Gerrans Gets Two at TDU

Jan 22, 2016 – Australian Simon Gerrans won a feisty sprint finish to claim Friday’s 138-kilometre fourth stage of the Tour Down Under, setting himself up for his fourth overall victory in the event. Images: Yuzuru Sunada Gerrans, who also won Thursday’s third stage in a sprint, has the advantage…

January 22, 2016 AFP

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Jan 22, 2016 – Australian Simon Gerrans won a feisty sprint finish to claim Friday’s 138-kilometre fourth stage of the Tour Down Under, setting himself up for his fourth overall victory in the event.

Images: Yuzuru Sunada

Gerrans, who also won Thursday’s third stage in a sprint, has the advantage going into the fifth stage, a 151.5-kilometre stretch from McLaren Vale to Willunga Hill on Saturday.

“I’m absolutely thrilled with that,” the 35-year-old said while thanking his team for making his run “as easy as possible”.

Gerrans, the overall winner of the Tour Down Under in 2006, 2012 and 2014, will be hoping experience pays off when it comes to Willunga Hill. But the Orica GreenEdge leader is taking nothing for granted, having been caught in a mass pile-up inside the final kilometer of Wednesday’s stage just after putting himself in a perfect position to take the stage win.

“I still have to be very, very attentive going into Willunga tomorrow. We have a nice little buffer there, but there’s still a heck of a lot of work to be done,” he said.

Gerrans crossed the line Friday in three hours, 13 minutes and 59 seconds ahead of English Sky rider Ben Swift and Italian Giacomo Nizzolo (Trek-Segafrefo) who were both credited with the same time. In the general classification, Gerrans (13:41.58) leads fellow Australians Jay McCarthy (+14 seconds) and Rohan Dennis (+26).

Results stage 4
1. Simon Gerrans (Aus) Orica–GreenEdge 3:13:59
2. Ben Swift (GBr) Team Sky
3. Giacomo Nizzolo (Ita) Trek–Segafredo
4. Jay McCarthy (Aus) Tinkoff
5. Leigh Howard (Aus) IAM Cycling
6. Reinardt Janse Van Rensburg (Rsa)
7. Sergey Lagutin (Rus) Team Katusha
8. Alexey Tsatevitch (Rus) Team Katusha
9. Nathan Haas (Aus) Team Dimension Data
10. Enrico Battaglin (Ita) LottoNL–Jumbo

General Classification
1. Simon Gerrans (Aus) Orica–GreenEdge 13:41:58
2. Jay McCarthy (Aus) Tinkoff 0:00:14
3. Rohan Dennis (Aus) BMC Racing Team 0:00:26
4. Sergio Henao (Col) Team Sky 0:00:28
5. Steve Morabito (Sui) FDJ
6. Ruben Fernandez Andujar (Esp) Team Movistar
7. Domenico Pozzovivo (Ita) AG2R La Mondiale
8. Michael Woods (Can) Cannondale 0:00:32
9. Rafael Valls Ferri (Esp) Lotto Soudal 0:00:36
10. Richie Porte (Aus) BMC Racing Team