GC battle expected on Tour Down Under stage 3 – LIVE

Teams are lined up at the front of the peloton. On one side of the road is Red Bull followed by Visma and UAE on the other side with Ineos besides them. 

Bouchard caught Browning and the Australian asked ‘what’s happening back there?’ with a smile. Duo has 2:22 to the field with under 111km to go. 

Browning is looking over his shoulder, looking for Bouchard who is 55 seconds behind.

Field is descending, no urgency being shown. UAE, Visma and Red Bull at the front. 

Defending champion Stephen Williams (Israel-PremierTech) expects stage 3 to be a “tough” day.

“It’s going to be a tough day, although the level was really high I’d say on the climb [yesterday], I think today is going to be a lot harder. It’s obviously longer, a lot more elevation and the climbs are steeper, so definitely the first day for the GC battle, I think so can expect a good race out there,” he said at the start.

“We’re defending champions, so I think the onus will be on us [to control the race] and a couple of other teams. So yeah, sure, we’ll put a hand forward and take the race on, and hopefully we’ll have the legs to show in the final.”

“I think UAE, [Picnic PostNL] and Jayco as well. I think those teams are the strongest on paper for the GC, also Ineos. Hopefully we all come together and make the race happen and come into that final time together. 

Bouchard jumps to try and bridge up to Browning off the front. The Australian is just starting the descent with a gap of 2:08 with 120km to go.

The champion of Willunga Hill from 2024, Oscar Onley (Picnic-PostNL), is coming for another crack at winning the Tour Down Under. The Brit finished fourth overall last year, 20 seconds behind winner Stephen Williams (Israel-PremierTech).

“I think I naturally put pressure on myself, and I come here with high expectations,” Only said at the start. 

“And I think everyone now looks at me to be up there, and kind of expects me to win or get good results. So that brings a bit of pressure, but you approach each stage and each race in the same way you normally do. It doesn’t really affect how I ride.”

Browning continues on solo. He now has 1:23 on the peloton with 127km to go.

Will Browning continue solo? It’s a long way to the next KOM.   

Swift on the team radio, and lets go of Browning’s wheel with 131.5km to go, as the duo has 1:23 gap.

“Coming in, I was still thinking Willunga was the main stage, but after reconning the third stage, I think it might be the most important,” Finn Fisher-Black told Cyclingnews.

Fisher-Black is racing his third Tour Down Under, but his first for his new team Red Bull-Bora Hansgrohe.

“It’s massive for me,” Fisher-Black said when asked about how much of a target the Tour Down Under was. “This race is always one of my favourite races of the year, and I always seem to feel quite good after the summer in New Zealand. 

Read more at ‘No time to lose focus’ as Finn Fisher-Black launches with new team Red Bull Bora Hansgrohe at Tour Down Under

As for the weather today. It looks like stage 3 will be the coolest day at the Tour Down Under – forecast of just 26C in Adelaide and it’s a bit overcast too.

Now that the breakaway is established. Let’s take a closer look at today’s stage. The climbing started early, with Norton Summit, and then it is an up-and-down journey that will end with the category 1 Knotts Hill, which the racers will tackle twice. The second time up Knotts Hill comes at 5.6km from the line.

Georg Zimmermann (Intermarché-Wanty) described the climb as “really nasty and steep.”

The adage of ‘It might not be the day to win the GC battle, but it could easily be the day the race is lost’ rings true for today.

Read more in  ‘The big shakedown’ – New climb set to transform GC on stage 3 of Tour Down Under – Preview

Break

Two riders escaped after a flurry of attacks on the first climb of the day. Connor Swift (Ineos Grenadiers) was joined Fergus Browning (ARA Australia) at the front. The duo has a lead of 1:20 with 135km to go.

Browning takes maximum KOM points with Swift on his wheel. Browning now has 51 points, and has a big lead in that competition.

Browning goes the front with 200 metres to go, Swift gave him a look but stays close on his wheel.

Browning catches  Swift, about 400 metres before the KOM line. 

Race leader Welsford is at the back of the peloton, still looking comfortable. 

Browning is responding to Swift’s move.

Connor Swift takes a solo flyer with 141km to go, on a false flat but the road will kick up again soo.

Sprinter Walls, third on stage 1,  is having trouble keeping with the pace of the peloton

Peloton is strung out, flying up at 40kmph on Norton Summit. Still Harper driving the front.

IPT is covering all the attacks from Jayco. Schultz was on Harper’s wheel for this acceleration.

And the four riders were caught. Harper counters, with Soler still following the moves.

Schelling accelerated from the peloton to join the four riders up the road. And that created a reaction from the peloton.  A 5-rider chase group is forming behind.

Swift is the Ineos rider who joined to make it four off the front. Peloton is spread across the road – 145km to go.

Seeing the peloton not responding. Geoffrey Bouchard jumps to bridge up followed by Browning and an Ineos rider.

And now Dries de Pooter goes solo off the front. Field has not reacted … so far.

Durbrudge accelerates again with Gerrans on his wheel. The 137-rider field is lined up behind the Australian champion.

And we have the first attack. Durbridge makes a move. And IPT marks his wheel.

And we are racing! 

Race director O’Grady is blowing his whistle and slowing the riders in the neutral zone. Nerves are high and everyone is ready to go.

Racers are now riding through the 5.1km neutral zone. As soon as the flag drops, the peloton will be climbing cat. 2 Ashton, a 10km ascent with 4.1% average gradient and max of 12.6% Ouch.

Anticipation is high for stage 3 of the Tour Down Under which will start in a few minutes.

Race director Stuart O’Grady expects stage 3, with 3236 meters of elevation gain over 145.3 kilometres, to be the toughest stage this year.

Racers will begin in Norwood and head for the slopes of Norton Summit, then push further into the Adelaide Hills and towards the Uraidla finish. The journey there is anything but cruisy, with the new ascent of Knotts Hill climbed twice, tight turns, and a rollercoaster last approach in the mix.

Double stage winner Sam Welsford (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) leads the general classification with Arne Marit (Intermarché-Wanty) in second place and Matthew Brennan (Visma-Lease A Bike) in third. Both are tied at 14 seconds back. 

Welsford also leads the point classification. Second in the points classification Tim Tom Teutenberg (Lidl-Trek) will be wearing the blue sprint jersey, as Welsford will obviously be in the ochre leader’s jersey.

Fergus Browning (ARA Australia) nabbed more KOM points after two days in the break, and has a solid 26-point lead in the mountains classification. Brennan leads the best young rider classification. 

Welcome to Cyclingnews‘ live coverage of stage 3, from Norwood to Uraidla, of the Tour Down Under. The stage starts at 11:10am local time or 12:30am GMT and finishes roughly four hours later.