Comme chaque année, c'est le Santos Tour Down Under qui lance véritablement le début de saison sur route ainsi que le calendrier WorldTour masculin. La 25e édition de l'épreuve aussie débutait ce mardi dans la nuit (décalage horaire oblige) par une 1ère étape de 150,7 kms entre Prospect et Gumeracha. Et à l'issue d'un parcours sans grande difficulté, c'est comme l'an passé et sans surprise un sprint massif qui a conclu cette entrée en matière, avec la victoire du maître incontesté de l'exercice en Australie depuis un an, Sam Welsford ! Parfaitement lancé par le train de son équipe Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe malgré une chute à 2,6 kilomètres de la ligne, le sprinteur néo-zélandais, auteur d'un triplé en 2024, a repris sa domination australienne sur le même rythme en produisant son effort aux 200 mètres sans jamais être revu, prolongeant ainsi son invincibilité de l'édition précédente dans les arrivées massives.
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SportTranscription
00:00Yeah, I think, you know, we had a lot of eyes on us today and we are backed up against the
00:08wall and from the start, you know, no one really wanted to help us out there today but,
00:11you know, we kind of expected that so we went out there and just kept the break in check
00:15and eventually some teams started to put one on in the last maybe 60k and then, yeah, the
00:21gap started coming down as well and, but yeah, really happy with the team, you know, we're
00:25really relieved.
00:26A lot of pressure going, coming in from last year so really happy to get the first run
00:29on the board.
00:30Yeah, I had someone on my wheel and I was keeping them in check and I didn't actually
00:35notice the left.
00:36I mean, I should have been closer to the left I think but, yeah, eventually I went to stop
00:42and salute but I went pretty long so I didn't have much legs left and I should have realized
00:47that it was a really fast downhill sprint at the end so then they come really fast from
00:50the back and I thought I had it but he came with such pace that I thought my front wheel
00:57was over the line but then he came zooming past me and I was like, hmm, maybe I mucked
01:01that up but I was happy to get it, yeah.
01:05To be honest it was pretty good today.
01:06The boys did a lot of work, you know, we took the front a lot on the right there and Lawrence
01:12and Ryan and Danny went a lot on the front like that running was super long with the
01:18wind and the turns made it quite difficult to defend the front so, yeah, and Danny told
01:24me he had more to give in the final, he could have gone longer so I just need to be a bit
01:27more patient and not stop going so bloody early and use him a lot longer, make my life
01:32a lot easier I think.
01:33I have a new trainer now and I've been targeting a lot of like hours on the bike and lots of
01:38general fitness.
01:39I think, you know, I have a lot of power from the track and the legs so working that aerobic
01:42capacity is probably more my weakness and improving that allows me to still do my good
01:47sprint, you know, still carrying fatigue so just working on the engine, being able to
01:52handle the harder days and still producing a strong sprint.
01:55For a 25th year the top 20 cycling teams in the world gather in the city of Adelaide in
02:02South Australia.
02:03Yeah, I think this is definitely a stage for the sprinters as we see Leek Durbridge signing
02:08on here for Jaco Alulo in the National Champions jersey, he won that last week in Perth.
02:13And number 133 hasn't started and Robbie McEwen and Anna are going to tell me why not at the
02:18moment.
02:19These are the three riders we think broke his collarbone in that crash on Saturday evening
02:22in the Criatina.
02:25These are the three riders who have got together immediately after the start here, Zac Marridge
02:30and Fergus Browning, the two Australian riders in this group, but the first time check's
02:35come through and it's already up to over one and a half minutes.
02:39Here's the FX, king of the mountain, there's the line, uncontested.
02:44Wow, little bit surprised but I think that was the conversation they had on the climb
02:49and they told the Frenchman to behave himself and he has, he's gone over in third place.
02:54As we start the sprint here and this is the Frenchman deciding show, he's a pretty good
02:57sprinter as he's trying to get the few seconds time bonus and getting his revenge a little
03:04bit I think there on the fact that he didn't challenge in the king of the mountain.
03:08So, tranchant, good result for him and three seconds time bonus plus maximum points in
03:15the zip track sprint in Williamstown.
03:18So we're getting faster and we're not far short of two hours in the saddle and they've
03:24been in the lead from the first 500 meters of the day.
03:31Four minutes one, so still continuing to reverse, there's the top of the climb and that's what
03:41we expected over the top, Browning taking it and at the moment it's opening up.
03:51And this is at the back of the peloton thanks to our drone cam and how impressive with the
03:57technology changes that we can basically fly right above the peloton, get a real sense
04:02of it.
04:03The gap is now down to 3.14, we know the peloton is starting to reel them back, they're going
04:08to have to just continue working together, working to keep this breakaway alive as long
04:14as possible.
04:15Zach Maric rolls through ahead of Fergus Browning.
04:22So Maric has built up his bonuses out on the course now to four.
04:30Four seconds bonus for him.
04:33Lead out in full swing now, Leperre goes in the middle, number 51, the French champion
04:37but it's Narvaez on the right.
04:42Jonathan Narvaez showing his cards, number 34.
04:46That is interesting for the Ecuadorian rider there.
04:51Takes the third place and he gets what could be a valuable sprint bonus, second overall
04:55in this race last year, 29 kilometers distant.
05:02And then there's got to be a rapid reaction from this field, it is still a gap and it's
05:08still over a minute, it's still going to be a chase off this hill down towards Gombraka
05:13for the last time.
05:16No surprise on the rider taking the prize, Browning has won the third of three climbs
05:21today.
05:22That's a good lead in the King of the Mountains, 21 points.
05:26Oh it's been a crash, that's Luke Durbridge down in the centre of the picture, I never
05:30saw any hint of that.
05:33That was all of the movement.
05:35Luke Platt caught up but unsure if he's actually gone down as well.
05:38Most of the riders, well you can see how far forward that's happened in the peloton because
05:44there was a break in the peloton, everybody's scrambling to try and get back in the wheels,
05:48just two kilometers to go.
05:50Because I didn't see it, have a look at this now.
05:53He's there and there we go behind, sort of just in front of midway in the peloton and
05:59it's always the danger when riders have been working at the front, they're being overtaken
06:03by riders behind, they're trying to push forward and get up in a better position and the differential
06:08in speed is often what is behind these sorts of crashes.
06:13But the race moves on, Sam Welsford giving him the call, so this is Van Poppel, a look
06:17over the shoulder, Welsford there in second wheel, behind him, it's just a scramble to
06:23be on the wheel of Sam Welsford and the gap is opening behind.
06:27This is the left hand of the sweeper and it's a little bit of a distance to where we actually
06:31get to the line.
06:32Welsford is in the position but has he got into this position Rob, a little bit too early.
06:37There's a slight split in the peloton here now, as it's still now Welsford going to the
06:41line, this is the turn to the slight left, he's coming up to the line, well he's advertised
06:47it, he's done it and he's got the victory, I think, I think, did he just wake it?
06:53He started to celebrate early, he's got it, Welsford has taken it on the line.
06:58A year ago here in the Santos, two or down under and the gap on the line, well it's a
07:04healthy one still, a millimetre or a metre doesn't matter to a sprinter, that's arms
07:09in the air.
07:10It's a long way job.
07:11Yeah.
07:12He ideally would have wanted to be back against the right barrier but you do that in this
07:17situation, that is going too far, would lead to a DQ, right behind him from FDJ Groupama,
07:25well a good third place in him but a fast finishing.
07:29They've seen the man that was on everybody's lips at the start of the day, Sam Welsford,
07:34he's an Olympic track champion and now once again a winner in the Santos Tour Down Under.
07:42He won three stages last year and he's got one finger up, that's the first one for me
07:47this year.
07:50Sam, that was a long way from home.
07:53Yeah, bloody hell, I'm getting sick and tired of going early now, I mean, that's enough.
07:59Yeah, super hard running, I probably stepped off Danny a little bit too early actually,
08:05I think he had a lot more to give but he did such a big good job and he was on the front
08:09for so long and we probably hit the front a bit early and that last straight was super
08:13hard to control the front, you know, it was pretty hard and we were getting dive bombed
08:18every corner so we had to kind of come back a bit and wait, we ran out of guys but the
08:24boys did an amazing job today and yeah, we took it on with the only team riding all day
08:27until the end and then, yeah, so happy to pay him back for the win.
08:31He likes winning but he likes Ochre even more, put your hands together once again.
08:37You can't start much better than this.
08:43So there's the situation now, as expected a four second advantage in the Ochre jersey
08:48competition which is the main jersey of course and in third place, Marridge is there in third
08:54place and Matthew Walls will be delighted with fourth place.
08:58Well done Matthew, a very confident young man and let's see if he can build on what
09:03he's done today and that would mean a stage win.
09:06So he leads in the Zwift Young Riders competition as well, that's for riders born after the
09:111st of January 2003.
09:15There's the situation in that competition, Fergus Browning though has made a perfect
09:20start, a nap hand, 21 points from a possible 21.