2020 Tour Down Under Stage 3 Results & Recap
Stage 3 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
Porte grabs Tour Down Under leaders jersey\nBy Clara Beard
It was deja vu to 2015 all over again at the Santos Tour Down under, when Richie Porte took the reins of the race on the steep finishing climb up Paracombe and left the rest of his rivals in his wake. The Tasmanian attacked at the same section of the climb he’s been so successful on in years past, and quickly gained a handful of seconds on a group of favorites which included Simon Yates, Daryl Impey, Rob Power and George Bennett.
“The team worked fantastic today,” Porte said after the stage. “I take my cap off to those boys, they put all their faith into me today.
“I felt good at the bottom of the climb, I got a bit of a gap there. There was a shame there was a headwind, I think we could have done some real damage otherwise. To win again this year is a sweet feeling. I think Daryl (Impey) is still the man to beat (for the overall) with the bonus seconds on the road. To take another victory here at the Tour Down Under would be incredible.”
The stage was quite calm after it left the city of Unley. After six km of soft-pedaling through the neutral section, there was an attack from Israel Start Up Nation’s Guillaume Boivin. He was rapidly joined by Geoffrey Bouchard (AG2R La Mondiale) and Miles Scotson, the only Australian in the break.
The trio gained four minutes and 10 seconds early on, giving Scotson the virtual lead in the race. The peloton always had the breakaway in control, however, with most of the work done by Mitchelton Scott.
With the kilometres clicking away and the gap dwindling, Scotson decided to go it alone. Boivin and Bouchard gave up the ghost after realizing how close the peloton was. A few kilometres later, Scotson was brought back and the GC teams could continue the business of delivering their leaders to the base of the decisive climb.
The peloton was extremely tense before the final turn to the climb on Paracombe. Nobody could touch Porte, however. The Tasmanian did exactly what he did back in 2015, attack early and build a gap that none of his rivals could match.
Porte will wear ochre tomorrow, and Joseph Rosskopf (Ccc Team) maintains his lead in the KOM competition. Daryl Impey (Mitchelton - SCOTT) leads the sprint standings and Pavel Sivakov (Team INEOS) is the new best young rider. Today, the most combative award goes to Miles Scotson (Groupama - FDJ). Tomorrow's stage is on the long side at 158km from Norwood to Murry Bridge. It's predicted to be another showdown for the sprinters. \n
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