The sprint could not be avoided on Friday on stage 4 of the Tour Down Under, but the Groupama-FDJ cycling team tried to liven the race up in the last ten kilometers leading to Victor Harbor. Sven-Erik Bystrøm in particular showed himself several times before positioning Lewis Askey for the sprint, in which the Briton placed eleventh. Thanks to the addition of positions, Rémy Rochas entered the top-10 overall (9th), on the eve of the decisive stage of Willunga Hill.
The week’s longest stage took the riders from Glenelg to Victor Harbor on Friday over 157, somewhat bumpy kilometers. A hectic uphill start also opened up the race on this fourth day of competition on the Tour Down Under. “A breakaway of three went from kilometre 0, the peloton let it go at first, but Jayco-AlUla then made a big push, and the peloton broke into several pieces”, reported Jussi Veikkanen. “Mauro Schmid and Junior Lecerf, who were not very far on the overall, attacked and joined the leading group. In the back, there were a few crashes, and it made the peloton very nervous“. From this nervousness came a watchfulness which meant the breakaway quintet couldn’t really take a large lead. “We also knew that there were several spots of the course where the wind could be a risk”, added Jussi. “Given the start of the race that we’d had, the peloton always remained very nervous, but nothing actually happened before the last climb”.
“We’ll have to race as cleverly as possible”, Jussi Veikkanen
With about twenty-five kilometres to go, the riders tackled the climb of Nettle Hill (1.8 km at 8.4%), where Schmid went solo at the front while a selection was made in the pack. “We had done a recon of the climb last week”, continued Jussi. “Knowing that there was a headwind in the last twenty kilometres, we were confident that Matt could get over it, but he eventually got distanced with other sprinters because Israel-Premier Tech really made things hard. We still had Lewis in front, with Quentin, Sven-Erik and Rémy, and the goal was then to go with him for the sprint”. The Englishman did not wait until the final straight to leave his mark, however, as he shook up the peloton on a small uphill section ten kilometres from the finish after Schmid was caught. Sven-Erik Bystrøm also launched two attacks while Rémy Rochas and Quentin Pacher remained very attentive.
However, the attacks did not succeed, and the peloton headed towards Victor Harbor for a large sprint. “In the last two kilometres, Sven perfectly positioned Lewis, who held his position well until the last 300 metres, then he was overtaken in the sprint”, commented Jussi. He eventually took eleventh place while the victory went to Bryan Coquard. “I had told Rémy to do the sprint because the GC can also be decided by the addition of positions”, said Jussi. “That’s what he did, and he gained two places overall (9th). It was the day’s good outcome”. The French climber will tackle Willunga Hill tomorrow hoping to gain a few more positions. “Rémy is going well, and as I said yesterday, we will have to race as cleverly as possible while being opportunistic,” concluded Jussi. “It’s a climb that suits us and Rémy will be able to get his bearings on the first ascent. In the end, the strongest will be up front.”
