UAE Team Emirates-XRG take bonus second in opening Tour Down Under stage

Placing eighth in the bunch sprint with Rui Oliveira and taking one intermediate bonus second through Jhonatan Narváez, UAE Team Emirates-XRG made a strong start to the Santos Tour Down Under on stage 1.

Oliveira managed to manoeuvre himself into a handy position within the closing kilometres but found his movement disrupted as the bunch sprint approached.

“I knew I could be on the wheels and just go at the last metres to pass the guys because it was super fast,” said Oliveira, who takes the team’s first WorldTour top-10 of the season, “but in the last 500m, some of the sprinters sat up which made it awkward.

“I just had to jump to the front group and sadly it was not enough. In the end, I came too late.”

As Sam Welsford of Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe claimed the stage honours in Gumeracha, Oliveira could be pleased with his efforts to help teammate Narváez land the final intermediate bonus second on offer.

Coming after 100.5km, the final intermediate sprint in Birdwood was first passed by the breakaway duo Zac Marriage and Fergus Browning, before Narváez came across the line in third. The Ecuadorian national champion, making his WorldTour debut for UAE Team Emirates-XRG, enjoyed a fine lead-out from teammate Oliveira, before making his own acceleration to move himself inside the top 10 on general classification.

“I was with him, we knew we had one [bonus] second left and Jhony wanted to go for it. My job before sprinting is to help the guys and I think I did a perfect job leading him out for the one second,” recalled Oliveira, whose attention will now turn to tomorrow’s rolling stage to and from Tanunda.

With that bonus second in his pocket, Narváez ended Tuesday’s opening stage in seventh place on general classification, just nine seconds down on the day’s victor Welsford (with bonuses accounted for). His teammates, meanwhile, all finished the stage in fine health, including leader Jay Vine, after a finale marred by a late crash.

Under the guidance of the experienced Marc Soler, UAE Team Emirates-XRG’s youngest team member Pablo Torres was able to enjoy his first taste of WorldTour action. His moment to shine will come later in the race but for now he sits third in the young rider’s classification. Soler, for his efforts, came third in the second King of the Mountains sprint on Berry Hill and earned himself three points towards the classification.

Tomorrow the peloton will be tasked by a 128.8km-long stage in the Barossa Valley, beginning and ending in Tanunda. It will be a much tougher day for the riders, with 1,598m of climbing on the agenda, offering an opportunity to the sprinters who can perform well in the hills.

Stage 1 results

1.Sam Welsford (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe) 3:26:38
2. Matthew Brennan (Visma-Lease a Bike) s.t
3. Matthew Walls (Groupama-FDJ) s.t

General Classification after stage 1

1. Sam Welsford (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe) 3:26:38
2. Matthew Brennan (Visma-Lease a Bike) +4′
3. Zac Marriage (Australia) +5′
7. Jhonatan Narváez (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) +9′