Tour Down Under 2017 – People’s Choice Classic [FULL STAGE]

January 15, 2016

Tour Down Under 2017 – People’s Choice Classic – Adelaide – 50,6 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.

Caleb Ewan (Orica-Scott) beat Sam Bennett and world champion Peter Sagan to the line to win the People’s Choice Classic on Sunday.

The national criterium champion held off a late charge from Bennett, after a perfect leadout from his Orica-Scott teammates in the closing stages of the 50.6 kilometre race in Adelaide.

Ewan came into the race as the main favourite, and on their home roads Orica rode a faultless race. They allowed Dimension Data’s Ben O’Connor to break away during the opening laps and then rode tempo for the majority of the race.

O’Connor built up a lead of 40 seconds during the 22-lap race but the youngster began to tighten up in the final five laps, just as the sprint trains began to organise their chase.

Katusha, Team Sky, Sunweb and Sagan’s Bora Hansgrohe all attempted to establish control in the closing stages as O’Connor sat up but Orica’s well-oiled machine was simply too strong.

Simon Gerrans, Darly Impey, Luke Durbridge and even Colombian climber Esteban Chaves took turns on the front but it was new recruit Roger Kluge who brought Ewan into the final 200 meters.

The German joined the team in the winter but Orica-Scott has tracked his progression since last May when he won a stage in the Giro d’Italia. He was just one of three new signings made this season by the Australian team but despite only arriving in Adelaide a few days ago, he instantly made a difference.

While Sagan and Bennett looked threatening they appeared to lack the same cohesion and, despite a strong finish from Bennett, the Irishman was left with too much to do in the closing meters.

Ahead of the Tour Down Under, which starts on Tuesday the People’s Choice Classic threw up few surprises in the end.

O’Connor put in a valiant ride and his teammate Nathan Haas looked in decent form with a couple of early attacks. Edward Theuns (Trek Segafredo) finished a creditable fifth after returning from back surgery. Niccolo Bonifazio took fourth in Bahrain Merida’s first outing.

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