Tour Down Under 2016: Title is Simon Gerrans’ to lose during Stage 5 on Old Willunga Hill

SIMON Gerrans stands on the cusp of an unprecedented fourth Tour Down Under title with only Old Willunga Hill left to conquer.

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SIMON Gerrans stands on the cusp of an unprecedented fourth Tour Down Under title with only Old Willunga Hill left to conquer.

The 35-year-old Victorian and his Orica-GreenEDGE teammates Friday produced a masterclass performance — a mixture of tactical smarts and supreme legs — to win Stage 4 in Victor Harbor which extended his overall lead to 14 seconds.

Gerrans says the race is not over but having finished 2nd, 1st and 3rd from three attempts at the TDU’s queen stage which finishes on top of Old Willunga Hill, it is his title to lose.

“It’s not unbeatable for sure, Willunga Hill is a tough one and we’ve seen the jersey change hands many times on (that stage) so we’re still definitely going to have our work cut out,” said Gerrans, who is the TDU’s only three-time winner.

“It’s not in my interests to attack at all, I’ve really got to try to defend this jersey and it’s up to those guys to drop me and put a bit of time into me on the climb.

TDU Stage 4 in pictures

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“But the way the team was riding and supporting me, it gives me a lot of confidence going into the day.”

Gerrans leads the race by 14 seconds from Tinkoff’s Jay McCarthy and 26 seconds from BMC’s Rohan Dennis who concedes he and teammate Richie Porte, who is 10th at 36 seconds, must go all-out attack Saturday.

Orica-GreenEDGE has dominated the TDU this week by winning the People’s Choice Classic and three of the four stages of the tour so far.

Friday Gerrans won back-to-back stages by capitalising on the work of his teammates who firstly brought back the early breakaway so their leader could win the intermediate sprint and then Daryl Impey produced a textbook leadout to deliver him to the finish line where Gerrans was too quick for Ben Swift and Giacomo Nizzolo.

Gerrans retains the Ochre Jersey. Photo: Sarah Reed.

Gerrans revealed the plan was to sprint for Caleb Ewan if he was still there over Kirby Hill 20km from the finish but only a very select group was at the front at the end of the 138km stage from Norwood.

“The guys are just doing everything we’ve asked of them — and some,” Gerrans said of his teammates.

“The work at the start of the stage to bring it all back together for the first intermediate sprint, it seemed like everyone was attacking us to try to get a group away.

“And then again the lead-out that Daryl gave me in the final, he’s making me look good.”

In an ominous warning for his rivals, Gerrans warned Old Willunga Hill suited him better than Corkscrew Road which he conquered on Thursday.

“Corkscrew as short as it is, it really does suit the pure climbers with the steep gradient,” he said.

“I’ll have to do what I can up Willunga and it’s going to be tough but I can promise you one thing — we’ll give it everything.”

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Originally published as Tour Down Under 2016: Title is Simon Gerrans’ to lose during Stage 5 on Old Willunga Hill