Another sweltering day brought the Tour Down Under to a close, and BORA-hansgrohe featured in not one, but two of the day’s breaks. From the start, Austrian National Champion, Lukas Pöstlberger, made his move in a group of seven before a second group went out after the first ascent of Willunga Road – the day’s decisive climb – this time with Daniel Oss represented. An explosive finale brought the Tour Down Under to a close in a race that saw Slovakian National Champion, Peter Sagan, claim victory on stage 3, and challenge on multiple stages, but in the GC race, in spite of high hopes, the team didn’t have the legs to challenge for a better position in the overall standings.
On a circuit that took in ocean views, city streets and rural scenery, the Tour Down Under was taking in all that Australia had to offer on this final stage. The 151.5km parcours for the grand finale of the race was not only the longest of the 2019 edition, but also the one with the hardest climb – the infamous Willunga Hill. The peloton would make two passes of this climb and depending on how their day was going, would give riders a chance to check out their strategy for the uphill finish or to dread what would be an excruciatingly difficult second pass. It was here though, that the stage and the race would be decided. With the sun blazing, it would be a brave rider who jumped in the break, especially with Willunga on the day’s menu, but it was the Austrian National Champion, Lukas Pöstlberger, who took his chances. Lukas joined six others, his group of seven making the most of the flatter roads at the start and building a lead of 3:40. While there was no urgency in the bunch to make the catch, the gap fell dramatically on the first climb of Willunga Hill – the 7.5% climb slowing down the escapees and making the catch easy. No sooner had this group been swept up that another one went out – this time with Daniel Oss in the mix for BORA-hansgrohe, but again, a determined peloton brought things back together swiftly for the day’s – and the race’s – final climb. The pace ramped up and with some explosive attacks, the race came to a close. Gregor Mühlberger was the first BORA-hansgrohe rider across the line in 23rd position to conclude a race that saw the team claim a victory on stage 3 but come up short in its ambitions in the overall classification.
Results
01 R.Porte 3h30’14”
02 W.Poels + 0:00
03 D.Impey + 0:00
04 R.Dennis + 0:03
05 L.L.Sanchez + 0:06
From the Finish Line
“Although I had spent a good part of the day putting a strong effort, I felt I had the legs and I was with the select group in the first climb up Willunga. After we crested, I followed the move by Carretero and we formed a breakaway of three. I wanted to see whether I could stay ahead and help Jay and Gregor for the final climb but the group behind us was strong and closed the gap. I tried to make sparks fly in that final part of the race but the main GC contenders were strong and determined to keep everything under control.” – Daniel Oss
“The final stage of the Tour Down Under was hard and fast. We put Lukas Pöstlberger in the breakaway group that was formed early on. It had several strong riders and although we knew Lukas wasn’t at this best, we wanted to give it a try. Gregor Mühlberger and Jay McCarthy were in the leading group in the final kilometres but didn’t have the legs to stay with the main contenders the second time they climbed on Willunga. Overall, I could say that in the 2019 Tour Down Under our achievements were below our expectations. We did score one stage victory with Peter Sagan but in the GC our final result was clearly not what we were aiming at.” – Patxi Vila, Sport Director
