2020 Tour Down Under Stage 1 Results & Recap
Stage 1 of the 2020 Tour Down Under is in the books. The final results and standings are below, followed by our recap of how the race unfolded.
Race Recap
Bennett collects stage win, ochre jersey\nBy Clara Beard
For the first time in Santos Tour Down Under history, an Irish rider by the name of Sam Bennett (Deceuninck-QuickStep) is in the Ochre jersey after a strong sprint into Tanunda ahead of Jasper Philipsen (UAD) and Erik Baska (BOH) after 150 km of racing through the Barossa Valley.
Bennett’s stage win gave him four seconds time bonus ahead of Philipsen, who is leading the best young rider competition.
It was a relatively mild day in southern Australia as 109 riders took the start line in Tanunda for five, 30 kilometre laps around the Barossa region. With two KOM and Sprint opportunities, a breakaway inevitably escaped, but it only developed after the first intermediate sprint in Angaston, that saw defending champion, Daryl Impey take the three-second time bonus.
After the first lap, Joseph Rosskopf (CCC), Dylan Sunderland (NTT), Michael Storer (SUN) and Jarrad Drizners (AUS) took off down the road and gained a maximum of four minutes on the sleepy peloton, who were content with letting the breakaway have their moment in the sun before the foreseeable sprint finish. Drizners was keen to step away with the KOM jersey and claimed max points over Breakneck Hill, as well as scooping up a time bonus the second time across the intermediate sprint.
With the kilometres clicking away, Rosskopf sensed the danger of the looming peloton, creeping gradually closer, and attacked with 55 kilometres to go. He scaled the final KOM alone but ended up not claiming the KOM jersey despite being equal in points with Drizners, who finished the stage with a higher placing.
Rosskopf was absorbed by the peloton with 30 kilometres left, and from there the sprinters’ teams assembled to deliver their fast men to the line. In the final kilometre, no one could match the speed of the Irishman Bennett, and the first champion of the 22nd Tour Down Under was crowned.
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