South African Daryl Impey didn’t finish Stage 1 in first place, but the defending champion did put himself in an ideal race position
All the attention was on Irishman Sam Bennett as he won Stage 1 of the TDU on Tuesday. But oblivious to the untrained eye was defending champion Daryl Impey, who quietly put himself in a commanding position.
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There are still 720km of the Santos Tour Down Under to go, but Daryl Impey may have put one hand on a third ochre jersey in its first 15km on Tuesday.
And the second hand might well go on in Stirling on Wednesday.
Stage 1 left Tanunda at 11am and by 11.20am, as the peloton sped towards Angaston, Impey was at the front and won the first intermediate sprint.
The reward?
A three-second time bonus that history has shown may decide the race.
Wary of its climbing rivals, like Richie Porte and Romain Bardet, with two uphill stage finishes to come this week, Mitchelton-Scott is following the TDU textbook that was perfected by Simon Gerrans and then handed down to Impey the same way Gerrans passed him the yellow jersey at the 2014 Tour de France.
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“Yep,” team director Matt White said when asked whether things went to plan on day one.
“There’s no secrets, this is not the first time we’ve done it.
“I think the depth in the field every year is more, and teams are coming out here earlier. “Before we’ve had an advantage having the majority of the team out here for months, but other favourites are here three weeks before and we’ve just got to match it.
“We’ve got to bring our A-game if we want to win.”
It was never the plan for Impey to contest the final sprint, which was won by Ireland’s Sam Bennett who rides for Deceuninck-Quick-Step ahead of Jasper Philipsen (UAE-Emirates) and Eric Baska (BORA-Hansgrohe).
Aussie Caleb Ewan said he was caught too far back in the final kilometre and was unable to contest the victory.
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“He (Impey) is fast, but when you’re going head to head with the world’s best sprinters it’s not realistic on a flat sprint,” White said.
“Tomorrow is another story.
“Stirling is not a normal sprint, it’s a good stage for him.”
The record books agree.
Two years ago when Impey won his first TDU he was second into Stirling after leading out his teammate Caleb Ewan, and no other sprinter could come over the top of him.
If Impey can win in Stirling on Wednesday it would come with a 10-second time bonus, putting him 13 seconds ahead of his climbing rivals.
Australians Rohan Dennis and Richie Porte weren’t surprised by Impey’s Stage 1 tactics.
“Not at all,” Dennis said.
“To be honest I think we’re all pretty aware of how good Richie looks at the moment, and he’s the guy to beat especially with Paracombe quite a short, steep climb and power-to-weight.
“Impey obviously has that sprint and is using it to the best of his ability to get as much time as possible.”
Porte said his team would be on alert for Impey going into Stirling, and world champion Mads Pedersen would likely contest the finish in a bid to deny him more bonus time.
Impey climbed with Porte and finished on the same time up Willunga Hill last year, but Paracombe could be the deciding stage.
“We said in the meeting that it wouldn’t be a surprise (if Impey attacked for the first sprint on Stage 1), I think Gerro did it in the same place a few years ago,” Porte said.
“Obviously it makes sense that he’s going to do that, he’s pretty quick.
“But I think Paracombe and Willunga, as long as he isn’t able to keep doing that, it will be more than three seconds (the gap to make up).
“Tomorrow he could win the stage (in Stirling), same as Victor Harbor, so that’s just how the race is, there’s nothing you can do.
“Mads is pretty strong in the sprint and I think he’ll be our guy there.”
reece.homfray@news.com.au
Originally published as South African Daryl Impey didn’t finish Stage 1 in first place, but the defending champion did put himself in an ideal race position