Bevin suffers heavy crash and Ewan is relegated after Philipsen clash
The peloton makes its way along the coast (Image credit: Tim de Waele/Getty Images Sport)
It might have been a flat day, but stage 5 of the Tour Down Under was the most dramatic of the race so far, with crosswinds, crashes, and even a relegation on the finish line.
As the peloton turned east away from the coast, the stiff wind was suddenly blowing across the road, causing continual splits in the bunch for a sustained period of panic.
The peloton was all together but still on edge when overall leader Patrick Bevin (CCC Team) was caught up in a big crash 10km from the finish. The New Zealander hit the deck hard, suffering several cuts and rips to his jersey, but remounted and used his teammates to regain contact with the bunch, riding through the pain to retain his lead before being taken to hospital for a check-up.
There was even more drama to come in the final kilometre. It looked like Caleb Ewan had his first official victory for Lotto Soudal, but the Australian sprinter's celebrations were cut short when the jury announced he had been relegated for an 'irregular sprint', with the officials spotting he had made movements with his head towards Jasper Philipsen (UAE Team Emirates) with 500m to go.
Philipsen, having been second across the line, was thus promoted for the first WorldTour victory of his career.
Watch how it all played out in the highlights video above.
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