photo credits @TDU
Great Britain’s Samuel Watson barnstormed atop the podium to seize this year’s first Tour Down Under Ochre Leader’s Jersey, after winning today’s opening prologue while Canada’s Michael Leonard snared the MyWhoosh young rider jersey in 13th place on the Adelaide city streets today.
Watson set the pace early and had to watch 129 riders try and beat his record before he was crowned Prologue champion.
“It was a big, big sigh of relief for myself, yeah I’m so happy to start season with a win,’’ Watson said.
Watson’s win put the rival peloton on notice before the Vanguard Stage 1 Tanunda to Tanunda pedals off on Wednesday, while Watson’s teammate Sam Welsford looms as the leading contender for a third stage win in Barossa on debut for his new team, forcing rivals to rethink their tactics as every bonus second in the race for the ochre jersey counts.
Watson says the team is aiming to be one of the lead-out men to get Welsford over the Tanunda finish line first.
“Yeah, we’re going 100 per cent for him (Welsford). He’s won (stages) here six times in the last two years now. Whatever Sam prefers, yeah, I’ll be up there towards the end,” says Watson.
Earlier, Watson was the man to beat after setting the pace inside the first 10 minutes of the Prologue.
The reigning British national champion was the 11th rider off the starting ramp, subsequently averaging 50.7km/h to register a time of 4min 16.9 sec.
From there, only two other riders averaged more than 50 km/h, fellow Briton Ethan Vernon (NSN Cycling Team) at 50.6km/h and New Zealand’s Laurence Pithie (Red Bull BORA Hansgrohe) at 50.2km/h.
Santos Tour Down Under 2023 champion Jay Vine (UAE Team Emirates XRG) was the final contender off the starting ramp. Vine was the highest-ranked Australian in fourth place after a brilliant ride to cap off an exciting Prologue.
The reigning Australian time trial champion rode valiantly but fell four seconds short of Watson, averaging 49.7km/h.
Vine’s teammate, Ecuadorian Jhonatan Narvaez (UAE Team Emirates XRG) started his Santos Tour Down Under defense as the 100th rider off the ramp.
The Tour Down Under’s No. 1 ended his time trial 8.89 seconds behind Watson, averaging 49km/h.
Austria’s Michael Gogl (Alpecin Premier Tech) was first of the 140 Santos Tour Down Under Prologue starters on Wakefield Street.
Riders were staggered two hours and 19 minutes apart with Vine, the late show headlining act.
Gogl averaged 47.2km/h in blustery conditions and stopped the clock at 4min 36.3 sec on the 3.6km circuit, which ended at Victoria Park.
The Santos Tour Down Under UCI WorldTour’s Prologue returned for the second time after rain marred the first one in 2023 along the banks of the city’s River Torrens near Adelaide Oval.
The prologue made its debut as a 5.5-kilometer, rain-affected race won by Italian cyclist Alberto Bettiol.
A prologue is an individual time trial with riders using their usual UCI WorldTour-endorsed road bikes rather than time-trial specialized bikes.
It’s not regarded as a stage, but the rider’s times still count towards general classification (GC).
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