It is the justice of the peace of the Tour Down Under, the annual meeting of punchers on the Australian race: Saturday, in the 3.4 km climb at 7.3%, the contenders for victory revealed themselves in the last mile. Simon Yates was the first to attack but he could only skim the leading group. Julian Alaphilippe (Soudal Quick-Step) attempted an acceleration 300 m from the line: he approached the last turn in first position before being overtaken in the sprint (4th).
After Isaac Del Toro on Wednesday, another runner opened his record in this race: at 21, the Briton Oscar Onley (dsm – firmenich) beat his compatriot Stephen Williams (Israel-Premier Tech) and Jhonatan Narvaez (Ineos) to the line. ). Williams consoles himself with the leader’s jersey, which he took from Isaac Del Toro (8th of the day at 6”), but in the same second as Onley.
The final victory will therefore be decided on Sunday during the 6th and final stage (129 km), with a new arrival at the summit, at Mont Lofty: a climb of 1.6 km at 6.5% on average but with a passage at more than 10%.
