ewan. The Gorilla marks his return to Australia with a 17th stage win at the Tour Down Under.

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Watch more on GCN...
People's Choice Classic Race Report http://gcn.eu/pcc18 📹
Race News Show Ep.2 http://gcn.eu/RaceNewsEp2 📹

Photos: © Bettiniphoto / http://www.bettiniphoto.net/ & ©Tim De Waele / http://www.tdwsport.com

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