The decisive stage
The race was pretty much decided on the second ascent of the Corkscrew climb (3.6 km @ 6.7%) of Thursday’s stage 2, 148.1 km from Norwood to Uraidla, when Adam Yates attacked the peloton, giving Vine a perfect platform to attack alone. He was eventually joined by defending champion and UAE teammate Jhonathan Narváez. The two were co-favourites and clearly the best riders in the race – and in sports, the best usually wins.
They rode together and slowly increased their lead over a chasing group of eight riders. They crossed the line 58 seconds ahead of the chase group, from which Mauro Schmid (Jayco-AlUla) finished third. Because of the bonus points, Vine had the GC lead by 6 seconds over his teammate, with Schmid in third, at 1:06. Vine was then asked if the race was over.
“Anything can happen,” Vine said with a laugh, according to Cyclingnews. “But yeah, it’s really good to have such a big lead compared to my last tour. It’s a lot more secure, and we also got Jhonny in second now, so we’ve got a very strong position.”
Vine said he slowed the pace a little on the climb to allow Narváez to stay with him, explaining: “I’m not going to drop my teammate for no reason.” He went on to say: “It’s better to have two guys a minute clear of the rest of the group. We’ve got some really demanding stages still to come.”
Such as stage 4, for example, which included three ascents of the legendary Willunga Hill climb. But those three climbs were scratched from the course due to temperatures of up to 43° Celsius (109.4°F) and the extreme risk of fire. Also, due to the heat, the stage started an hour earlier than scheduled, at 10:10 a.m. local time. Unfortunately for Narváez and the team, he crashed heavily early on the stage and had to abandon.
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Because the Willunga Hill climb was cut, the stage ended in an unexpected bunch sprint, which was won by Ethan Vernon, the first-ever victory of NSN Racing, the name of the team that replaced Israel–Premier Tech. It was a much-needed victory for the team because Corbin Strong and Jake Steward had to abandon because of crashes, which seriously depleted the team’s lead-out. As a result, they had to improvise.
“Today’s stage was meant to be for our climbers, George [Bennett] and [Nick] Schultz, and then last night it got changed, so we had to readapt our plan,” Vernon explained. “And then we lost Corbin and Jake… at the start of the stage, so again, we had to change it again during the stage.”
Fortunately, Brady Gilmore, riding in his first World Tour race, jumped into the breach and rode a flawless lead-out for the delighted Vernon, who said, “I really wanted to win out here. I wanted to start this season strong. We’ve got a new setup with the team, and to be the first rider to win in this jersey is really special.”
The attack of the kangaroos
That left Sunday’s stage 5, a moderately lumpy 169.8 km in and around Stirling. What could go wrong? Plenty, as it turned out. Let’s let the winner tell the story. “All the Europeans [riders] always ask me what’s the most dangerous animal in Australia, and I tell them kangaroos. They wait in the bushes until you cannot stop, and then they jump out in front of you. Two of them blasted through the peloton when we were doing probably 50 kph, and one of them stopped and went left, right, left, right, left, right, and I ended up hitting its backside.” As a result, he hit the tarmac but was unhurt.
All’s well that ends well, and Vine ended up winning the race by 1:03 over Schmid, with Harry Sweeny (EF Education–EasyPost) completing the podium, at 1:12. The stage was won by Matthew Brennan, Visma–Lease a Bike’s rising 20-year-old star.
The GC victory was a relief for Vine and UAE Team Emirates-XRG after an uncharacteristically troubled race in which they lost not only Narváez but also Vegard Stake Laengden in another stage 4 crash, as well as Mikkel Berg and Juan Sebastian Molano in the kangaroo incident. At the end, only Vine, Yates, and Ivo Oliveira remained of the starting squad.
As Vine put it, “I can’t fathom how much bad luck we have had in the last couple of days. We’ve got guys who are in the hospital. I have come out unscathed, but you never want that to happen.”
Final GC
1. Jay Vine, UAE Team Emirates–XRG 16:44:54
2. Mauro Schmid, Jayco AlUla + 1:03
3. Harry Sweeny, EF Education–EasyPost + 1:12
4. Marco Brenner, Tudor Pro Cycling + 1:14
5. Andreas Kron, Uno-X Mobility + 1:16
6. Andrea Raccagni Noviero, Soudal Quick-Step + 1:19
7. Anthon Charmig, Uno-X Mobility + 1:23
8. Filippo Zana, Soudal Quick-Step “
9. Matteo Sobrero, Lidl-Trek + 1:27
10. Ben O’Connor, Jayco AlUla + 1:28
