Tour Down Under 2016: Caleb Ewan wins Stage 6

CALEB Ewan wasn’t going to let this one get away. His Stage 6 win was his second TDU stage victory after he sounded an ominous warning claiming the People’s Choice Classic last Sunday.

24/01/16 - Orica GreenEDGE team mates Caleb Ewan and Simmon Gerrans hug after Stage 6 of the Tour Down Under in Adelaide. Photo Tom Huntley

• Tour Down Under 2016: More coverage of the TDU here
• Stage 6 in pictures
• Tour de Yorkshire’s Sir Gary has need for speed
• How Stage 6 was won

CALEB Ewan wasn’t going to let this one get away and he didn’t disappoint.

World cycling’s most exciting young sprinter barnstormed home across the King William Road finish line with Data Dimension’s Australian Mark Renshaw and Italy’s Giacomo Nizzolo from Lampre-Merida coming in second and third respectively.

It was Ewan’s second Santos Tour Down Under stage win after he sounded an ominous warning claiming the prologue, the People’s Choice Classic seven days earlier.

But after Ewan’s third World Tour win — he earned his first at the Vuelta a Espana last year — the 21-year-old said he didn’t have it all his own way before the finish.

He claimed the lead up wasn’t perfect before Simon Gerrans clinched a fourth overall Tour Down Under.

TDU Stage 6 in pictures

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“Not exactly, we got a little bit swamped as we were coming to the finish,’’ Ewan said.

“I had to dive bomb in that last corner, it was a bit sketchy, I locked up a few times.

“But I got up to the place I wanted to be and once I was up there I was fine.

“And once a few of my teammates came up to help me and they did a great job and put me on the wheels where I was meant to be and from then on I was all right.

“Obviously there wasn't the best four or five best sprinters in the world here but I was winning pretty convincingly.

“I’m another year stronger and I getting closer to the best guys in the world as well.”

But Ewan’s win was the calm before the storm.

The Orica-GreenEDGE team a bunch of happy chaps at the end of Stage 6. Photo: Tom Huntley.

At about 12.30pm — an hour before the final stage of the 18th edition of the Tour Down Under’s start gun fired — race director Mike Turtur painted an extremely rare picture of serenity.

Turtur stepped out of his race director’s car when fans were streaming towards the track armed with a broom on King William Street near the corner of Currie Street.

There was a little bit of ‘rubble’ on the road which is like riding on marbles for the peloton.

Turtur swept the ‘marbles’ into the gutter before racing began before Orica-GreenEDGE’s leader Gerrans — the winner of two stages last week who had been in the same position two years ago — was just 90km from claiming his fourth crown.

His team backed the Victorian to the hilt, riding at the front of the peloton, ensuring anyone who wanted to attack wasn’t going to challenge for the title, in particular Richie Porte from BMC Racing who entered the stage nine seconds behind Gerrans.

Gerrans and Ewan all smiles.

With out of contention Maerten Tjallingii, 38, from LottoNL- Jumbo and Thomas de Gendt from Lotto-Soudal away to claim first and second bonuses at the first sprint point, Gerrans’ lieutenant Daryl Impey made sure the third spot was his after the Australian team used defensive tactics from the start.

The peloton then rode at a steady pace — 47km/h average speed — before de Gendt, a two-time Giro d’Italia stage winner who started the stage at 24 minutes behind Gerrans, claimed probably his easiest King of the Mountain jersey at Montefiore Hill in his career.

At lap 12, de Gendt won the second sprint with Orica-GreenEDGE making sure rivals wouldn’t attack and try to erode Gerrans’ lead.

The peloton decided to engulf the leaders after Tjallingii decided he wanted to ride solo with four laps remaining.

But with less than two laps before the finale the bunch was all together with the Australians poised to get Ewan first across the line.

And he didn’t disappoint.