Sam Welsford avoids brutal crash, claims Men’s Classic at Tour Down Under

Source : ABC NEWS

A massive crash on the final corner of the Villawood Classic has overshadowed Sam Welsford’s victory the traditional pre-Tour Down Under criterium on the streets of Adelaide.

Welsford, wearing the green and gold jersey of the national criterium champion that he won last week in Perth, led into the final, high-speed corner and powered away from the carnage of the crash to claim a stunning victory in which his peak recorded speed was 68.1kph.

Behind him though, was a different story.

Italian rider Andrea Raccagni of Soudal Quick-Step appeared to clip the inside barrier and slid across the the road, taking out a number of riders, some of whom crashed dramatically into the barriers.

“I was pretty close to the barriers,” Welsford told Channel 7.

“I saw that it was pretty strung out, I saw that I had a metre and just sent it.

“I didn’t hear anything, I came under [lead out man] Danny [van Poppel] … it was such a high-speed corner.

“I hope everyone is OK.”

Manlio Moro of Movistar was listed as a DNF alongside Damien Howson of the ARA Australian team, but Moro was photographed crossing the line with a number of abrasions on his arms.

During the blisteringly quick, hour-long race, in which the average speed of the bunch was a whopping 51.7kph, a breakaway trio of Oscar Onley (Team Picnic PostNL), Jay Vine (UAE Team Emirates) and Jordan Labrosse (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale) ignited the action, establishing a gap of 23 seconds around the 30-lap Adelaide street circuit.

Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe led the peloton charging around behind the trio ahead, but once the gap dropped to around 12 seconds with five laps to go, that cohesion disintegrated.

Nevertheless, the bunch rejoined as the bell rang for the final 1.8km lap and Red Bull’s perseverance in controlling the break was rewarded.

Welsford will be hoping that this will be a portent for another successful Tour Down Under after the 28-year-old won three stages in last year’s race.

He also won an Olympic gold medal in the team pursuit in Paris to cap a hugely impressive year.

German rider Henri Uhlig finished second for Alpecin-Deceuninck, while Team Visma-Lease A Bike rider Matthew Brennan of Great Britain came third.

The Tour Down Under proper will get underway on Tuesday with a 150.7km ride from Prospect to Gumeracha.

Rüegg claims Willunga triumph in women’s race

In the women’s Tour Down Under, Swiss champion Noemi Rüegg conquered the famous Willunga Hill to take a 15 second lead in the race for the leaders Ochre jersey.

After breaking away in the final kilometre of the race, the 23-year-old stole a 10-second advantage over Dutchwoman Silke Smulders of Liv Jayco AlUla on the 115km stage from McLaren Vale.

Norway’s Mie Bjørndal Ottestad of Uno-X Mobility led home a group of five chasers for third place, just ahead of Australian Neve Bradbury, who sits sixth overall, 37 seconds back.

With the women’s race summitting Willunga Hill twice for the first time — and in temperatures of 35 degrees — the first ascent was enough to filter through the genuine contenders, with stage one winner Daniek Hengeveld distanced with a quarter of the stage to go.

Niamh Fisher-Black and Amanda Spratt of Lidl-Trek set the pace of the reduced peloton to catch a pair of breakaway riders, Ally Wollaston and Alii Anderson, on the first climb, before a group of 11 broke away on the descent.

America’s two-time world time trial champion Chloe Dygert of Canyon-Sram zondacrypto made a sensational solo bid for glory with 5km left, but was caught at the base of the climb.

That left Rüegg and Smulders to break away on the steep slopes to claim first and second on the stage.

The riders face another hilly battle on Sunday’s final stage of the race, a 105.9km slog around a 25km-circuit in the Adelaide Hills, starting and finishing in Sterling.