Wary Cadel Evans predicts GreenEDGE to push for sprint points with Simon Gerrans

CADEL Evans returns to Willunga Hill today wearing ochre as the race leader and facing a fight to win his first Santos Tour Down Under.

FOUR years almost to the day since Cadel Evans and his rainbow jersey thrilled fans up Willunga Hill, today he returns wearing ochre as the race leader facing a fight to win his first Santos Tour Down Under.

Evans starts today's stage a seven-second lead over Simon Gerrans, who gained five crucial bonus seconds at intermediate sprints on the road to Victor Harbor in Stage 4, which was won by German Andre Greipel.

The last time Evans raced in Adelaide he was world champion and on January 23, 2010, he attacked up Willunga Hill with eventual stage winner Luis Leon Sanchez, Alejandro Valverde and Peter Sagan in what was hailed the greatest stage in the tour's history.

Pictorial snapshot of fourth stage

Now the 36-year-old is bracing for a similar showdown and all-out attacks from his rivals.

But his biggest concern might not be who gets to the top of Willunga Hill first, but whether he can stop Orica-GreenEDGE from dominating intermediate sprints on the way there, and on the Stage 6 finale in the city tomorrow.

"With the finish line at the top I think everyone is going to be looking at Willunga of course, but it goes back into my area of racing and experience," Evans said.

"Of course to win the race I'm going to have to do something pretty special there but I'm guessing Orica will be looking at the intermediate sprints on the way there first of all.

Simon Gerrans sits third wheel with his GreenEDGE team on the way to Victor Harbour. Picture: Sarah Reed

"We'll see what happens tomorrow (Saturday) then the last day still because it's not over until it's over.

"Certainly if Orica keep going for the intermediate sprints they can eat away at seven seconds pretty quickly."

The BMC leader survived a nervous Stage 4 when he dropped a chain and almost fell from his bike trying to beat Gerrans in the second sprint point.

A super-strong Orica-GreenEDGE went on the attack early by taking control of the peloton and helping Gerrans finish first and second in the intermediate sprints.

They also set a blistering pace over the Myponga Dam climb which, combined with crosswinds, forced the bunch to split and gaps of up to 13 minutes form.

Gerrans eventually finished the stage in fourth place, while Evans was in the same group and ran 13th.

Gerrans has owned Willunga Hill ever since race organisers made it the stage finish two years ago and he's confident of a bold showing today.

"I think Cadel's got to really get rid of me tomorrow (Saturday) because I don't think he's going to want to go into the final stage with only a seven-second advantage," Gerrans said.

"One thing I have up my sleeve is I know how to race up Willunga Hill, but I've never raced up it against a guy of Cadel Evans' calibre either.

"I'm confident that I'm going to give it 100 per cent and if that's not good enough, it's not good enough but we're going to throw everything we've got at it.

"He won't be the only one going for the stage win and if Cadel goes, then I've just got to try to get by him on the line and grab another couple of seconds."

Cadel Evans fights to get back to the peloton after stopping for a bike change after he lost his chain. Picture: Sarah Reed

Evans' other main threats to the title include Lampre's Diego Ulissi (third at 14sec), Garmin's Nathan Haas (fourth at 23sec) and Sky's Richie Porte (10th at 33sec), who can unleash an explosive climb.

Simply, if Evans wants to win the TDU he will either have to drop the field and gain time on Willunga or work out a way for his team to stop his sprint rivals from picking up time bonuses.

"Looking at the numbers, we have four stages favourable to Orica and two for me, so numbers-wise it's not in my advantage but of course Willunga will be important," Evans said.

"We don't have a team for that (sprinting), it's certainly not my area of expertise and Simon is good in the sprints and has a very, very good team for that.

"I think they've raced on all the roads here so they are quite familiar with the environment and so on, but we'll see what happens on the way to Willunga."

After the stage, Gerrans was asked whether he had any concerns that he might have used up too much energy contesting sprints ahead of climbing Willunga today.

"None whatsoever," he said.

"Put it this way, I'm feeling five seconds more confident after today's stage than I was beforehand.

"Today we really showed the strength of the team and from day one they've always been committed to trying to win the GC here and we haven't let go of that."