Rohan Dennis column: Beating the heat and staying out of trouble were high on team priorities

Staying out of trouble on the Tour Down Under’s first stage was the main objective for the Bahrain–Merida team, with extreme temperatures and strong winds their toughest opponents. Read Rohan Dennis’s exclusive column.

Ital;y’s Elia Viviani sprints to victory in Stage 1 from North Adelaide to Port Adelaide. Picture SARAH REED

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THE main aim for me on Stage 1 was to cope as well as possible with the heat and to stay out of trouble and thankfully I was able to do both after a tricky first day from North Adelaide to Port Adelaide.

With 41C temperatures predicted it was a lot hotter out on the road.

I felt a bit average in the heat on the way out and when we got to Paracombe my bike computer said 36C so it had dropped 10 degrees from when we left North Adelaide.

On the way back it was back up to 46C but I drank more water than normal and used ice socks, but I’ve had hotter days on the bike for sure - 2012 out to Clare rings a bell.

It was 51C on my bike computer that day and we averaged 32.5km/h the whole stage, so that was definitely the worst day I’ve ever had on the bike in the heat.

It was a bit of a nervous start with everyone trying to figure out where the wind was coming from yesterday because we were coming back to the Port the same way we went out.

But the wind changed and everyone was fighting coming off the Paracombe circuit to get to the front, and I had that feeling that nothing too dangerous was going to happen.

I said ‘look guys, it’s too much of a head-wind’ and no one really was willing to trust me which is fair enough but in the end it was a block head wind the whole day and no one was able to slip away.

🇦🇺 #tourdownunder

🎙️ Check out @PhilBauhaus's thoughts after today's 4th place ⤵️ pic.twitter.com/0T0o53b6MI

— Team Bahrain Merida (@Bahrain_Merida) January 15, 2019

We had our sprinter Phil Bauhaus going for the stage but I tried to stay out of it when it got to the business end of the race.

I was around the mark up the front but then I got out of the way, it gets a bit too messy, people could move up really easily and wasn’t that well organised so best I just stay out of it.

Stage 2 to Angaston will be interesting, another warm day in the saddle even though organisers have shortened the stage which is the right decision.

We go over Checker Hill and last time we did that Simon Gerrans won over Andre Greipel and that sealed his Tour victory.

Defending Tour Down Under champion Daryl Impey signs the broken leg of Oscar Pietsch 11yrs from Woodville West at the start line. Picture SARAH REED

It should be a sprint finish but I think Daryl Impey will be one to watch.

Obviously Peter Sagan will be there but Impey could potentially pick up a couple of seconds at the finish which could prove very important in the race for the ochre jersey.

If he’s going for GC which he obviously is then he’s a threat 100 per cent, just like what we saw in Uraidla last year when he was second behindSagan at the finish and gained more time on the GC standings.

As for me it really depends on how big the bunch is as to what I will do at the finish.

If it’s a small bunch then I might just give it a crack but if it’s a big bunch then I won’t risk it. I’m not a bunch sprinter.

But the legs felt good - a little it rusty on the way out but on the way back everything was switched on and around Paracombe it was a bit cooler and I felt better.

Now it’s just nice to have Stage 1 in the books and we head to Angaston on Wednesday knowing what to expect with the heat but also that it’s a stage that could potentially crack open the race.

Originally published as Rohan Dennis column: Beating the heat and staying out of trouble were high on team priorities