Impey takes the lead as Porte wins on Willunga Hill

Richie Porte (BMC Racing) attacked and rode away on the second ascent of Willunga Hill, while Daryl Impey (Mitchelton-Scot) took over the race lead

The Queen Stage would be the most important day of the Tour Down Under so far, and with the sprinters likely to take centre stage for tomorrow’s grand finale, if the GC riders wanted to take the win, they had to make their move today. Willunga Hill was where the decisive move would come, with the major climb of the day being ridden twice on this 151.5km stage, and with the finale taking place on the second ascent, to be in with a chance, riders would have to stay in touch on both occasions. After days of scorching heat, the weather was finally cooling – if only slightly – but this would give riders just that little bit extra, and that could make all the difference.

Impey takes the lead as Porte wins on Willunga Hill

When the pivotal attack came on today’s Tour Down Under Queen Stage, BORA-hansgrohe’s Jay McCarthy put his cards on the table and went for glory. As his teammate, UCI World Champion, Peter Sagan, summed up after the race, “It's always better to try than do nothing”, and the Australian rider knew that stage 5 was where the race for the overall victory was going to come to life, and he turned himself inside out to stay in contention. While Jay was unable to stay with the eventual stage winner, he showed bravery, grit and determination in his efforts, while the team showed its strength in pulling together to bring both Jay and Peter to the foot of the day’s climbs in a position to contest the win.

There was a sense of urgency from the start today, and while the previous days’ racing had seen only a few riders try to escape at the start of the day, stage 5 saw seven riders attack as soon as the race left the neutralised zone. The peloton had to decide whether to work to bring the escapees back in, expending energy, or risk leaving them out ahead, only for the break to take the win and frustrate the peloton’s GC ambitions.
 
With BORA-hansgrohe working to reduce the gap, on making the first ascent of Willunga Hill the gap fell massively, and it was all back together by the bottom of the second, pivotal climb.
 
While Peter Sagan, in the ochre race leader’s jersey, couldn’t stay with the bunch, it was Jay McCarthy who was the only rider to be able to go when the inevitable attack from Richie Porte came. The BORA-hansgrohe GC contender bravely clung on but was unable to go again when a second attack came, dropping out of the GC top ten after a hard-fought effort on a difficult day in the saddle.

VIDEO: 2018 Santos Tour Down Under Stage 5 

2018 Santos Tour Down Under Stage 5 Top 10

1 Richie Porte (Aus) BMC Racing Team 3:42:22 
2 Daryl Impey (RSA) Mitchelton-Scott 0:00:08 
3 Tom Jelte Slagter (Ned) Dimension Data 0:00:10 
4 Dries Devenyns (Bel) Quick-Step Floors   
5 Egan Arley Bernal Gomez (Col) Team Sky   
6 Gorka Izagirre Insausti (Spa) Bahrain-Merida   
7 Diego Ulissi (Ita) UAE Team Emirates   
8 Robert Gesink (Ned) LottoNL-Jumbo 0:00:14 
9 Jon Izagirre Insausti (Spa) Bahrain-Merida   
10 Ruben Guerreiro (Por) Trek-Segafredo#

2018 Santos Tour Down Under GC after Stage 5

1 Daryl Impey (RSA) Mitchelton-Scott 18:02:15 
2 Richie Porte (Aus) BMC Racing Team   
3 Tom Jelte Slagter (Ned) Dimension Data 00:00:16  
4 Diego Ulissi (Ita) UAE Team Emirates 0:00:20 
5 Dries Devenyns (Bel) Quick-Step Floors   
6 Egan Arley Bernal Gomez (Col) Team Sky   
7 Gorka Izagirre Insausti (Spa) Bahrain-Merida   
8 Robert Gesink (Ned) LottoNL-Jumbo 0:00:24 
9 George Bennett (NZl) LottoNL-Jumbo   
10 Jon Izagirre Insausti (Spa) Bahrain-Merida

 
Tag: tourdownunder
 
Jan 21 2024 - NEWS: Stevie Williams crowned Tour Down Under champion
Jan 20 2024 - NEWS: Oscar Onley wins penultimate stage as Stephen Williams takes lead
Jan 19 2024 - NEWS: Sam Welsford takes a hattrick at the Tour Down Under
Jan 18 2024 - NEWS: Sam Welsford takes second stage win at the Tour Down Under
Jan 17 2024 - NEWS: Mexican Isaac del Toro attacks to win 2024 Tour Down Under stage 2
Jan 16 2024 - NEWS: Sam Welsford takes first win of the 2024 season on the Tour Down Under opening stage
Dec 09 2023 - NEWS: World Champion Julian Alaphilippe to race in Tour Down Under
Jan 22 2023 - NEWS: Jay Vine wins Tour Down Under fine style
Jan 21 2023 - NEWS: France’s Coquard wins Stage 4 as Jany leads Tour Down Under
Jan 19 2023 - NEWS: Rohan Dennis breaks away to win 2nd stage and take Tour Down Under lead
Jan 18 2023 - NEWS: Bauhaus beats Ewan to win first Tour Down Under Stage
Jan 17 2023 - NEWS: Alberto Bettiol wins treacherous Tour Down Under Prologue in the Rain
Dec 15 2022 - NEWS: Hindley, Froome, Thomas and Yates headline 2023 Santos Tour Down Under
Jan 26 2020 - NEWS: Richie Porte wins a second Santos Tour Down Under
Jan 25 2020 - NEWS: Impey takes race lead as Nizzolo wins Sprint Down Under