Search our site:

2016 Santos Tour Down Under (World Tour), Australia

Stage 4: Norwood - Voctor Harbor

Stage 4, Friday, January 22: Norwood - Victor Harbor, 138 km

Back to 2016 Tour Down Under

Stage 4 results | Stage 4 video | Stage 4 photos | Stage 4 map and profile

Simon Gerrans

Simon Gerrans wins two in a row!

The race: The organizers provided this excellent summary

Simon Gerrans easily held off Great Britain’s Ben Swift (Team SKY) with Italian Giacomo Nizzolo (Trek Segafredo) third at the end of the138km BUPA Stage 4 which set off from the popular Adelaide shopping precinct of Norwood and headed up Norton summit and along the Fleurieu Peninsula to the coastal town on Victor Harbor.

“I’m absolutely thrilled with that,” said Gerrans after his victory. “A lot of people would be surprised, myself included, that I can beat some top sprinters and get a back-to-back victory at the Santos Tour Down Under.”

Gerrans, whose 2015 season was marred by injury, has worked hard to be in form for this year’s event and his bid to claim a fourth Santos Tour Down Under title. “We had a really good run in to the finish,” said Gerrans praising the way his team supported him during the stage. “They really make my life as easy as possible.

“I’ve got a few Tours Down Under under my belt now (and) I do know that finish quite well, as does Daryl [Impey] who led me out, that really worked out in our favour,” said Gerrans who won on the same finish into Victor Harbor in 2014.

The atmosphere was buzzing today with 115 thousand fans turning out to cheer on both the professionals and the almost six thousand recreational cyclists who set off early this morning to ride the stage route in the BUPA Challenge Tour.

The race peloton was put under pressure early when Astana’s Lieuwe Westra launched an attack on the steep climb up Norton Summit, which came in the opening kilometres of the stage. As riders struggled to stay in touch at the back, a small group joined Westra in front but their lead was shortlived and by the 15 kilometre mark the race was back together.

Orica GreenEdge did their job controlling the pace to set Gerrans up for a shot at a time bonus at the first iiNet intermediate sprint of the day at Mylor, 27.6 kilometres into the stage.

Gerrans repaid their good work to hold off major rival Jay McCarthy (Tinkoff) with Gerrans’ team mate, Daryl Impey third. The sprint win edged Gerrans a further one second clear of McCarthy in the battle for the Santos Ochre Leader’s Jersey.

That sprint and the stage win, that came with a ten second time bonus, means he is now 14 seconds ahead of compatriot Jay McCarthy (Tinkoff) and 26 seconds ahead of 2015 race champion and local hero Rohan Dennis (BMC Racing) who crossed the line eight seconds behind the lead group.

“I’ve increased my lead but I'll still have to be very attentive before Willunga Hill tomorrow,” said Gerrans referring to the Queen Stage that has traditionally decided the tour winner. “There's still a lot of work to be done.”

Fourth across the line today was McCarthy, who wore the Santos Leader’s Jersey before Gerrans, has retained his lead in the iiNet Sprint Classification and remains the top ranked Europcar Young Rider.

“The team has kept me out of the wind all day ad I’m very luck to have them around me,” said the young Australian. “I was also always going to try and get bonus seconds as well but I just didn’t have it… on the line.

“I have pretty good legs to be up there, just a little bit more and I could be on the podium,” said a frustrated McCarthy. “I have to be realistic, the guys who finished second (Swift) and third (Nizzolo) are very fast.”

McCarthy admits Gerrans’ win today has made it harder for his rivals but refuses to concede the race. “It’s definitely difficult for me on GC (overall) now but I’ll give my best tomorrow,” he said. “Obviously it’s a hard day tomorrow (but) I have to back up and go for it again. We’re still there so we might as well keep trying.”

Orica-GreenEdge Sport Director Matt White agrees the race is not yet won despite the increased leading margin. “Enough to win?” queried White. “No, but someone has to gap ‘Gerro’ on Willunga to win. It’s a ten second bonus to win, so someone only has to gap him by four seconds, so it’s far from over.”

Earlier in the day, once the battle was over for the intermediate iiNet sprint bonuses, it was time for the opportunists to try their luck. Australians David Tanner (IAM Cycling) and Pat Shaw (UniSA-Australia) headed off the front along with Frenchman Alexis Gougeard (AG2R La Mondiale).

They gained a decent lead of almost six minutes before Orica GreenEdge stepped up the tempo to reduce the margin. The trio contested the second iiNet intermediate sprint at the 101 kilometre mark with Shaw the first across the line in Goolwa ahead of Gougeard and Tanner.

But any hopes of victory for the leading three were soon dashed as BMC Racing, Tinkoff and Orica GreenEdge drove the pace hard to reel them in before the category 2 Subaru King of the Mountain climb neat Point Elliot, 20 kilometres from the finish.

“It’s been a disappointing Tour for us so far,” said Tanner who was named the Alpecin Most Competitive Rider of the day. “Especially I’ve been disappointed with myself. The team hasn’t really achieved what we hoped to achieve.

“We knew the first part of the race would be really hard. It was a really hard tempo and I was hoping to get in a breakaway with six or seven strong guys,” Tanner explained. “It’s always a bit of a chance you take but I thought why not, but unfortunately only three of us got in the breakaway and it didn’t work out, that’s the way it is.”

The pace on the climb saw some riders spat out the back as Colombian Sergio Luis Henao (Team SKY) led the way to collect top points and increase his lead in the Subaru King of the Mountain competition. Tasmanian Richie Porte (BMC Racing) was second over the summit with Lucas Hamilton (UniSA Australia) third.

“The mountain classification is always something important for us, Colombians, so as there was a climb I sped up to score some points and increase my lead ahead of the Queen stage,” said Henao who is fourth overall, 28 seconds off the race lead and will target tomorrow’s stage in a bid to win overall honours. “Willunga Hill is a hard climb that requires a lot of strength. We don’t have many occasions left so tomorrow we’ll attack to try and win the race.

“We’ll give it all to go into the last day in the best possible situation. "

He is climbing very strong, and we will try to beat the Australians here,” said Henao’s team director Kurt Asle Arvesen. “It is not easy.”

BikeExchange Stage 5 is set to be a classic Santos Tour Down Under showdown on the steep slopes of Willunga Hill which the riders will race over once before climbing it again to a hilltop finish.

“Willunga isn’t the hardest climb in the world, so there won’t be massive gaps, but we’ll try,” said Porte. “The race isn’t over yet. He (Gerrans) has a comfortable lead, but we’re not going to give up.”

Complete results: video coming...

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

GC after stage 4:

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