Romo’s solo escape occured shortly after the summit of the final climb, with Knotts Hill proving relatively indecisive in the general classification battle. Behind Romo’s successful late attack, a select group of the race’s best climbers were unable to shake each other free, leaving the rest of the top 10 to be decided in Uraidla from a sprint.
Romo made a smart attack. In the moment that he went, nobody chased.
Romo: “It’s very important, this winter I’ve worked a lot thinking about the Tour Down Under, I could imagine this day. I’m very happy, I want to thank my team because today they worked very well for me, they have a lot of confidence in me. I felt very good. Everything went perfectly. When I was still leading in the final kilometer, I knew the victory was mine. Unbelievable. I couldn’t have imagined this earlier today. This victory is very important, also for my family, my girlfriend and all the people who have helped me these years.”
Stage 3 results
- Javier Romo (Movistar) 3:46:01
- Jhonatan Narváez (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) +5′
- Finn Fisher-Black (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe) ”
General Classification after stage 3
- Javier Romo (Movistar) 10:13:51
- Jhonatan Narváez (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) +8′
- Patrick Konrad (Lidl-Trek) +10′
