Tour Down Under 2020 – Stage 1 [LAST 15 KM]

January 21, 2020

Tour Down Under 2020 – Stage 1 – Tanunda – Tanunda : 150 km

The 2020 Tour Down Under peloton boasts five past overall winners in Porte, Impey, Dennis, André Greipel (Israel Start-Up Nation) and Astana’s Luis Leon Sanchez. While new Team Ineos signing Dennis has recently announced that his days of targeting the GC at Grand Tours are likely over, the South Australian local still has what it takes to conquer the finish at Paracombe on stage 3 – as he did in 2015, en route to the overall victory – and then to hold his own on the final stage to Wilunga Hill if he’s in a winning position. Porte will come to Adelaide again hoping to repeat his 2017 victory, and while Mitchelton-Scott is the team most likely to stand in his way with defending champion Impey and 2018 Vuelta a España winner Yates, AG2R’s climber extraordinaire, Bardet, may also find his early-season legs on the climbs and find himself in a position to battle for the overall classification. His rivals see his announced low expectations as a final warning rather than a true indiction of the Frenchman’s form.

Sam Bennett and Deceuninck-QuickStep delivered victory on their first WorldTour opportunity on Tuesday at the Tour Down Under, with the Irish road race champion winning the stage 1 sprint in Taununda ahead of Jasper Philipsen (UAE Team Emirates) and Erik Baska (Bora-Hansgrohe).

Bennett’s new Belgian team took over in the final kilometre after a chaotic run-in to the line that saw no team able to establish control on the front of the peloton. Deceuninck-QuickStep waited as other teams came forward and were swamped or faded, then pounced in the final kilometre as Iljo Keisse guided Bennett and crew toward the line.

Bennet launched first of the sprinters and gained an immediate advantage over his rivals, as Sunday’s Schwalbe Classic winner Caleb Ewan (Lotto Soudal) started from too far back in the bunch and Elia Viviani (Cofidis) could only manage fourth behind Baska. Israel Start-up Nation’s Andre Greipel was fifth.

Philipsen was the only rider to nearly get back on terms with Bennett, as the young Belgian fought to regain his footing and nearly pulled off the win at the line. But it was Bennett by half a wheel at the end of the first WorldTour race of 2020.

“I think it was definitely a job of the team. I think it’s the reason why I won today and I’d be lying if I didn’t feel the pressure coming to Deceuninck-Quick-Step to get that first win,” Bennett said.

“The guys did an absolutely fantastic job and kept me in position. Every one of them played a superb role today and I can’t thank them enough.”

How it unfolded

The 150km opening stage in Tanunda consisted of five laps around a 30km circuit that included two intermediate sprints at 15km and 75km, offering time bonuses to the top three. Also on offer were two King of the Mountain sprints on Breakneck Hill at 46km into the day and again at at 106.9km.

The peloton rolled out from the start under clear skies and mild temperatures, but the racing would quickly heat things up as 2019 champion Daryl Impey and his Mitchelton-Scott team looked to set the South African up to take the three-second time bonus at the first sprint. The team’s pace discouraged any attacks, and Impey backed up his teammates’ effort by collecting the maximum time bonus.

The peloton eased back slightly after the sprint, and four riders took advantage of the lull to slip away. In the move were CCC Team’s Joey Rosskopf, Team Sunweb’s Michael Storer, NTT Pro Cycling’s Dylan Sunderland, and UniSA rider Jarrad Drizners, who recently signed with US team Hagens Berman Axeon.

The quartet quickly built a gap of nearly four minutes before the sprinters’ teams back in the bunch took control and brought things down to a more manageable gap of two minutes and change.

Drizners made his intentions for the day clear when he struck out at the first KOM and took maximum points, then lit out again at the second intermediate sprint at 75km and won there as well. That was enough to send Rosskopf off on a solo adventure as the pack had closed to nearly a minute of the escapees.

The two-time and reigning US time trial champion opened the gap up to 1:30 and, as his former breakaway companions faded back into the bunch, the peloton appeared happy to let Rosskopf dangle off the front and collect his KOM tally.

The 30-year-old American hung on indeed, and tied on points with Drizners in the KOM classification, which would ultimately be decided by the two riders’ position at the finish of the stage.

The peloton finally made the catch of Rosskopf with just under 35km to go, and from there it was a hustle among the sprinters’ teams to maintain the status quo to the finish and not let another dangerous group of escapees flee.

Lotto Soudal sent Thomas De Gendt to the front to hammer out a pace that discouraged attacks, and the tactic seemed to work as the bunch approached the final 10km intact.

Teams battled back and forth to establish control, but in the end it was Deceuninck-QuickStep that came forward when it mattered most, with Keisse giving way in the final kilometre to Shane Archbold before Danish road race champion Michael Mørkøv dropped off his sprinter Bennett for the victory.

Results :
1 Sam Bennett (Irl) Deceuninck-QuickStep 3:28:54
2 Jasper Philipsen (Bel) UAE Team Emirates
3 Erik Ba_ka (Svk) Bora-Hansgrohe
4 Elia Viviani (Ita) Cofidis Solutions Credits
5 André Greipel (Ger) Israel Start-Up Nation
6 Kristoffer Halvorsen (Nor) EF Pro Cycling
7 Caleb Ewan (Aus) Lotto Soudal
8 Marc Sarreau (Fra) Groupama-FDJ
9 Sam Welsford (Aus) UniSA-Australia
10 Alberto Dainese (Ita) Team Sunweb
11 Gabriel Cullaigh (GBr) Movistar Team
12 Chris Lawless (GBr) Team Ineos
13 Daryl Impey (RSA) Mitchelton-Scott
14 Michael Mørkøv (Den) Deceuninck-QuickStep
15 Chris Harper (Aus) Team Jumbo-Visma
16 Andrea Vendrame (Ita) AG2R La Mondiale
17 Diego Ulissi (Ita) UAE Team Emirates
18 Ryan Gibbons (RSA) NTT Pro Cycling
19 Sven Erik Bystrøm (Nor) UAE Team Emirates
20 Rafael Valls (Spa) Bahrain McLaren
21 George Bennett (NZl) Team Jumbo-Visma
22 Szymon Sajnok (Pol) CCC Team
23 Luis León Sánchez (Spa) Astana Pro Team
24 Fabio Sabatini (Ita) Cofidis Solutions Credits
25 Jay McCarthy (Aus) Bora-Hansgrohe
26 Luis Mas (Spa) Movistar Team
27 Jai Hindley (Aus) Team Sunweb
28 Taco van der Hoorn (Ned) Team Jumbo-Visma
29 Jarrad Drizners (Aus) UniSA-Australia
30 Lucas Hamilton (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott
31 Eduard Prades (Spa) Movistar Team
32 Luka Pibernik (Slo) Bahrain McLaren
33 Fabio Felline (Ita) Astana Pro Team
34 Marco Marcato (Ita) UAE Team Emirates
35 Romain Bardet (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
36 Simon Yates (GBr) Mitchelton-Scott
37 Clément Chevrier (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
38 Nathan Haas (Aus) Cofidis Solutions Credits
39 Joey Rosskopf (USA) CCC Team
40 James Piccoli (Can) Israel Start-Up Nation
41 Manuele Boaro (Ita) Astana Pro Team
42 Pavel Sivakov (Rus) Team Ineos
43 Laurens De Vreese (Bel) Astana Pro Team
44 Mattia Cattaneo (Ita) Deceuninck-QuickStep
45 Neilson Powless (USA) EF Pro Cycling
46 Simon Geschke (Ger) CCC Team
47 Richie Porte (Aus) Trek-Segafredo
48 Juri Hollmann (Ger) Movistar Team
49 Ben Gastauer (Lux) AG2R La Mondiale
50 Juraj Sagan (Svk) Bora-Hansgrohe
51 Larry Warbasse (USA) AG2R La Mondiale
52 Guillaume Van Keirsbulck (Bel) CCC Team
53 Jack Bauer (NZl) Mitchelton-Scott
54 Jurgen Roelandts (Bel) Movistar Team
55 Lennard Hofstede (Ned) Team Jumbo-Visma
56 Rob Power (Aus) Team Sunweb
57 Cameron Meyer (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott
58 Bruno Armirail (Fra) Groupama-FDJ
59 Dries Devenyns (Bel) Deceuninck-QuickStep
60 Yukiya Arashiro (Jpn) Bahrain McLaren
61 Dylan Sunderland (Aus) NTT Pro Cycling
62 Stefan De Bod (RSA) NTT Pro Cycling
63 Ben Hermans (Bel) Israel Start-Up Nation
64 Samuele Battistella (Ita) NTT Pro Cycling
65 Dylan van Baarle (Ned) Team Ineos
66 Nicholas White (Aus) UniSA-Australia
67 Tyler Lindorff (Aus) UniSA-Australia
68 Hermann Pernsteiner (Aut) Bahrain McLaren
69 _ukasz Wi_niowski (Pol) CCC Team
70 Kenny Elissonde (Fra) Trek-Segafredo
71 Omar Fraile (Spa) Astana Pro Team
72 Kilian Frankiny (Swi) Groupama-FDJ
73 Miles Scotson (Aus) Groupama-FDJ
74 Danilo Wyss (Swi) NTT Pro Cycling
75 Michael Hepburn (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott
76 Rohan Dennis (Aus) Team Ineos
77 Antwan Tolhoek (Ned) Team Jumbo-Visma
78 Fabian Lienhard (Swi) Groupama-FDJ
79 Matthew Holmes (GBr) Lotto Soudal
80 Jorge Arcas (Spa) Movistar Team
81 Jens Keukeleire (Bel) EF Pro Cycling
82 Omer Goldstein (Isr) Israel Start-Up Nation
83 Timo Roosen (Ned) Team Jumbo-Visma
84 Samuel Jenner (Aus) UniSA-Australia
85 Michel Ries (Lux) Trek-Segafredo
86 Michael Storer (Aus) Team Sunweb
87 Simone Consonni (Ita) Cofidis Solutions Credits
88 Axel Domont (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
89 Santiago Buitrago Sanchez (Col) Bahrain McLaren
90 Bert-Jan Lindeman (Ned) Team Jumbo-Visma
91 Mikkel Bjerg (Den) UAE Team Emirates
92 Domen Novak (Slo) Bahrain McLaren
93 Daniil Fominykh (Kaz) Astana Pro Team
94 Josef Cerny (Cze) CCC Team
95 Rick Zabel (Ger) Israel Start-Up Nation
96 Vegard Stake Laengen (Nor) UAE Team Emirates
97 Dmitriy Gruzdev (Kaz) Astana Pro Team
98 Juan Pedro Lopez (Spa) Trek-Segafredo
99 Marco Haller (Aut) Bahrain McLaren
100 João Almeida (Por) Deceuninck-QuickStep
101 Adam Hansen (Aus) Lotto Soudal
102 Owain Doull (GBr) Team Ineos
103 Marco Mathis (Ger) Cofidis Solutions Credits
104 Lachlan Morton (Aus) EF Pro Cycling
105 Max Kanter (Ger) Team Sunweb
106 Florian Stork (Ger) Team Sunweb
107 Cameron Scott (Aus) UniSA-Australia
108 Shane Archbold (NZl) Deceuninck-QuickStep
109 Kelland O’Brien (Aus) UniSA-Australia
110 Jonas Rutsch (Ger) EF Pro Cycling
111 Cesare Benedetti (Ita) Bora-Hansgrohe
112 Martin Laas (Est) Bora-Hansgrohe
113 Kiel Reijnen (USA) Trek-Segafredo 0:00:20
114 Sergio Samitier Samitier (Spa) Movistar Team 0:00:22
115 Jacopo Guarnieri (Ita) Groupama-FDJ
116 Roger Kluge (Ger) Lotto Soudal 0:00:26
117 Tosh Van Der Sande (Bel) Lotto Soudal 0:00:33
118 Giacomo Nizzolo (Ita) NTT Pro Cycling
119 Rasmus Fossum Tiller (Nor) NTT Pro Cycling
120 Alex Dowsett (GBr) Israel Start-Up Nation 0:00:36
121 Koen de Kort (Ned) Trek-Segafredo 0:00:45
122 Iljo Keisse (Bel) Deceuninck-QuickStep 0:00:57
123 Geoffrey Bouchard (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 0:00:59
124 Francisco Ventoso (Spa) CCC Team 0:01:10
125 Thomas De Gendt (Bel) Lotto Soudal 0:01:12
126 Tom Scully (NZl) EF Pro Cycling 0:01:14
127 Mitchell Docker (Aus) EF Pro Cycling 0:01:18
128 Mads Pedersen (Den) Trek-Segafredo 0:01:20
129 Jonathan Dibben (GBr) Lotto Soudal 0:01:22
130 Ian Stannard (GBr) Team Ineos
131 Kenneth Van Bilsen (Bel) Cofidis Solutions Credits 0:01:30
132 Mathias Le Turnier (Fra) Cofidis Solutions Credits
133 Ide Schelling (Ned) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:01:33
134 Michael Schwarzmann (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe
135 Asbjørn Kragh Andersen (Den) Team Sunweb 0:02:11
136 Mickaël Delage (Fra) Groupama-FDJ 0:02:15
137 Luke Rowe (GBr) Team Ineos 0:02:23
138 Luke Durbridge (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott 0:03:25
139 Guillaume Boivin (Can) Israel Start-Up Nation
DNF Alexandr Riabushenko (Blr) UAE Team Emirates

General Classification after Stage 1 :
1 Sam Bennett (Irl) Deceuninck-QuickStep 3:28:44
2 Jasper Philipsen (Bel) UAE Team Emirates 0:00:04
3 Erik Ba_ka (Svk) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:00:06
4 Daryl Impey (RSA) Mitchelton-Scott 0:00:07
5 Jarrad Drizners (Aus) UniSA-Australia
6 Chris Lawless (GBr) Team Ineos 0:00:08
7 Dylan Sunderland (Aus) NTT Pro Cycling
8 Nathan Haas (Aus) Cofidis Solutions Credits 0:00:09
9 Michael Storer (Aus) Team Sunweb
10 Elia Viviani (Ita) Cofidis Solutions Credits 0:00:10
11 André Greipel (Ger) Israel Start-Up Nation
12 Kristoffer Halvorsen (Nor) EF Pro Cycling
13 Caleb Ewan (Aus) Lotto Soudal
14 Marc Sarreau (Fra) Groupama-FDJ
15 Sam Welsford (Aus) UniSA-Australia
16 Alberto Dainese (Ita) Team Sunweb
17 Gabriel Cullaigh (GBr) Movistar Team
18 Michael Mørkøv (Den) Deceuninck-QuickStep
19 Chris Harper (Aus) Team Jumbo-Visma
20 Andrea Vendrame (Ita) AG2R La Mondiale
21 Diego Ulissi (Ita) UAE Team Emirates
22 Ryan Gibbons (RSA) NTT Pro Cycling
23 Sven Erik Bystrøm (Nor) UAE Team Emirates
24 Rafael Valls (Spa) Bahrain McLaren
25 George Bennett (NZl) Team Jumbo-Visma
26 Szymon Sajnok (Pol) CCC Team
27 Luis León Sánchez (Spa) Astana Pro Team
28 Fabio Sabatini (Ita) Cofidis Solutions Credits
29 Jay McCarthy (Aus) Bora-Hansgrohe
30 Luis Mas (Spa) Movistar Team
31 Jai Hindley (Aus) Team Sunweb
32 Taco van der Hoorn (Ned) Team Jumbo-Visma
33 Lucas Hamilton (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott
34 Eduard Prades (Spa) Movistar Team
35 Luka Pibernik (Slo) Bahrain McLaren
36 Fabio Felline (Ita) Astana Pro Team
37 Marco Marcato (Ita) UAE Team Emirates
38 Romain Bardet (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
39 Simon Yates (GBr) Mitchelton-Scott
40 Clément Chevrier (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
41 Joey Rosskopf (USA) CCC Team
42 James Piccoli (Can) Israel Start-Up Nation
43 Manuele Boaro (Ita) Astana Pro Team
44 Pavel Sivakov (Rus) Team Ineos
45 Laurens De Vreese (Bel) Astana Pro Team
46 Mattia Cattaneo (Ita) Deceuninck-QuickStep
47 Neilson Powless (USA) EF Pro Cycling
48 Simon Geschke (Ger) CCC Team
49 Richie Porte (Aus) Trek-Segafredo
50 Juri Hollmann (Ger) Movistar Team
51 Ben Gastauer (Lux) AG2R La Mondiale
52 Juraj Sagan (Svk) Bora-Hansgrohe
53 Larry Warbasse (USA) AG2R La Mondiale
54 Guillaume Van Keirsbulck (Bel) CCC Team
55 Jack Bauer (NZl) Mitchelton-Scott
56 Jurgen Roelandts (Bel) Movistar Team
57 Lennard Hofstede (Ned) Team Jumbo-Visma
58 Rob Power (Aus) Team Sunweb
59 Cameron Meyer (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott
60 Bruno Armirail (Fra) Groupama-FDJ
61 Dries Devenyns (Bel) Deceuninck-QuickStep
62 Yukiya Arashiro (Jpn) Bahrain McLaren
63 Stefan De Bod (RSA) NTT Pro Cycling
64 Ben Hermans (Bel) Israel Start-Up Nation
65 Samuele Battistella (Ita) NTT Pro Cycling
66 Dylan van Baarle (Ned) Team Ineos
67 Nicholas White (Aus) UniSA-Australia
68 Tyler Lindorff (Aus) UniSA-Australia
69 Hermann Pernsteiner (Aut) Bahrain McLaren
70 _ukasz Wi_niowski (Pol) CCC Team
71 Kenny Elissonde (Fra) Trek-Segafredo
72 Omar Fraile (Spa) Astana Pro Team
73 Kilian Frankiny (Swi) Groupama-FDJ
74 Miles Scotson (Aus) Groupama-FDJ
75 Danilo Wyss (Swi) NTT Pro Cycling
76 Michael Hepburn (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott
77 Rohan Dennis (Aus) Team Ineos
78 Antwan Tolhoek (Ned) Team Jumbo-Visma
79 Fabian Lienhard (Swi) Groupama-FDJ
80 Matthew Holmes (GBr) Lotto Soudal
81 Jorge Arcas (Spa) Movistar Team
82 Jens Keukeleire (Bel) EF Pro Cycling
83 Omer Goldstein (Isr) Israel Start-Up Nation
84 Timo Roosen (Ned) Team Jumbo-Visma
85 Samuel Jenner (Aus) UniSA-Australia
86 Michel Ries (Lux) Trek-Segafredo
87 Simone Consonni (Ita) Cofidis Solutions Credits
88 Axel Domont (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
89 Santiago Buitrago Sanchez (Col) Bahrain McLaren
90 Bert-Jan Lindeman (Ned) Team Jumbo-Visma
91 Mikkel Bjerg (Den) UAE Team Emirates
92 Domen Novak (Slo) Bahrain McLaren
93 Daniil Fominykh (Kaz) Astana Pro Team
94 Josef Cerny (Cze) CCC Team
95 Rick Zabel (Ger) Israel Start-Up Nation
96 Vegard Stake Laengen (Nor) UAE Team Emirates
97 Dmitriy Gruzdev (Kaz) Astana Pro Team
98 Juan Pedro Lopez (Spa) Trek-Segafredo
99 Marco Haller (Aut) Bahrain McLaren
100 João Almeida (Por) Deceuninck-QuickStep
101 Adam Hansen (Aus) Lotto Soudal
102 Owain Doull (GBr) Team Ineos
103 Marco Mathis (Ger) Cofidis Solutions Credits
104 Lachlan Morton (Aus) EF Pro Cycling
105 Max Kanter (Ger) Team Sunweb
106 Florian Stork (Ger) Team Sunweb
107 Cameron Scott (Aus) UniSA-Australia
108 Shane Archbold (NZl) Deceuninck-QuickStep
109 Kelland O’Brien (Aus) UniSA-Australia
110 Jonas Rutsch (Ger) EF Pro Cycling
111 Cesare Benedetti (Ita) Bora-Hansgrohe
112 Martin Laas (Est) Bora-Hansgrohe
113 Kiel Reijnen (USA) Trek-Segafredo 0:00:30
114 Sergio Samitier Samitier (Spa) Movistar Team 0:00:32
115 Jacopo Guarnieri (Ita) Groupama-FDJ
116 Roger Kluge (Ger) Lotto Soudal 0:00:36
117 Tosh Van Der Sande (Bel) Lotto Soudal 0:00:43
118 Giacomo Nizzolo (Ita) NTT Pro Cycling
119 Rasmus Fossum Tiller (Nor) NTT Pro Cycling
120 Alex Dowsett (GBr) Israel Start-Up Nation 0:00:46
121 Koen de Kort (Ned) Trek-Segafredo 0:00:55
122 Iljo Keisse (Bel) Deceuninck-QuickStep 0:01:07
123 Geoffrey Bouchard (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 0:01:09
124 Francisco Ventoso (Spa) CCC Team 0:01:20
125 Thomas De Gendt (Bel) Lotto Soudal 0:01:22
126 Tom Scully (NZl) EF Pro Cycling 0:01:24
127 Mitchell Docker (Aus) EF Pro Cycling 0:01:28
128 Mads Pedersen (Den) Trek-Segafredo 0:01:30
129 Jonathan Dibben (GBr) Lotto Soudal 0:01:32
130 Ian Stannard (GBr) Team Ineos
131 Kenneth Van Bilsen (Bel) Cofidis Solutions Credits 0:01:40
132 Mathias Le Turnier (Fra) Cofidis Solutions Credits
133 Ide Schelling (Ned) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:01:43
134 Michael Schwarzmann (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe
135 Asbjørn Kragh Andersen (Den) Team Sunweb 0:02:21
136 Mickaël Delage (Fra) Groupama-FDJ 0:02:25
137 Luke Rowe (GBr) Team Ineos 0:02:33
138 Luke Durbridge (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott 0:03:35
139 Guillaume Boivin (Can) Israel Start-Up Nation