Duo move up after Paracombe test

23 Jan 2020

Duo move up after Paracombe test

Tour Down Under – Stage three: Unley - Paracombe, 131km.

Rohan Dennis and Dylan van Baarle moved into the top 10 overall at the Tour Down Under as Richie Porte (Trek-Segafredo) won the first summit finish on stage three to move into the race lead. 

Dennis and Van Baarle finished fourth and seventh respectively as Porte attacked on the final climb into Paracombe which saw him claim the ochre jersey at the halfway point of the race.

Porte timed his attack to perfection, with none of the other contenders able to react to his change of pace with 1.2km remaining, though Van Baarle and Dennis worked well together to reduce the gap, both coming in five seconds behind the Trek rider, placing them eighth and ninth in the general classification and both now 15 seconds behind Porte.

Earlier, Guillame Boivin (Israel Start-Up Nation), Miles Scotson (Groupama-FDJ),  and Geoffrey Bouchard (AG2R La Mondiale) were in a day-long break that stayed clear until the final part of the race, with the trio reeled in slowly, with Scotson the final rider caught with just under 10 kilometres to go. 

This brought the GC teams to the fore, with Team INEOS well-placed as the decisive turn into the final climb saw the gradient kick up significantly which immediately saw the peloton split. Porte was then led out on the climb by a teammate as the wind swirled, and he attacked to take the race lead. 

There was a trip to the podium for Pavel Sivakov, as he took the lead in the best young rider classification and will wear the white jersey on stage four. 
Final kilometre
Reaction 

Rohan Dennis 

“It was a confidence boost ahead of Willunga. I really had to play mind games with myself and I had to just try to save energy where I could, take the smooth lines on the road and really look after myself before that final climb. 

“I had Dylan infront, protecting me, but Richie kicked on the climb and he was just too good. We did bring him back, but hopefully we can bring him back more on Willunga. 

“I think with finishes in Murray Bridge and Victor Harbor [on stages four and five] the wind could be a big factor and the ochre jersey is still up for grabs for Daryl Impey with bonus seconds available tomorrow and the next day. Though it will come down to a really big showdown on Willunga as normal. 
Dylan van Baarle

Dylan van Baarle

It’s nice for us to have two cards to play, the goal for me was not to lose time and that’s what I did."
Dylan van Baarle

“I felt pretty good all day, we came to the front pretty late so we could stay safe before the climb. I maybe went a little bit too hard at the start of the climb, so when Trek picked up the pace I was already on the limit, then Richie went and I couldn’t follow him. 

“I rode tempo or Rohan so he wasn’t in the wind and then pushed as hard as I could until the finish. It’s nice for us to have two cards to play, the goal for me was not to lose time and that’s what I did. 
Stage three result

1. Richie Porte (Trek-Segafredo) 3:14:09
2. Robert Power (Team Sunweb) +5"
3. Simon Yates (Mitchelton-Scott) s.t.
4. Rohan Dennis (Team INEOS) s.t.
5. Diego Ulissi (UAE-Team Emirates) s.t.

Overall standings

1. Richie Porte (Trek-Segafredo) 10:10:24
2. Daryl Impey (Mitchelton-Scott) +6"
3. Robert Power (Team Sunweb) +9"
4. Simon Yates (Mitchelton-Scott) +11"
5. George Bennett (Team Jumbo-Visma) +14"
8. Rohan Dennis (Team INEOS) +15"
9. Dylan van Baarle (Team INEOS) +15"