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2016 Santos Tour Down Under (World Tour), Australia

Stage 5: McLaren Vale - Willunga Hill

Stage 5, Saturday, January 23: McLaren Vale - Willunga Hill, 151.5 km

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Results | Stage 5 video | Stage 5 photos | Stage 5 map and profile

Richie Porte wins stage 5

Richie Porte wins stage 5. Second place Sergio Henao can be seen back down the road.

The Race. Here is the race organizer's excellent narrative:

Richie Porte triumphed on Willunga Hill for the third straight year to take out the BikeExchange Stage 5 of the Santos Tour Down Under while Simon Gerrans looks set to claim a fourth Tour crown.

All the major contenders were together when the race hit the bottom of Willunga Hill with just three kilometres to go in the 151.5 kilometre stage through the McLaren Vale wine growing region. A flurry of attacks splintered the bunch but it was the surge of speed, a kilometre from home, by BMC Racing’s new recruit, that proved decisive.

“To be honest I never expected that one,” said Porte who finished well ahead for a solo win. “Today the BMC guys were absolutely incredible and they backed me here, which is nice and I have only just started in this team.

“It’s always nice to win in Australia and on top of Willunga for the third time in a row, I am really happy,” said Porte. “The crowds are just incredible, the Australian public just get behind this race so much. It really does feel like riding the Tour de France up this climb, incredible feeling.”

Porte’s win moves him into second place overall, nine seconds, behind Gerrans who dug deep in defence of his lead and will almost certainly secure a record fourth Tour title. The Orica-GreenEdge rider crossed the line in eighth place, 17 seconds behind Porte but close enough to retain the Santos Ochre Leader’s Jersey.

“It was extra tough,” said Gerrans. “The calibre of climbers in this race, those three guys who attacked off the front, they’re some of the best in the world, it was bloody tough. You never discount Richie Porte in a finish like that, he obviously loves it and this is the toughest stage of the race where the GC (overall) is genuinely decided every year,” said Gerrans who has the trophy within reach. “One stage to go, I have come out just in front today, hopefully that is enough.”

His quest for a fourth win will be strengthened by Porte’s concession after the stage.

“I’m not going to fight for time bonuses tomorrow,” said Porte of the possible maximum sixteen seconds on offer in the Be Safe Be Seen MAC Stage 6. “That's not my forté. I'm already happy with how this race went (because) I wasn't targeting the overall. It's just nice to get the first win in the BMC jersey,” said Porte of his first stage race with his new team.

Canadian Michael Woods (Cannondale) responded to Porte’s attack talking Colombian Sergio Luis Henao (Team SKY) with him but either was strong enough to bridge the gap. Henao then got the better of Woods in the final metres to clinch second place, six seconds behind Porte.

“It was a very hard stage,” said Henao who now holds an unassailable lead in the Subaru King of the Mountain classification. “I tried to follow the wheel of Richie, but it wasn’t meant to be.

“I believe we did a good job and you’d always like to win but I had good sensations,” said Henao who’s moved up to third overall, 11 seconds off the lead. “My rivals are very strong, and I wasn’t able to win, but it’s a good sign that I am off to a good start to the season.”

Woods came home third on the stage, nine seconds behind Porte, and has moved up to fifth place overall. “I felt very good today, I just wasn’t as strong as Porte,” said Woods. “I tried going with him, but I made a little mistake by trying to do it by myself, and I took Henao with me, and that cost me second in the stage.

“(But) I can’t be disappointed with the week,” he said. “The crowd is amazing here, I’ve never done the Tour de France, but everyone is saying it’s the same level of crowds.”

Dropping out of the top three overall today was Jay McCarthy (Tinkoff) who earlier in the week was the race leader after his win into Stirling. “I’m a bit disappointed to get off the podium but I gave everything today, I (just) didn’t feel great,” said McCarthy who is now sitting fourth overall at 20 seconds but leads the Europcar Young Rider competition. “The team put me in a good position, I had just to keep pushing and I definitely have no regrets.

“I’ve won in Stirling and I’ve stayed pretty close to the first place overall. Being fourth I still take a lot away from this race and I’m happy with how the week went so far.”

BikeExchange Stage 5 was always set to be a classic Santos Tour Down Under showdown and the 122 thousand fans who flocked to the race were not disappointed. Milder temperatures and a sea breezes made for comfortable viewing as the race wound it’s way through the Fleurieu Peninsula vineyards, along the coast and then onto the Willunga Hill finishing circuit.

As the race headed down to Aldinga Beach for the first of three loops back through McLaren Vale the cross winds wreaked havoc. The peloton lined out single file with several riders flicked into the gravel at the back of the race. Meantime up the road a quartet had ridden clear to try their luck.

Dutchmen Pim Ligthart (Lotto Soudal) and Lars Boom (Astana), South African Reinardt Janse Van Rensburg (Dimension Data) and Portugal’s Nelson Oliveira (Movistar).

With Ligthart trailing the race leader by only 1min49sec he soon became the leader on the road as the breakaway stretched its lead out past two minutes but it also meant he was a threat too the success of the break. The margin had grown to 5min40sec by the time the leaders reached the first iiNet sprint of the day at Snapper Point after 63.4km. Ligthart led them over the line ahead of Janse Van Rensburg with Boom (Astana), third.

The quartet’s lead stayed fairly constant for the next 50 kilometres with Orica GreenEdge directing traffic on the front of the bunch in support of Gerrans, who was riding nestled amongst his team mates.

The second iiNet Sprint was again won by Ligthart ahead of Janse Van Rensburg with Boom taking third place this time through. The peloton was almost six minutes behind at the halfway mark of the stage which is when the chase moved up a gear and the gap began to shrink.

Janse Van Rensburg broke clear for the first Subaru King of the Mountain contest up Willunga Hill claiming the maximum points followed by Boom, Oliveira and Ligthart in that order. But the chase was gathering momentum and the next rider under the Subaru arch, Astana’s Lieuwe Westra, was only a little over two minutes behind. The quartet regrouped after the first climb in last ditch bid for stage honours but they couldn’t match the speed of the peloton.

SKY, BMC Racing, Tinkoff, Cannondale, Lotto Soudal, and, of course Orica GreenEdge hit the gas in pursuit of the leaders and four kilometres from home the job was done. It was then a battle for position as the big guns prepared to fire on the final climb to the finish line.

“We were up the road with a group of pretty strong riders,” said Janse Van Rensburg who was named the Alpecin Most Competitive Rider of the stage. “We had quite a big gap and when we went to Willunga Hill the first time I was feeling very strong. But the gap was coming down quick and they just rode me down again,” he explained. “It was a good try (but) unfortunately I couldn’t finish it off.”

2015 Tour Champion Rohan Dennis dropped out of contention for the overall placings today. “I told the team that I didn’t think I will be ready to hold it, so our best bet was to put the leadership with Richie,” said Dennis. “Maybe we could set him up for the stage, or even the GC.

“I am not in the same shape as I was last year after the lead up to my hour record attempt gave me a little more punch. I am fitter in some ways, but not in others and my punch is not quite as good as it was last year,” Dennis said.

Tomorrow’s Be Safe Be Seen MAC Stage 6 will bring the 2016 Santos Tour Down Under to a close and it is primed to be an action packed two hours of racing in what is traditionally a massed sprint finish across the line.

Complete Stage 5 Results:

1	Richie Porte	BMC	3hr 34min 16sec
2	Sergio Henao	Team Sky	@ 6sec
3	Michael Woods	Cannondale	0:00:09
4	Diego Ulissi	Lampre–Merida	0:00:17
5	Rafael Valls	Lotto-Soudal	s.t.
6	Ruben Fernandez	Movistar	s.t.
7	Domenico Pozzovivo	Ag2r	s.t.
8	Simon Gerrans	Orica–GreenEdge	s.t.
9	Jarlinson Pantano	IAM Cycling	s.t.
10	Patrick Bevin	Cannondale	s.t.
11	Chris Hamilton	UniSA-Australia	s.t.
12	Jesús Herrada	Movistar	s.t.
13	Cameron Meyer	Dimension Data	s.t.
14	Lucas Hamilton	UniSA-Australia	s.t.
15	Jay McCarthy	Tinkoff	s.t.
16	Louis Meintjes	Lampre–Merida	s.t.
17	George Bennett	LottoNL–Jumbo	0:00:34
18	David De La Cruz	Etixx–Quick-Step	0:00:37
19	Carlos Verona	Etixx–Quick-Step	0:00:38
20	Egor Silin	Katusha	s.t.
21	Steve Morabito	FDJ	s.t.
22	Luis Leon Sanchez	Astana	s.t.
23	Tiago Machado	Katusha	s.t.
24	Julian Arredondo	Trek–Segafredo	0:00:44
25	Simon Clarke	Cannondale	0:00:54
26	Petr Vakoc	Etixx–Quick-Step	s.t.
27	Anthony Roux	FDJ	s.t.
28	Rohan Dennis	BMC	s.t.
29	Tobias Ludvigsson	Giant–Alpecin	s.t.
30	José Joaquin Rojas	Movistar	s.t.
31	Lachlan Norris	Drapac	s.t.
32	Nathan Earle	Drapac	s.t.
33	Daryl Impey	Orica–GreenEdge	s.t.
34	Cyril Gautier	Ag2r	@ 1min 1sec
35	Georg Preidler	Giant–Alpecin	0:01:05
36	Jack Bobridge	Trek–Segafredo	0:01:07
37	Thomas De Gendt	Lotto-Soudal	0:01:08
38	Pieter Serry	Etixx–Quick-Step	0:01:13
39	Sergey Lagutin	Katusha	s.t.
40	Patrick Lane	UniSA-Australia	s.t.
41	Davide Malacarne	Astana	s.t.
42	Jascha Sütterlin	Movistar	s.t.
43	Peter Stetina	Trek–Segafredo	s.t.
44	Lars Ytting Bak	Lotto-Soudal	0:01:27
45	David Tanner	IAM Cycling	0:01:35
46	Samuel Spokes	Drapac	s.t.
47	Nathan Haas	Dimension Data	0:01:48
48	Anthony Giacoppo	UniSA-Australia	s.t.
49	Matteo Montaguti	Ag2r	s.t.
50	Martin Velits	Etixx–Quick-Step	0:01:57
51	Luka Pibernik	Lampre–Merida	0:02:04
52	Geraint Thomas	Team Sky	0:02:07
53	Laurens De Vreese	Astana	s.t.
54	Gavin Mannion	Drapac	s.t.
55	Adam Phelan	Drapac	s.t.
56	Rein Taaramäe	Katusha	0:02:19
57	Gert Dockx	Lotto-Soudal	0:02:43
58	Tsgabu Gebremaryam Grmay	Lampre–Merida	s.t.
59	Gediminas Bagdonas	Ag2r	s.t.
60	Yoann Offredo	FDJ	s.t.
61	Enrico Battaglin	LottoNL–Jumbo	0:02:49
62	Ryder Hesjedal	Trek–Segafredo	0:03:03
63	Jesse Sergent	Ag2r	s.t.
64	Alexey Tsatevitch	Katusha	s.t.
65	Michael Albasini	Orica–GreenEdge	0:03:49
66	Luke Durbridge	Orica–GreenEdge	s.t.
67	Lieuwe Westra	Astana	0:03:53
68	Songezo Jim	Dimension Data	0:04:00
69	Johan Le Bon	FDJ	0:04:42
70	Michael Valgren Andersen	Tinkoff	s.t.
71	Luke Rowe	Team Sky	s.t.
72	Peter Kennaugh	Team Sky	s.t.
73	Leigh Howard	IAM Cycling	0:04:54
74	Rory Sutherland	Movistar	s.t.
75	Martijn Keizer	LottoNL–Jumbo	s.t.
76	Simon Geschke	Giant–Alpecin	s.t.
77	Carter Jones	Giant–Alpecin	s.t.
78	Manuele Boaro	Tinkoff	s.t.
79	Jaco Venter	Dimension Data	0:05:56
80	Danilo Wyss	BMC	s.t.
81	Alberto Bettiol	Cannondale	s.t.
82	Manuele Mori	Lampre–Merida	s.t.
83	Maxim Belkov	Katusha	s.t.
84	Federico Zurlo	Lampre–Merida	s.t.
85	Ian Stannard	Team Sky	0:06:12
86	Maarten Tjallingii	LottoNL–Jumbo	s.t.
87	Adam Hansen	Lotto-Soudal	s.t.
88	Peter Velits	BMC	0:07:00
89	Alessandro De Marchi	BMC	s.t.
90	Lars Boom	Astana	0:07:38
91	Pim Ligthart	Lotto-Soudal	s.t.
92	Reinardt Janse Van Rensburg	Dimension Data	s.t.
93	Nelson Oliveira	Movistar	s.t.
94	Michael Gogl	Tinkoff	s.t.
95	Mathew Hayman	Orica–GreenEdge	0:07:52
96	Arman Kamyshev	Astana	0:10:14
97	Dmitriy Gruzdev	Astana	s.t.
98	Marcel Aregger	IAM Cycling	s.t.
99	Guillaume Van Keirsbulck	Etixx–Quick-Step	s.t.
100	Steele von Hoff	UniSA-Australia	s.t.
101	Patrick Shaw	UniSA-Australia	s.t.
102	Bram Tankink	LottoNL–Jumbo	s.t.
103	Christophe Riblon	Ag2r	0:10:21
104	Bert-Jan Lindeman	LottoNL–Jumbo	0:11:36
105	Ruben Zepuntke	Cannondale	s.t.
106	Alexis Gougeard	Ag2r	0:11:58
107	Sean Lake	UniSA-Australia	s.t.
108	Greg Henderson	Lotto-Soudal	0:12:16
109	Roger Kluge	IAM Cycling	0:17:06
110	Aleksejs Saramotins	IAM Cycling	s.t.
111	Benoit Vaugrenard	FDJ	s.t.
112	Laurent Pichon	FDJ	s.t.
113	Kiel Reijnen	Trek–Segafredo	s.t.
114	Tyler Farrar	Dimension Data	s.t.
115	Giacomo Nizzolo	Trek–Segafredo	s.t.
116	Marko Kump	Lampre–Merida	s.t.
117	Boy Van Poppel	Trek–Segafredo	s.t.
118	Ben Swift	Team Sky	s.t.
119	Mark Renshaw	Dimension Data	s.t.
120	Vladimir Isaychev	Katusha	s.t.
121	Adam Blythe	Tinkoff	s.t.
122	Ivan Rovny	Tinkoff	s.t.
123	Murilo Fischer	FDJ	s.t.
124	Oscar Gatto	Tinkoff	s.t.
125	Davide Martinelli	Etixx–Quick-Step	s.t.
126	Floris Gerts	BMC	s.t.
127	Cheng Ji	Giant–Alpecin	s.t.
128	Juan José Lobato	Movistar	s.t.
129	Koen De Kort	Giant–Alpecin	s.t.
130	Bert De Backer	Giant–Alpecin	s.t.
131	Graeme Brown	Drapac	s.t.
132	Moreno Moser	Cannondale	s.t.
133	Caleb Ewan	Orica–GreenEdge	s.t.
134	Michael Hepburn	Orica–GreenEdge	0:17:38
135	Wouter Wippert	Cannondale	0:17:54
136	Primoz Roglic	LottoNL–Jumbo	s.t.

GC after stage 5:

1	Simon Gerrans	Orica–GreenEdge	17hr 16min 31sec
2	Richie Porte	BMC	@ 9sec
3	Sergio Henao	Team Sky	0:00:11
4	Jay McCarthy	Tinkoff	0:00:20
5	Michael Woods	Cannondale	s.t.
6	Ruben Fernandez	Movistar	0:00:28
7	Domenico Pozzovivo	Ag2r	s.t.
8	Rafael Valls Ferri	Lotto-Soudal	0:00:36
9	Steve Morabito	FDJ	0:00:49
10	Patrick Bevin	Cannondale	0:00:50
11	Diego Ulissi	Lampre–Merida	0:00:52
12	Cameron Meyer	Dimension Data	0:00:56
13	Jesús Herrada	Movistar	0:00:58
14	Chris Hamilton	UniSA-Australia	s.t.
15	Luis Leon Sanchez	Astana	@ 1min 2sec
16	Rohan Dennis	BMC	0:01:03
17	Louis Meintjes	Lampre–Merida	0:01:04
18	Egor Silin	Katusha	0:01:11
19	Tiago Machado	Katusha	s.t.
20	George Bennett	LottoNL–Jumbo	0:01:15
21	Simon Clarke	Cannondale	0:01:18
22	David De La Cruz	Etixx–Quick-Step	s.t.
23	Carlos Verona	Etixx–Quick-Step	0:01:19
24	Anthony Roux	FDJ	0:01:27
25	Tobias Ludvigsson	Giant–Alpecin	s.t.
26	José Joaquin Rojas	Movistar	s.t.
27	Petr Vakoc	Etixx–Quick-Step	s.t.
28	Lachlan Norris	Drapac	0:01:35
29	Georg Preidler	Giant–Alpecin	0:01:38
30	Jack Bobridge	Trek–Segafredo	0:01:40
31	Jarlinson Pantano	IAM Cycling	0:01:44
32	Pieter Serry	Etixx–Quick-Step	0:01:46
33	Davide Malacarne	Astana	0:01:54
34	Peter Stetina	Trek–Segafredo	s.t.
35	Nathan Earle	Drapac	0:01:56
36	Lars Ytting Bak	Lotto-Soudal	0:02:08
37	Geraint Thomas	Team Sky	0:02:40
38	Cyril Gautier	Ag2r	0:02:41
39	Rein Taaramäe	Katusha	0:03:00
40	Jascha Sütterlin	Movistar	0:03:15
41	Nathan Haas	Dimension Data	0:03:20
42	Adam Phelan	Drapac	0:03:39
43	Matteo Montaguti	Ag2r	0:03:50
44	Daryl Impey	Orica–GreenEdge	0:04:05
45	Lieuwe Westra	Astana	0:04:26
46	Martin Velits	Etixx–Quick-Step	0:04:40
47	Lucas Hamilton	UniSA-Australia	0:05:27
48	Enrico Battaglin	LottoNL–Jumbo	0:05:32
49	Peter Kennaugh	Team Sky	0:05:44
50	Sergey Lagutin	Katusha	0:06:09
51	Alexey Tsatevitch	Katusha	0:06:15
52	Pim Ligthart	Lotto-Soudal	0:09:04
53	Carter Jones	Giant–Alpecin	0:09:07
54	Patrick Lane	UniSA-Australia	0:09:46
55	Tsgabu Gebremaryam Grmay	Lampre–Merida	0:10:00
56	Reinardt Janse Van Rensburg	Dimension Data	0:10:45
57	Anthony Giacoppo	UniSA-Australia	0:11:00
58	Adam Hansen	Lotto-Soudal	0:11:28
59	Nelson Oliveira	Movistar	0:11:35
60	Jaco Venter	Dimension Data	0:11:56
61	Luka Pibernik	Lampre–Merida	0:11:58
62	Gavin Mannion	Drapac	s.t.
63	Manuele Boaro	Tinkoff	0:11:59
64	Samuel Spokes	Drapac	0:12:04
65	Johan Le Bon	FDJ	0:12:25
66	Ryder Hesjedal	Trek–Segafredo	0:12:45
67	Gert Dockx	Lotto-Soudal	0:13:12
68	Danilo Wyss	BMC	0:13:54
69	David Tanner	IAM Cycling	0:14:51
70	Yoann Offredo	FDJ	0:16:04
71	Jesse Sergent	Ag2r	0:17:01
72	Laurens De Vreese	Astana	0:17:13
73	Peter Velits	BMC	0:17:33
74	Federico Zurlo	Lampre–Merida	0:17:43
75	Ian Stannard	Team Sky	0:17:59
76	Alberto Bettiol	Cannondale	0:18:15
77	Rory Sutherland	Movistar	0:18:29
78	Michael Albasini	Orica–GreenEdge	0:18:46
79	Manuele Mori	Lampre–Merida	0:19:31
80	Lars Boom	Astana	0:20:01
81	Songezo Jim	Dimension Data	0:20:06
82	Michael Gogl	Tinkoff	0:20:59
83	Patrick Shaw	UniSA-Australia	0:21:10
84	Julian Arredondo	Trek–Segafredo	0:21:15
85	Steele von Hoff	UniSA-Australia	0:21:21
86	Mathew Hayman	Orica–GreenEdge	0:21:37
87	Luke Durbridge	Orica–GreenEdge	0:21:47
88	Michael Valgren Andersen	Tinkoff	0:22:02
89	Dmitriy Gruzdev	Astana	0:22:04
90	Simon Geschke	Giant–Alpecin	0:23:10
91	Ruben Zepuntke	Cannondale	0:23:20
92	Luke Rowe	Team Sky	0:23:26
93	Leigh Howard	IAM Cycling	0:24:18
94	Thomas De Gendt	Lotto-Soudal	0:24:19
95	Alessandro De Marchi	BMC	0:24:53
96	Floris Gerts	BMC	0:25:09
97	Ivan Rovny	Tinkoff	0:25:39
98	Maxim Belkov	Katusha	s.t.
99	Boy Van Poppel	Trek–Segafredo	0:25:44
100	Bert-Jan Lindeman	LottoNL–Jumbo	0:25:59
101	Juan José Lobato	Movistar	0:26:16
102	Arman Kamyshev	Astana	0:26:20
103	Greg Henderson	Lotto-Soudal	0:26:49
104	Maarten Tjallingii	LottoNL–Jumbo	0:27:21
105	Gediminas Bagdonas	Ag2r	0:28:33
106	Bram Tankink	LottoNL–Jumbo	0:30:45
107	Guillaume Van Keirsbulck	Etixx–Quick-Step	0:30:52
108	Ben Swift	Team Sky	0:31:36
109	Sean Lake	UniSA-Australia	0:32:05
110	Moreno Moser	Cannondale	0:32:18
111	Laurent Pichon	FDJ	0:32:59
112	Aleksejs Saramotins	IAM Cycling	0:33:12
113	Giacomo Nizzolo	Trek–Segafredo	0:33:42
114	Martijn Keizer	LottoNL–Jumbo	0:34:05
115	Graeme Brown	Drapac	0:34:10
116	Marcel Aregger	IAM Cycling	0:35:35
117	Murilo Fischer	FDJ	0:36:24
118	Adam Blythe	Tinkoff	0:36:34
119	Koen De Kort	Giant–Alpecin	0:36:56
120	Oscar Gatto	Tinkoff	0:36:59
121	Mark Renshaw	Dimension Data	0:37:30
122	Christophe Riblon	Ag2r	0:37:37
123	Davide Martinelli	Etixx–Quick-Step	0:37:44
124	Kiel Reijnen	Trek–Segafredo	0:38:45
125	Caleb Ewan	Orica–GreenEdge	0:39:34
126	Alexis Gougeard	Ag2r	0:40:15
127	Bert De Backer	Giant–Alpecin	0:40:31
128	Benoit Vaugrenard	FDJ	0:42:35
129	Wouter Wippert	Cannondale	0:44:12
130	Roger Kluge	IAM Cycling	0:44:36
131	Tyler Farrar	Dimension Data	0:47:42
132	Cheng Ji	Giant–Alpecin	0:47:50
133	Marko Kump	Lampre–Merida	0:50:12
134	Vladimir Isaychev	Katusha	0:51:29
135	Michael Hepburn	Orica–GreenEdge	0:53:59