Tour Down Under set for thrilling last stage with Simon Gerrans holding one second lead

CYCLING is a game of seconds. And a thrilling finale is set for the Tour Down Under with Simon Gerrans holding a slender lead.

AL PACINO famously said football is a "game of inches" in hit American film Any Given Sunday.

The same could be said for cycling being a game of seconds.

And on Sunday on the streets of Adelaide, 16 precious bonus seconds in the 85km Stage 6 criterium could determine the 2014 Santos Tour Down Under.

If Australian Simon Gerrans can defend his one-second lead over Cadel Evans, he will become the first man to win the race three times.

As Gerrans has continually reminded us all week, the TDU is literally decided by seconds. So his timely sprint to claim third place behind stage winner Richie Porte on top of Willunga Hill on Saturday, and in doing so gapping Cadel Evans in the ochre jersey and nabbing a four-second time bonus proved just that.

News_Image_File: Simon Gerrans on the podium after receiving the Sprinters jersey after stage 5. Picture: Mark Gunter.

Gerrans - who described a "constant roar" from the crowd all the way up the climb - has a one-second advantage over Evans, five seconds over Diego Ulissi and 10 seconds over Porte.

"I'm just so thrilled to have the lead back and even if it is by one second," Gerrans said.

"The way the team has been riding all week, it's given me huge confidence going into (today) and I'm really confident we can finish it off from here.

"It's all timing, it's all down to seconds, it has been all week.

"I went into the final stage with less than that two years ago, on equal time with Alejandro Valverde, so one second is a lot better than I've had in the past."

Gerrans praised the strength of his Orica-GreenEDGE teammates yesterday and his BMC rival Cadel Evans agreed.

"Not an ideal result today - beaten by a better team. Compliments OGE," Evans Tweeted after the race.

So now it's all down to this. A shootout on the city streets, on a new CBD circuit, to decide the winner of a week-long, 815km stage race.

News_Rich_Media: There's plenty of cycling royalty in Adelaide this week for the Tour Down Under. While Cadel Evans and Simon Gerrans are competing in Stage five today, Olympic sprint Queen Anna Meares is more than a casual observer.

Provided that as expected, the final stage finishes in a bunch sprint, Gerrans' three rivals within 10 seconds of him can win.

But that's extremely unlikely given Andre Greipel, Marcel Kittel, Steele Von Hoff and Caleb Ewan will all be queuing up for the stage victory and in doing so, will deny general classification riders the 10 bonus seconds on offer.

The 18-lap criterium includes 3, 2, and 1 second time bonuses respectively at sprint points on laps 6 and 12, then 10, 6 and 4 seconds respectively for the first three riders across the line at the finish.

"I'm not so worried about Ulissi but I'll definitely be keeping a really close eye on him if it's (race) back (together) for any of the intermediate sprints and obviously Cadel as well," Gerrans said.

"If there's a breakaway gone up the road to take those intermediate sprints it really takes the pressure off me, but if it does come back together I've got a lot of confidence in my team to help me out."

All four riders deserve to win the race.

The cycling romantic may argue that fortune favours the brave and Evans deserves to win the TDU after his daring attack and manic descent over Corkscrew Road on Thursday.

But then so does Gerrans for beating superstar Andre Greipel in a bunch sprint into Angaston on Tuesday, for his team controlling the race thereafter and his perfectly timed ride up Willunga yesterday.

And so does Porte, who unleashed an awesome attack to win yesterday's 'Queen Stage', and Ulissi who upstaged the field to win into Stirling on Wednesday.

Race director Mike Turtur can add as many twists and turns, climbs and descents as he likes to the course, but the Tour Down Under remains a race of seconds.

And for Gerrans, one second might just be enough.