Race leader Luke Durbridge fended off the attacks up Willunga Hill to finish third on the day and maintain his overall race lead on stage three of the Santos Festival of Cycling.
The short, 88.2km stage saw a breakaway group of nine edge clear in the opening kilometres, and with none of the escapees a direct threat to Durbridge’s overall race lead, the break was allowed a maximum advantage of 2’30”.
The bunch were happy to allow the break to remain ahead until the foot of Willunga Hill, with Team BikeExhange pair Lucas Hamilton and Alex Edmondson taking turns on the front of the bunch as the climb approached. Just two riders remained from the original break as the attacks began on the lower slopes, with Richie Porte (Australia) the first to catch and pass the duo.
Durbridge was content to mark his rivals and when Luke Plapp (Australia) attacked across to his teammate Porte at the head of the race, the 29-year-old made sure he kept the pair in sight and crossed the line in third, a handful of seconds behind.
Luke Durbridge:
“The boys did a really good job and I’m really happy with that, actually. That’s probably the fastest I’ve ever been up Willunga in my life by about a couple of minutes, so it’s nice. I got a bit of support and I know it’s a smaller race, but you have to take the opportunities when you can.
“I’m really, really happy, Richie’s obviously the best up there and I wasn’t too far off, so I’m really happy with that performance. It doesn’t matter if it’s a club crit, an NRS, the Santos Festival of Cycling, WorldTour, it doesn’t matter, the quality and the depth is so high now all the way through Australian cycling.
“We’ll go in tomorrow and give it a crack with Kaden Groves, and I’m so excited and they’ve done a great job putting this on, a great race in such difficult times.”
Santos Festival of Cycling – Stage 3:
1. Richie Porte (Garmin Australia) 1:57:07
2. Luke Plapp (Garmin Australia) ST
3. Luke Durbridge (Team BikeExchange) +0:08
Santos Festival of Cycling – GC Stage 3:
1. Luke Durbridge (Team BikeExchange) 7:11:04
2. Luke Plapp (Australia) +02:00
3. Chris Harper (Cervelo-Tonsley Village) +02:42
