While back-to-back victories on the Santos Tour Down Under have put Sam Welsford’s beefed-up resilience and sprinting velocity on show, the Red Bull-Bora Hansgrohe rider is aware of his time within the chief’s Ochre-colured jersey is sort of over, with the GC contenders anticipated to take cost on Thursday’s third stage.
So far the race hasn’t been flat, however with the climbs not as steep and farther from the end line, the dash groups have managed the race. That meant back-to-back winner Welsford. He is sitting on prime of the general chief board however one other 118 riders are all inside 20 seconds.
“You know, I feel for GC, that is the large shakedown” mentioned Welsford whose Red Bull-Bora Hansgrohe workforce will doubtless flip their focus to the workforce’s GC card Finn Fisher-Black as a substitute on Thursday.
Stage three from Norwood to Uraidla is 147.5km lengthy, has 3,236m of elevation acquire.
The climbing begins early, with the sector passing over Norton Summit. Then it’s an up and down journey that ends with the class 1 Knotts Hill.
It is 2.6km lengthy with a mean gradient of 8% and peak of 13.4%. It hasn’t appeared on the Tour Down Under route earlier than however this time will probably be tackled twice. The first ascent crests with 40.8km of the 147.5km stage to go and the second at simply 5.6km from the road.
The problem it poses appears to be greater in actuality than on paper.
“Coming in, I used to be nonetheless considering Willunga was the primary stage, however after reconning the third stage, I feel it could be a very powerful,” Fisher-Black advised Cyclingnews.
The twin climb of Willunga comes on Saturday on the finish of stage 5 and it has historically been an awesome GC consider what’s often a decent run race the place bonus seconds picked up alongside the way in which could make all of the distinction.
This 12 months, nonetheless, it appears to be like just like the climb that’s synonymous with the Tour Down Under must share the limelight given the dimensions of the problem riders expect on stage 3.
“It’s a very tough day. There’s a technical strategy to the ultimate climb, and that one is admittedly nasty and steep,” mentioned Georg Zimmerman (Intermarché-Wanty), who was twelfth total on the race in 2024.
“And afterwards, there isn’t any time to get well. It’s solely up and down for a few kilometres to the end.”
The impression that terrain may have may differ based mostly on a lot of components, from the wind, the way in which it’s raced and the way the ways and technique unfold, with a lot of unknowns significantly because it’s the climb’s first look.
It will not be a day the place the GC battle will be received however there’s consensus that it may simply be a day the place the race is misplaced.
“I don’t suppose anybody goes to win the race on stage 3 – I feel that can nonetheless go all the way down to Willunga – however I feel that if you’re not in that entrance group tomorrow you received’t be capable to make up that point on the Willunga stage so it’s an essential day,” Picnic PostNL sports activities director Matthew Winston advised Cyclingnews.
“I think about it will be a smaller group dash coming to the road however if you’re not in that group it could possibly be race over.”
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