Sam Welsford took victory in the third stage of the Tour Down Under. The Australian cyclist, from BORA-hansgrohe, arrived first in Campbelltown, after 145km. He surpassed Elia Viviani (INEOS Grenadiers) and Dan McLay (Arkéa – B&B Hotels) in the sprint. Isaac del Toro, from Mexico, who won the second stage on Wednesday, continues to lead the general classification.
Initial escape
The third day of the competition featured just over 1,600 meters of elevation gain. Thus, a breakout was formed, with Luke Burns (Australian team), together with the Frenchman Axel Mariault (Cofidis), the South African Stefan De Bod (EF Education – EasyPost) and the Australian Tristan Saunders (Australian team), who arrived to have an advantage of just under three minutes.
Massive arrival and fall at the end
The escape was neutralized with 60 km to go and a peloton headed compactly until near the end, a crash occurred, in which, in addition to several Astana cyclists, local idol Luke Plapp was also involved. The Australian champion managed to continue on his way, but ended up finishing almost ten minutes behind the winner.
In the battle for the day’s victory, Danny van Poppel did an excellent job and left Welsford free to win the stage, thus recording his second victory in three days.
Portuguese and Brazilian in the competition
The Portuguese Ruben Guerreiro and António Morgado finished with the peloton, in 37th and 86th position. Brazilian Vinícius Rangel arrived in 132nd place, 9min 25sec behind the pack.
Watch the arrival:
Results of the 3rd stage of the Tour Down Under
Tour Down Under 2024 general classification, after 3 stages
