Tour Down Under 2017 – Stage 2 [PARTIAL STAGE]

January 18, 2016

Tour Down Under 2017 – Stage 2 – Stirling – Paracombe – 148,5 km

The 2007 Tour Down Under was held from 16 to 21 January 2007 in Australia. It was a multiple stage road cycling race that took part over five stages with a total of 667 kilometres and is part of the 2006-2007 UCI Oceania Tour. The 2007 Down Under Classic was the official warm-up race for the event.

Richie Porte (BMC Racing) stomped away from the rest of the Tour Down Under contenders Wednesday on the Paracombe climb, taking the stage 2 win and claiming the overall race lead. The BMC team leader made it look easy as he rode away from the mostly intact peloton that hit the lowers slopes of the final climb for a fourth career Tour Down Under stage win.

Porte finished 16 seconds ahead of Gorka Izagirre (Movistar) and Esteban Chaves (Orica-Scott) during the 145.5km stage from Stirling to Paracombe. He now leads Izagirre in the overall by 20 seconds and Chaves by 22.

“It’s incredible to wear the jersey in the biggest race in Australia. I would love to win it. There are a few hard days to come but I know today and the work the BMC guys did for me today was absolutely incredible,” Porte said after collecting the ochre, points, and KOM jerseys. “I did a lot of training in the off-season for this climb, we made a mess of it two years ago so to come back and make amends like this is just a dream.”

Having twice finished runner-up in the race, Porte wouldn’t be drawn into stating the race was already won with the likes of Simon Gerrans (Orica-Scott) still a dangerous rival despite being 58 seconds in arrears.

“I think for me, it is just to get through the next two days in as good a condition as I can. I am not sure what the time gaps are back to guys like Simon Gerrans but she’s not over until it’s over,” added Porte.

With 2015 Paracombe winner Rohan Dennis crossing the line in fourth place, BMC is well positioned for its second overall win in three years. Izagirre, and Chaves are likely Porte’s most dangerous rivals. However, Australian puncheurs Jay McCarthy (Bora-Hansgrohe) and Nathan Haas (Dimension Data) will be riders to watch with the numerous intermediate sprint bonus seconds on offer.

How it unfolded

After the 46 degrees of stage 1, far cooler temperatures of 19 degrees awaited the peloton in Stirling with the hills town hosting the start, rather than finish of stage 2 as it has in previous years. Bahrain-Merida’s Ondrej Cink, in his first race as a road rider, and UniSA-Australia’s Cam Meyer chanced their luck in an early break on the five circuits of Stirling.

Their attempt came to naught so that when the first intermediate sprint came around, Ben Swift (UAE Abu Dhabi) got the points and bonus seconds ahead of Jay McCarthy. Movistar’s Jasha Sütterlin decided to jump off the front shortly after, quickly building a five-minute lead over a peloton that was more than content to let him enjoy some TV time.

There was no contest for the second intermediate sprint point at just under half way into the stage as Sütterlin, the Bora-Hansgrohe duo Michael Kolar and Rudiger Selig mopped up for second and third. World Champion Peter Sagan was happy to show himself at the front of the peloton as riders took a relaxed approach to the circuits, smiling and laughing at regular intervals.

Regular workhorse Damien Howson resumed his place at the head of the peloton towards the end of the fourth lap with Sütterlin’s lead dropping to three and a half minutes. Race leader Caleb Ewan was another rider to move forward and assist with the pace making as Sütterlin extended his lead back to four minutes on the fifth and final circuit and in doing so, secured the combativity prize.

The red jerseys of BMC and Lotto Soudal were next to swell towards the front, followed by the lime green of Cannondale-Drapac, with Sütterlin’s advantage on the road equal to three kilometres. In the final kilometres of the fifth circuit, Sky joined in at the front of the race, ready to up the power when called upon.

Exciting the circuit, Ian Stannard dropped the hammer for Sky with Sütterlin’s advantage halved to just under two minutes.

Having set a new Strava record on Monday up Paracombe, Sütterlin wasn’t in position to repeat his 3:13 minute effort as he sat up with 40km to race. Birthday boy and Australian national champion Miles Scotson (BMC) was the first man to blast past as the pace in the peloton saw several riders start to struggle at the rear.

Down Norton Summit, UniSA-Australia’s Cam Meyer did a turn of pace with Team Sky and Orica-Scott keeping the former winner in check. BMC’s Rohan Dennis suffered a flat on the fast run down Maryvale Road. A double puncture felled Sebastián forcing Sky to send his cousin Sebastián, and Kenny Elissonde to help pace him back through the convoy before the Gorge with Cannondale-Drapac’s Paddy Bevin for company.

With the knowledge that one of the pre-race favourites in Henao was struggling to regain contact, Orica-Scott and Movistar drove the pace through the gorge with 10km to race. Ewan and Daryl Impey were the last two men left for Gerrans and Chaves as riders started to pull up stumps as they approached the 5km to go signs.

When the race made the right turn onto the final climb, Sagan briefly lead before pulling off to side. Porte wasted little time launching an attack that only Izagirre could follow. Eventually, the Spaniard lost Porte’s pace as well, dropping back to Chaves, who had pulled away from the rest. Porte made it look easy as he crossed the line for the stage win and overall lead, while Izagirre had no trouble beating Chaves to the line 16 seconds later. Dennis led a large group across the line another three seconds back.

Results :
1 Richie Porte (Aus) BMC Racing Team 3:46:06
2 Gorka Izagirre Insausti (Spa) Movistar Team 0:00:16
3 Esteban Chaves (Col) Orica-Scott
4 Rohan Dennis (Aus) BMC Racing Team 0:00:19
5 Nathan Haas (Aus) Dimension Data
6 Diego Ulissi (Ita) Team UAE Abu Dhabi
7 Ruben Guerreiro (Por) Trek-Segafredo
8 Michael Storer (Aus) UniSA-Australia
9 Michael Woods (Can) Cannondale-Drapac
10 Luis León Sánchez (Spa) Astana Pro Team
11 Nathan Earle (Aus) UniSA-Australia
12 Sergio Luis Henao Montoya (Col) Team Sky
13 Jesus Herrada Lopez (Spa) Movistar Team
14 Jay McCarthy (Aus) Bora-Hansgrohe
15 Domenico Pozzovivo (Ita) AG2R La Mondiale
16 Rafael Valls (Spa) Lotto Soudal
17 Enric Mas (Spa) Quick-Step Floors
18 Wilco Kelderman (Ned) Team Sunweb
19 Robert Gesink (Ned) Team LottoNL-Jumbo
20 Jhonatan Restrepo (Col) Katusha-Alpecin
21 Odd Christian Eiking (Nor) FDJ 0:00:29
22 Peter Stetina (USA) Trek-Segafredo 0:00:30
23 Jarlinson Pantano (Col) Trek-Segafredo 0:00:35
24 Giovanni Visconti (Ita) Bahrain-Merida
25 Patrick Bevin (NZl) Cannondale-Drapac
26 Lachlan Morton (Aus) Dimension Data
27 Petr Vakoc (Cze) Quick-Step Floors
28 Jai Hindley (Aus) UniSA-Australia
29 Lucas Hamilton (Aus) UniSA-Australia
30 Ondrej Cink (Cze) Bahrain-Merida
31 Dries Devenyns (Bel) Quick-Step Floors
32 Chris Hamilton (Aus) Team Sunweb
33 Jan Bakelants (Bel) AG2R La Mondiale
34 Tom Jelte Slagter (Ned) Cannondale-Drapac
35 Sven Erik Bystrøm (Nor) Katusha-Alpecin 0:00:47
36 Marc Soler (Spa) Movistar Team 0:00:50
37 Anthony Roux (Fra) FDJ
38 Simon Gerrans (Aus) Orica-Scott
39 Ben O’Connor (Aus) Dimension Data 0:00:55
40 Gianluca Brambilla (Ita) Quick-Step Floors 0:00:57
41 Jack Bauer (NZl) Quick-Step Floors
42 Daryl Impey (RSA) Orica-Scott
43 Sander Armee (Bel) Lotto Soudal
44 Geraint Thomas (GBr) Team Sky
45 José Herrada Lopez (Spa) Movistar Team
46 Paul Martens (Ger) Team LottoNL-Jumbo
47 Louis Meintjes (RSA) Team UAE Abu Dhabi
48 Eros Capecchi (Ita) Quick-Step Floors
49 José Gonçalves (Por) Katusha-Alpecin 0:01:06
50 Lars Ytting Bak (Den) Lotto Soudal
51 Michael Valgren Andersen (Den) Astana Pro Team 0:01:21
52 Maurits Lammertink (Ned) Katusha-Alpecin
53 Clement Chevrier (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 0:00:01
54 James Shaw (GBr) Lotto Soudal
55 Laurent Didier (Lux) Trek-Segafredo 0:01:26
56 Tiago Machado (Por) Katusha-Alpecin
57 Sean De Bie (Bel) Lotto Soudal 0:01:34
58 Damiano Caruso (Ita) BMC Racing Team
59 Samuel Jenner (Aus) UniSA-Australia
60 Ben Swift (GBr) Team UAE Abu Dhabi
61 Yukiya Arashiro (Jpn) Bahrain-Merida 0:01:48
62 Artyom Zakharov (Kaz) Astana Pro Team
63 Janez Brajkovic (Slo) Bahrain-Merida 0:02:06
64 Vegard Stake Laengen (Nor) Team UAE Abu Dhabi
65 Matteo Montaguti (Ita) AG2R La Mondiale 0:02:18
66 Jeremy Maison (Fra) FDJ 0:02:24
67 Alexey Vermeulen (USA) Team LottoNL-Jumbo 0:02:25
68 Simon Geschke (Ger) Team Sunweb 0:02:52
69 Cameron Meyer (Aus) UniSA-Australia 0:02:59
70 Víctor de la Parte (Spa) Movistar Team 0:03:16
71 Gregor Mühlberger (Aut) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:03:21
72 Adam Hansen (Aus) Lotto Soudal
73 Enrico Battaglin (Ita) Team LottoNL-Jumbo 0:03:28
74 Jacques Janse van Rensburg (RSA) Dimension Data 0:03:31
75 Ben Gastauer (Lux) AG2R La Mondiale
76 Peter Sagan (Svk) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:03:42
77 Danilo Wyss (Swi) BMC Racing Team 0:03:57
78 Amaël Moinard (Fra) BMC Racing Team
79 Manuele Mori (Ita) Team UAE Abu Dhabi 0:03:59
80 Marco Marcato (Ita) Team UAE Abu Dhabi
81 Matthieu Ladagnous (Fra) FDJ 0:04:16
82 Angel Vicioso Arcos (Spa) Katusha-Alpecin 0:04:50
83 Martin Velits (Svk) Quick-Step Floors 0:05:33
84 Thomas De Gendt (Bel) Lotto Soudal 0:06:01
85 Jasha Sütterlin (Ger) Movistar Team
86 Koen de Kort (Ned) Trek-Segafredo
87 Miles Scotson (Aus) BMC Racing Team 0:06:03
88 Jacobus Venter (RSA) Dimension Data 0:06:57
89 Edward Theuns (Bel) Trek-Segafredo 0:07:08
90 Baptiste Planckaert (Bel) Katusha-Alpecin 0:07:17
91 Lorrenzo Manzin (Fra) FDJ 0:07:33
92 Francois Bidard (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
93 Nikias Arndt (Ger) Team Sunweb 0:08:27
94 Lennard Hofstede (Ned) Team Sunweb
95 Carlos Barbero Cuesta (Spa) Movistar Team
96 Tsgabu Grmay (Eth) Bahrain-Merida
97 Callum Scotson (Aus) UniSA-Australia
98 Niccolò Bonifazio (Ita) Bahrain-Merida
99 Alex Howes (USA) Cannondale-Drapac 0:09:23
100 Matti Breschel (Den) Astana Pro Team
101 Caleb Ewan (Aus) Orica-Scott 0:09:28
102 Chun Kai Feng (Tpe) Bahrain-Merida
103 Luke Durbridge (Aus) Orica-Scott 0:10:17
104 Damien Howson (Aus) Orica-Scott
105 William Clarke (Aus) Cannondale-Drapac
106 Thomas Scully (NZl) Cannondale-Drapac
107 Phil Bauhaus (Ger) Team Sunweb 0:10:56
108 Michal Kolár (Svk) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:10:59
109 Sam Bennett (Irl) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:11:01
110 Rudiger Selig (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe
111 Mark Renshaw (Aus) Dimension Data 0:11:23
112 Laurens De Vreese (Bel) Astana Pro Team
113 Robert Wagner (Ger) Team LottoNL-Jumbo
114 Roger Kluge (Ger) Orica-Scott
115 Francisco Ventoso (Spa) BMC Racing Team
116 Paolo Tiralongo (Ita) Astana Pro Team
117 Bert-Jan Lindeman (Ned) Team LottoNL-Jumbo
118 Sebastian Henao Gomez (Col) Team Sky
119 Tyler Farrar (USA) Dimension Data
120 Tom Van Asbroeck (Bel) Cannondale-Drapac
121 Marko Kump (Slo) Team UAE Abu Dhabi
122 Lukas Pöstlberger (Aut) Bora-Hansgrohe
123 Arnaud Courteille (Fra) FDJ
124 Kenny Elissonde (Fra) Team Sky
125 Julien Berard (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 0:11:51
126 Ian Stannard (GBr) Team Sky 0:13:13
127 Luke Rowe (GBr) Team Sky
128 Koen Bouwman (Ned) Team LottoNL-Jumbo 0:14:41
129 Danny van Poppel (Ned) Team Sky 0:14:51
130 Oscar Gatto (Ita) Astana Pro Team 0:17:15
131 Johannes Fröhlinger (Ger) Team Sunweb
132 Mads Pedersen (Den) Trek-Segafredo

General classification after Stage 2 :
1 Richie Porte (Aus) BMC Racing Team 7:10:14
2 Gorka Izagirre Insausti (Spa) Movistar Team 0:00:20
3 Esteban Chaves (Col) Orica-Scott 0:00:22
4 Jay McCarthy (Aus) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:00:24
5 Nathan Haas (Aus) Dimension Data 0:00:27
6 Diego Ulissi (Ita) Team UAE Abu Dhabi 0:00:29
7 Nathan Earle (Aus) UniSA-Australia
8 Rohan Dennis (Aus) BMC Racing Team
9 Luis León Sánchez (Spa) Astana Pro Team
10 Rafael Valls (Spa) Lotto Soudal
11 Robert Gesink (Ned) Team LottoNL-Jumbo
12 Domenico Pozzovivo (Ita) AG2R La Mondiale
13 Wilco Kelderman (Ned) Team Sunweb
14 Ruben Guerreiro (Por) Trek-Segafredo
15 Sergio Luis Henao Montoya (Col) Team Sky
16 Michael Woods (Can) Cannondale-Drapac
17 Enric Mas (Spa) Quick-Step Floors
18 Michael Storer (Aus) UniSA-Australia
19 Jhonatan Restrepo (Col) Katusha-Alpecin
20 Jesus Herrada Lopez (Spa) Movistar Team
21 Odd Christian Eiking (Nor) FDJ 0:00:39
22 Peter Stetina (USA) Trek-Segafredo 0:00:40
23 Patrick Bevin (NZl) Cannondale-Drapac 0:00:45
24 Chris Hamilton (Aus) Team Sunweb
25 Petr Vakoc (Cze) Quick-Step Floors
26 Jarlinson Pantano (Col) Trek-Segafredo
27 Lucas Hamilton (Aus) UniSA-Australia
28 Jan Bakelants (Bel) AG2R La Mondiale
29 Giovanni Visconti (Ita) Bahrain-Merida
30 Tom Jelte Slagter (Ned) Cannondale-Drapac
31 Jai Hindley (Aus) UniSA-Australia
32 Ondrej Cink (Cze) Bahrain-Merida
33 Lachlan Morton (Aus) Dimension Data
34 Dries Devenyns (Bel) Quick-Step Floors
35 Sven Erik Bystrøm (Nor) Katusha-Alpecin 0:00:57
36 Simon Gerrans (Aus) Orica-Scott 0:00:58
37 Anthony Roux (Fra) FDJ 0:01:00
38 Marc Soler (Spa) Movistar Team
39 Ben O’Connor (Aus) Dimension Data 0:01:05
40 Jack Bauer (NZl) Quick-Step Floors 0:01:07
41 Geraint Thomas (GBr) Team Sky
42 Gianluca Brambilla (Ita) Quick-Step Floors
43 Paul Martens (Ger) Team LottoNL-Jumbo
44 Daryl Impey (RSA) Orica-Scott
45 Louis Meintjes (RSA) Team UAE Abu Dhabi
46 Sander Armee (Bel) Lotto Soudal
47 Eros Capecchi (Ita) Quick-Step Floors
48 José Herrada Lopez (Spa) Movistar Team
49 José Gonçalves (Por) Katusha-Alpecin 0:01:14
50 Lars Ytting Bak (Den) Lotto Soudal 0:01:16
51 Michael Valgren Andersen (Den) Astana Pro Team 0:01:31
52 Maurits Lammertink (Ned) Katusha-Alpecin
53 Clement Chevrier (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 0:01:34
54 James Shaw (GBr) Lotto Soudal
55 Tiago Machado (Por) Katusha-Alpecin 0:01:36
56 Laurent Didier (Lux) Trek-Segafredo
57 Ben Swift (GBr) Team UAE Abu Dhabi 0:01:41
58 Sean De Bie (Bel) Lotto Soudal 0:01:43
59 Samuel Jenner (Aus) UniSA-Australia 0:01:44
60 Damiano Caruso (Ita) BMC Racing Team
61 Yukiya Arashiro (Jpn) Bahrain-Merida 0:01:58
62 Artyom Zakharov (Kaz) Astana Pro Team
63 Janez Brajkovic (Slo) Bahrain-Merida 0:02:16
64 Vegard Stake Laengen (Nor) Team UAE Abu Dhabi
65 Matteo Montaguti (Ita) AG2R La Mondiale 0:02:28
66 Jeremy Maison (Fra) FDJ 0:02:34
67 Alexey Vermeulen (USA) Team LottoNL-Jumbo 0:02:35
68 Simon Geschke (Ger) Team Sunweb 0:03:02
69 Cameron Meyer (Aus) UniSA-Australia 0:03:09
70 Víctor de la Parte (Spa) Movistar Team 0:03:26
71 Gregor Mühlberger (Aut) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:03:31
72 Adam Hansen (Aus) Lotto Soudal
73 Enrico Battaglin (Ita) Team LottoNL-Jumbo 0:03:38
74 Jacques Janse van Rensburg (RSA) Dimension Data 0:03:41
75 Ben Gastauer (Lux) AG2R La Mondiale
76 Peter Sagan (Svk) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:03:52
77 Danilo Wyss (Swi) BMC Racing Team 0:04:07
78 Amaël Moinard (Fra) BMC Racing Team
79 Marco Marcato (Ita) Team UAE Abu Dhabi 0:04:09
80 Manuele Mori (Ita) Team UAE Abu Dhabi
81 Matthieu Ladagnous (Fra) FDJ 0:04:26
82 Angel Vicioso Arcos (Spa) Katusha-Alpecin 0:05:00
83 Martin Velits (Svk) Quick-Step Floors 0:05:43
84 Jasha Sütterlin (Ger) Movistar Team 0:06:08
85 Koen de Kort (Ned) Trek-Segafredo 0:06:11
86 Thomas De Gendt (Bel) Lotto Soudal
87 Miles Scotson (Aus) BMC Racing Team 0:06:13
88 Edward Theuns (Bel) Trek-Segafredo 0:07:18
89 Baptiste Planckaert (Bel) Katusha-Alpecin 0:07:27
90 Jacobus Venter (RSA) Dimension Data 0:07:37
91 Lorrenzo Manzin (Fra) FDJ 0:07:43
92 Francois Bidard (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
93 Nikias Arndt (Ger) Team Sunweb 0:08:37
94 Niccolò Bonifazio (Ita) Bahrain-Merida
95 Carlos Barbero Cuesta (Spa) Movistar Team
96 Tsgabu Grmay (Eth) Bahrain-Merida
97 Callum Scotson (Aus) UniSA-Australia
98 Lennard Hofstede (Ned) Team Sunweb 0:09:27
99 Caleb Ewan (Aus) Orica-Scott 0:09:28
100 Matti Breschel (Den) Astana Pro Team 0:09:33
101 Alex Howes (USA) Cannondale-Drapac
102 Chun Kai Feng (Tpe) Bahrain-Merida 0:10:01
103 William Clarke (Aus) Cannondale-Drapac 0:10:27
104 Thomas Scully (NZl) Cannondale-Drapac
105 Sam Bennett (Irl) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:11:07
106 Rudiger Selig (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:11:10
107 Luke Durbridge (Aus) Orica-Scott 0:11:17
108 Phil Bauhaus (Ger) Team Sunweb 0:11:21
109 Michal Kolár (Svk) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:11:22
110 Mark Renshaw (Aus) Dimension Data 0:11:33
111 Marko Kump (Slo) Team UAE Abu Dhabi
112 Robert Wagner (Ger) Team LottoNL-Jumbo
113 Arnaud Courteille (Fra) FDJ
114 Francisco Ventoso (Spa) BMC Racing Team
115 Tom Van Asbroeck (Bel) Cannondale-Drapac
116 Roger Kluge (Ger) Orica-Scott
117 Kenny Elissonde (Fra) Team Sky
118 Sebastian Henao Gomez (Col) Team Sky
119 Paolo Tiralongo (Ita) Astana Pro Team
120 Lukas Pöstlberger (Aut) Bora-Hansgrohe
121 Tyler Farrar (USA) Dimension Data 0:11:59
122 Julien Berard (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 0:12:01
123 Bert-Jan Lindeman (Ned) Team LottoNL-Jumbo 0:12:23
124 Luke Rowe (GBr) Team Sky 0:13:23
125 Ian Stannard (GBr) Team Sky 0:13:55
126 Damien Howson (Aus) Orica-Scott 0:14:02
127 Koen Bouwman (Ned) Team LottoNL-Jumbo 0:14:51
128 Danny van Poppel (Ned) Team Sky 0:14:55
129 Johannes Fröhlinger (Ger) Team Sunweb 0:17:25
130 Mads Pedersen (Den) Trek-Segafredo
131 Laurens De Vreese (Bel) Astana Pro Team 0:18:26
132 Oscar Gatto (Ita) Astana Pro Team 0:21:00