New Zealand’s Patrick Bevin vows to return and finish what he started in the Tour Down Under

New Zealand Patrick Bevin failed to overcome terrible injuries suffered in Stage 5 and hold onto the race leader’s orche jersey he held for the previous two stages.

New Zealand’s Patrick Bevin from CCC Team Orange talks before Stage 6 in Willunga Hill. Picture: Tim de Waele/Getty

PATRICK Bevin’s chances of winning the Tour Down Under ended 25km from the Willunga Hill finish line but tears of sorrow weren’t shed by the courageous New Zealander on Sunday.

After claiming the ochre jersey when he won stage 2 — his biggest UCI WorldTour win — Bevin’s Tour was on a knife edge the second he crashed about 9km from the Strathalbyn finish line on Saturday.

The New Zealand national time trial champion’s brave run to end stage 5 saw him keep the ochre jersey before he was rushed to hospital for X-rays.

It was the most melancholic story of the 21st edition of the race but his CCC team relaying the news that he had had been cleared by medicos to defend the leader’s jersey after passing a concussion test was an incredible outcome on Sunday morning.

Bevin said he woke armed with hope despite carrying serious injuries to his legs, chest and arms that would have confined other mere mortals to the sick bed.

“Bit beat up, bit sore, look crashes are a part of racing and it’s such a shame to do all that and have it come tumbling down,’’ Bevin said after ending the general classification in 41st place after suffering to complete stage 6.

“There’ll be another race and if nothing else I’ll be back at the Tour Down Under next year ready to roll my sleeves up and box on again.

“That sparkle of hope that I was still good enough to win the bike race, it was not ideal but sometimes you come away from those crashes not as bad as you think and I didn’t think it wasn’t going to end me.

“I honestly got up and thought I was going to push on, at the very least give it a go that’s why you get up in the morning and sign on and go to race.”

Despite his valiant effort to stay with the peloton, he was dropped much to his dismay as CCC tried to pace him back to the leaders after the first Willunga Hill king of the mountain climb.

That was the moment Bevin realised he wouldn’t be crowned king of the Tour Down Under.

“I didn’t feel too bad once we got rolling (at the start),’’ Bevin said.

“Honestly I had nothing to lose and I just want to go up and just hang on but we started fighting in the run up to the climb and I said nah, “in the red here.”

“I was in trouble, I tried to regain my composure to help me climb and try to push on but I couldn’t do it.

“It’s a pretty awful feeling to kind of just watch it all just roll up the road.”

Bevin claimed yesterday there was moments where he felt he was racing at home in front of his own people.

Fans wished the New Zealander across the line for the final time more than five minutes after Tasmania’s Richie Porte won a sixth consecutive Willunga Hill stage.

“I had a lot of support it was an absolute blast from kilometre zero and I plan on sticking to that all year,’’ he said.

“I plan to scrap all year.”