Tour Down Under 2020 – Stage 4 [LAST 20 KM]

January 24, 2020

Tour Down Under 2020 – Stage 4 – Norwood – Murray Bridge : 152,8 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.

Caleb Ewan (Lotto Soudal) took his second stage win of the 2020 Tour Down Under on Friday in Murray Bridge, putting on another impressive display by coming past Sam Bennett and an almost flawless Deceuninck-QuickStep lead-out to beat the Irish champion by a bike length. Jasper Philipsen (UAE Team Emirates) was third.

Richie Porte (Trek-Segafredo) struggled in the crosswinds towards the end of the race but finished safely in the bunch and maintained his overall lead, although 2019 champion Daryl Impey (Mitchelton-Scott) scored three bonus seconds in the intermediate sprints and moved to within three seconds of the race leader. Team Sunweb’s Rob Power also gained a bonus second in an intermediate sprint and moved to eight seconds down in third place.

Ewan proved himself the fastest by far in Murray Bridge after overcoming some challenges in the technical final kilometres, which saw a major pinch point at 1.6km and a severe dogleg right turn with 300 metres to go.

Deceuninck-QuickStep took over the front for Bennett with 5km to go and safely guided the Irishman through the obstacles, with Danish speedster Michael Morkov leading through the final tight turn with Bennett planted firmly on his wheel.

The Irishman launched his sprint with 200 metres to go and had an immediate gap, but he was no match for Ewan, who came off his wheel and sprinted up the left side of the road. He easily powered past Bennett, who dropped his head as he crossed the line while his Australian rival celebrated.

“It was a very tough corner before the finish,” Ewan said after his win. “But to be honest, I like it when there’s a bit of a corner, a bit of a technical finish. I just told my last man to putt me on the wheel of Sam Bennett, and that’s what he did. I was actually off the road a bit a few moments before that, but luckily he was still there and he dropped me on the wheel. That’s exactly where I wanted to be on that last corner.”

Ewan could have one more chance for a third stage victory before Sunday’s finale on Willunga Hill, but he says he’ll need better climbing legs than he had the last time the race finished there.

“Tomorrow is one of those days that could go either way,” he said. “Last time we did that last part of the race I got dropped on the climb, so I’m hoping for better legs tomorrow.”

How it unfolded

The 152.8km fourth stage from Norwood to Murray Bridge started out lumpy, traversing the Adelaide Hills, before making it’s way onto the plains along the Murray River for the second part of the race.

Intermediate sprints with time bonuses at 18.1km and 40.3km animated the early going with the GC contenders and their teams hunting seconds, and a single KOM at 76.4km drew out some escape artists n the second part of the race.

Mitchelton-Scott kept the peloton intact for the first 18km for Impey, who started the day six seconds down on Porte. The 2019 champion was hoping to grab the three seconds up for grabs for the winner of the sprint, but UAE Team Emirates’ Jasper Philipsen thwarted that plan by taking the sprint, and Trek-Seagredo’s world champion Mads Pedersen helped out Porte by denying Impey second place, leaving the Mitchelton rider to settle for third and a single bonus second.

Impey improved his standing at the second sprint, however, finishing second to Philipsen this time and getting another two seconds, cutting his initial deficit to Porte in half. Team Sunweb’s Rob Power, who started the day nine seconds down, was third and knocked a second off his gap to Porte.

With the GC fireworks mostly over for the day, a five-rider group was allowed off the front. In the move were Joey Rosskopf (CCC Team), who was wearing the mountains jersey after making the break in stages 1 and 2, James Piccoli (Israel Start-Up Nation), Laurens De Vreese (Astana), Jorge Arcas (Movistar) and Sergio Samitier (Movistar).

Rosskopf made the most of his time in the day’s move, jumping away from the break about 1km ahead of the KOM and fighting off a challenge from De Vreese to take maximum points at the top of Prospect Hill.

The breakaway riders soldiered on from there, but there was never any doubt that the sprinters’ teams would bring things back together for the promised bunch gallop in Murray Bridge. The peloton made the catch with 25km to go, and the teams began some nervous jockeying for position.

George Bennett got caught up in one of several minor crashes during the run-in to the finish, but the kiwi had a Jumbo-Visma teammate nearby and was able to make it back to the bunch for the finale and save his GC position.

Results :
1 Caleb Ewan (Aus) Lotto Soudal 3:29:08
2 Sam Bennett (Irl) Deceuninck-QuickStep
3 Jasper Philipsen (Bel) UAE Team Emirates
4 André Greipel (Ger) Israel Start-Up Nation
5 Alberto Dainese (Ita) Team Sunweb
6 Martin Laas (Est) Bora-Hansgrohe
7 Giacomo Nizzolo (Ita) NTT Pro Cycling
8 Erik Baska (Svk) Bora-Hansgrohe
9 Marc Sarreau (Fra) Groupama-FDJ
10 Michael Mørkøv (Den) Deceuninck-QuickStep
11 Jurgen Roelandts (Bel) Movistar Team
12 Diego Ulissi (Ita) UAE Team Emirates
13 Andrea Vendrame (Ita) AG2R La Mondiale
14 Jarrad Drizners (Aus) UniSA-Australia
15 Kristoffer Halvorsen (Nor) EF Pro Cycling
16 Timo Roosen (Ned) Team Jumbo-Visma
17 Daryl Impey (RSA) Mitchelton-Scott
18 Sam Welsford (Aus) UniSA-Australia
19 Dylan Van Baarle (Ned) Team Ineos
20 Rick Zabel (Ger) Israel Start-Up Nation
21 Sven Erik Bystrøm (Nor) UAE Team Emirates
22 Luis Mas (Spa) Movistar Team
23 Rohan Dennis (Aus) Team Ineos
24 Luis León Sanchez (Spa) Astana Pro Team
25 Elia Viviani (Ita) Cofidis Solutions Credits
26 Fabio Felline (Ita) Astana Pro Team
27 George Bennett (NZl) Team Jumbo-Visma
28 Neilson Powless (USA) EF Pro Cycling
29 Nathan Haas (Aus) Cofidis Solutions Credits
30 Santiago Buitrago Sanchez (Col) Bahrain McLaren
31 Marco Marcato (Ita) UAE Team Emirates
32 Danilo Wyss (Swi) NTT Pro Cycling
33 Pavel Sivakov (Rus) Team Ineos
34 Francisco Ventoso (Spa) CCC Team
35 Simon Geschke (Ger) CCC Team
36 Lawrence Warbasse (USA) AG2R La Mondiale
37 Richie Porte (Aus) Trek-Segafredo
38 Guillaume Van Keirsbulck (Bel) CCC Team
39 Rob Power (Aus) Team Sunweb
40 Simon Yates (GBr) Mitchelton-Scott
41 Florian Stork (Ger) Team Sunweb
42 Chris Harper (Aus) Team Jumbo-Visma
43 Michael Hepburn (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott
44 Hermann Pernsteiner (Aut) Bahrain McLaren
45 Lucas Hamilton (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott
46 Dries Devenyns (Bel) Deceuninck-QuickStep
47 Ryan Gibbons (RSA) NTT Pro Cycling
48 Samuele Battistella (Ita) NTT Pro Cycling
49 Lukasz Wisniowski (Pol) CCC Team
50 Jai Hindley (Aus) Team Sunweb
51 Stefan De Bod (RSA) NTT Pro Cycling
52 Mikkel Bjerg (Den) UAE Team Emirates
53 Joseph Rosskopf (USA) CCC Team
54 Christopher Lawless (GBr) Team Ineos
55 Clément Chevrier (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
56 Yukiya Arashiro (Jpn) Bahrain McLaren
57 Josef Cerny (Cze) CCC Team
58 James Piccoli (Can) Israel Start-Up Nation
59 Luka Pibernik (Slo) Bahrain McLaren
60 Mattia Cattaneo (Ita) Deceuninck-QuickStep
61 Gabriel Cullaigh (GBr) Movistar Team
62 Ben Gastauer (Lux) AG2R La Mondiale
63 Kilian Frankiny (Swi) Groupama-FDJ
64 Vegard Stake Laengen (Nor) UAE Team Emirates
65 Omar Fraile Matarranz (Spa) Astana Pro Team
66 Axel Domont (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
67 Matthew Holmes (GBr) Lotto Soudal
68 Romain Bardet (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
69 Michael Storer (Aus) Team Sunweb
70 Jorge Arcas (Spa) Movistar Team
71 Eduard Prades Reverter (Spa) Movistar Team
72 Bruno Armirail (Fra) Groupama-FDJ 0:00:13
73 Miles Scotson (Aus) Groupama-FDJ
74 Kenny Elissonde (Fra) Trek-Segafredo 0:00:15
75 Simone Consonni (Ita) Cofidis Solutions Credits
76 Daniil Fominykh (Kaz) Astana Pro Team
77 Omer Goldstein (Isr) Israel Start-Up Nation
78 Jack Bauer (NZl) Mitchelton-Scott
79 Fabio Sabatini (Ita) Cofidis Solutions Credits
80 Taco Van der Hoorn (Ned) Team Jumbo-Visma 0:00:22
81 Geoffrey Bouchard (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
82 Jacopo Guarnieri (Ita) Groupama-FDJ
83 Manuele Boaro (Ita) Astana Pro Team
84 Juri Hollmann (Ger) Movistar Team
85 Marco Haller (Aut) Bahrain McLaren 0:00:30
86 Rasmus Fossum Tiller (Nor) NTT Pro Cycling
87 Juan Pedro Lopez Perez (Spa) Trek-Segafredo
88 Cameron Scott (Aus) UniSA-Australia 0:00:36
89 Max Kanter (Ger) Team Sunweb
90 Michael Schwarzmann (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:00:42
91 Tom Scully (NZl) EF Pro Cycling
92 Tosh Van der Sande (Bel) Lotto Soudal
93 Cameron Meyer (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott
94 Bert-Jan Lindeman (Ned) Team Jumbo-Visma 0:00:48
95 Owain Doull (GBr) Team Ineos 0:00:52
96 Antwan Tolhoek (Ned) Team Jumbo-Visma
97 Roger Kluge (Ger) Lotto Soudal 0:00:56
98 Marco Mathis (Ger) Cofidis Solutions Credits 0:00:59
99 Kenneth Vanbilsen (Bel) Cofidis Solutions Credits
100 Luke Durbridge (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott
101 Mickael Delage (Fra) Groupama-FDJ
102 Jonas Rutsch (Ger) EF Pro Cycling
103 Ian Stannard (GBr) Team Ineos
104 Shane Archbold (NZl) Deceuninck-QuickStep
105 Nicholas White (Aus) UniSA-Australia 0:01:04
106 Domen Novak (Slo) Bahrain McLaren
107 Fabian Lienhard (Swi) Groupama-FDJ
108 Koen De Kort (Ned) Trek-Segafredo
109 Iljo Keisse (Bel) Deceuninck-QuickStep
110 Jay Mc Carthy (Aus) Bora-Hansgrohe
111 Samuel Jenner (Aus) UniSA-Australia
112 Alex Dowsett (GBr) Israel Start-Up Nation 0:01:11
113 Guillaume Boivin (Can) Israel Start-Up Nation
114 Mathias Le Turnier (Fra) Cofidis Solutions Credits 0:01:13
115 Luke Rowe (GBr) Team Ineos 0:01:29
116 Jens Keukeleire (Bel) EF Pro Cycling 0:01:38
117 Adam Hansen (Aus) Lotto Soudal 0:01:46
118 Ide Schelling (Ned) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:01:48
119 Juraj Sagan (Svk) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:01:50
120 Cesare Benedetti (Ita) Bora-Hansgrohe
121 Kiel Reijnen (USA) Trek-Segafredo 0:01:57
122 Mads Pedersen (Den) Trek-Segafredo 0:02:00
123 Lennard Hofstede (Ned) Team Jumbo-Visma 0:02:03
124 Jonathan Dibben (GBr) Lotto Soudal
125 Dmitriy Gruzdev (Kaz) Astana Pro Team 0:02:06
126 Asbjørn Kragh Andersen (Den) Team Sunweb 0:02:28
127 João Almeida (Por) Deceuninck-QuickStep 0:02:29
128 Dylan Sunderland (Aus) NTT Pro Cycling
129 Lachlan Morton (Aus) EF Pro Cycling 0:03:58
130 Michel Ries (Lux) Trek-Segafredo
131 Thomas De Gendt (Bel) Lotto Soudal 0:05:53
132 Sergio Samitier Samitier (Spa) Movistar Team
133 Laurens De Vreese (Bel) Astana Pro Team
134 Szymon Sajnok (Pol) CCC Team 0:07:03
135 Mitchell Docker (Aus) EF Pro Cycling 0:08:28
DNF Tyler Lindorff (Aus) UniSA-Australia
DNF Kelland O’Brien (Aus) UniSA-Australia

General Classification after Stage 4 :
1 Richie Porte (Aus) Trek-Segafredo 13:39:32
2 Daryl Impey (RSA) Mitchelton-Scott 0:00:03
3 Rob Power (Aus) Team Sunweb 0:00:08
4 Simon Yates (GBr) Mitchelton-Scott 0:00:11
5 George Bennett (NZl) Team Jumbo-Visma 0:00:14
6 Diego Ulissi (Ita) UAE Team Emirates 0:00:15
7 Simon Geschke (Ger) CCC Team
8 Rohan Dennis (Aus) Team Ineos
9 Dylan Van Baarle (Ned) Team Ineos
10 Lucas Hamilton (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott 0:00:23
11 Sven Erik Bystrøm (Nor) UAE Team Emirates 0:00:25
12 Dries Devenyns (Bel) Deceuninck-QuickStep
13 Hermann Pernsteiner (Aut) Bahrain McLaren
14 Mattia Cattaneo (Ita) Deceuninck-QuickStep
15 Eduard Prades Reverter (Spa) Movistar Team
16 Nathan Haas (Aus) Cofidis Solutions Credits 0:00:28
17 Neilson Powless (USA) EF Pro Cycling 0:00:33
18 Pavel Sivakov (Rus) Team Ineos
19 Santiago Buitrago Sanchez (Col) Bahrain McLaren
20 Chris Harper (Aus) Team Jumbo-Visma
21 Jai Hindley (Aus) Team Sunweb
22 Kilian Frankiny (Swi) Groupama-FDJ
23 Luis León Sanchez (Spa) Astana Pro Team 0:00:37
24 Omar Fraile Matarranz (Spa) Astana Pro Team
25 Jarrad Drizners (Aus) UniSA-Australia 0:00:41
26 Michael Storer (Aus) Team Sunweb
27 Andrea Vendrame (Ita) AG2R La Mondiale 0:00:44
28 Fabio Felline (Ita) Astana Pro Team
29 Luis Mas (Spa) Movistar Team
30 Yukiya Arashiro (Jpn) Bahrain McLaren
31 Clément Chevrier (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
32 Florian Stork (Ger) Team Sunweb
33 Ryan Gibbons (RSA) NTT Pro Cycling
34 Matthew Holmes (GBr) Lotto Soudal
35 James Piccoli (Can) Israel Start-Up Nation 0:00:56
36 Joseph Rosskopf (USA) CCC Team
37 Lukasz Wisniowski (Pol) CCC Team 0:01:00
38 Rick Zabel (Ger) Israel Start-Up Nation
39 Jorge Arcas (Spa) Movistar Team 0:01:04
40 Manuele Boaro (Ita) Astana Pro Team 0:01:06
41 Danilo Wyss (Swi) NTT Pro Cycling 0:01:08
42 Bruno Armirail (Fra) Groupama-FDJ 0:01:17
43 André Greipel (Ger) Israel Start-Up Nation 0:01:20
44 Jurgen Roelandts (Bel) Movistar Team 0:01:31
45 Antwan Tolhoek (Ned) Team Jumbo-Visma 0:01:36
46 Marco Marcato (Ita) UAE Team Emirates 0:01:37
47 Lawrence Warbasse (USA) AG2R La Mondiale 0:01:59
48 Josef Cerny (Cze) CCC Team
49 Caleb Ewan (Aus) Lotto Soudal 0:02:09
50 Cameron Meyer (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott
51 Kenny Elissonde (Fra) Trek-Segafredo 0:02:16
52 Timo Roosen (Ned) Team Jumbo-Visma 0:02:29
53 Luka Pibernik (Slo) Bahrain McLaren
54 Vegard Stake Laengen (Nor) UAE Team Emirates
55 Juan Pedro Lopez Perez (Spa) Trek-Segafredo 0:02:31
56 Jasper Philipsen (Bel) UAE Team Emirates 0:02:34
57 Miles Scotson (Aus) Groupama-FDJ 0:02:38
58 Jens Keukeleire (Bel) EF Pro Cycling 0:02:40
59 Romain Bardet (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 0:02:48
60 Juri Hollmann (Ger) Movistar Team 0:02:51
61 Cesare Benedetti (Ita) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:03:32
62 Michael Hepburn (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott 0:03:36
63 Tosh Van der Sande (Bel) Lotto Soudal 0:03:44
64 Gabriel Cullaigh (GBr) Movistar Team 0:04:09
65 Francisco Ventoso (Spa) CCC Team 0:04:20
66 Kristoffer Halvorsen (Nor) EF Pro Cycling 0:04:43
67 Marco Haller (Aut) Bahrain McLaren 0:04:47
68 Max Kanter (Ger) Team Sunweb 0:05:00
69 Michael Mørkøv (Den) Deceuninck-QuickStep 0:05:09
70 Sam Bennett (Irl) Deceuninck-QuickStep 0:05:20
71 Adam Hansen (Aus) Lotto Soudal 0:05:22
72 Stefan De Bod (RSA) NTT Pro Cycling 0:05:23
73 Fabian Lienhard (Swi) Groupama-FDJ 0:05:28
74 Lennard Hofstede (Ned) Team Jumbo-Visma 0:05:39
75 Daniil Fominykh (Kaz) Astana Pro Team 0:05:56
76 Samuele Battistella (Ita) NTT Pro Cycling 0:05:58
77 Rasmus Fossum Tiller (Nor) NTT Pro Cycling 0:06:01
78 Marc Sarreau (Fra) Groupama-FDJ 0:06:36
79 Ben Gastauer (Lux) AG2R La Mondiale
80 Elia Viviani (Ita) Cofidis Solutions Credits 0:06:44
81 Roger Kluge (Ger) Lotto Soudal 0:06:45
82 Dylan Sunderland (Aus) NTT Pro Cycling 0:06:51
83 Simone Consonni (Ita) Cofidis Solutions Credits 0:06:59
84 Sergio Samitier Samitier (Spa) Movistar Team
85 Mathias Le Turnier (Fra) Cofidis Solutions Credits 0:07:26
86 Luke Durbridge (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott 0:08:00
87 Samuel Jenner (Aus) UniSA-Australia 0:08:13
88 João Almeida (Por) Deceuninck-QuickStep 0:08:34
89 Mikkel Bjerg (Den) UAE Team Emirates 0:08:55
90 Guillaume Van Keirsbulck (Bel) CCC Team 0:08:57
91 Koen De Kort (Ned) Trek-Segafredo 0:09:04
92 Shane Archbold (NZl) Deceuninck-QuickStep 0:09:37
93 Owain Doull (GBr) Team Ineos 0:09:43
94 Jonas Rutsch (Ger) EF Pro Cycling 0:09:55
95 Alberto Dainese (Ita) Team Sunweb 0:10:13
96 Axel Domont (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
97 Jacopo Guarnieri (Ita) Groupama-FDJ 0:10:14
98 Geoffrey Bouchard (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 0:10:17
99 Giacomo Nizzolo (Ita) NTT Pro Cycling 0:10:22
100 Jack Bauer (NZl) Mitchelton-Scott 0:10:24
101 Ian Stannard (GBr) Team Ineos 0:10:37
102 Dmitriy Gruzdev (Kaz) Astana Pro Team 0:10:50
103 Ide Schelling (Ned) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:10:51
104 Cameron Scott (Aus) UniSA-Australia 0:10:54
105 Juraj Sagan (Svk) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:11:17
106 Sam Welsford (Aus) UniSA-Australia 0:11:18
107 Taco Van der Hoorn (Ned) Team Jumbo-Visma 0:11:22
108 Alex Dowsett (GBr) Israel Start-Up Nation 0:11:45
109 Kenneth Vanbilsen (Bel) Cofidis Solutions Credits 0:11:46
110 Omer Goldstein (Isr) Israel Start-Up Nation 0:11:51
111 Martin Laas (Est) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:12:09
112 Szymon Sajnok (Pol) CCC Team 0:12:26
113 Michael Schwarzmann (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:12:39
114 Christopher Lawless (GBr) Team Ineos 0:12:44
115 Asbjørn Kragh Andersen (Den) Team Sunweb
116 Bert-Jan Lindeman (Ned) Team Jumbo-Visma 0:13:00
117 Domen Novak (Slo) Bahrain McLaren 0:13:02
118 Jonathan Dibben (GBr) Lotto Soudal 0:13:16
119 Jay Mc Carthy (Aus) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:13:48
120 Nicholas White (Aus) UniSA-Australia 0:13:57
121 Kiel Reijnen (USA) Trek-Segafredo 0:14:29
122 Guillaume Boivin (Can) Israel Start-Up Nation 0:14:42
123 Tom Scully (NZl) EF Pro Cycling 0:14:49
124 Luke Rowe (GBr) Team Ineos 0:14:52
125 Michel Ries (Lux) Trek-Segafredo 0:15:03
126 Marco Mathis (Ger) Cofidis Solutions Credits 0:15:12
127 Thomas De Gendt (Bel) Lotto Soudal 0:16:32
128 Lachlan Morton (Aus) EF Pro Cycling 0:17:44
129 Erik Baska (Svk) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:18:59
130 Mads Pedersen (Den) Trek-Segafredo 0:19:22
131 Iljo Keisse (Bel) Deceuninck-QuickStep 0:19:32
132 Fabio Sabatini (Ita) Cofidis Solutions Credits 0:20:46
133 Laurens De Vreese (Bel) Astana Pro Team 0:21:12
134 Mitchell Docker (Aus) EF Pro Cycling 0:21:32
135 Mickael Delage (Fra) Groupama-FDJ 0:23:37