As it happened: Australian sprints to back-to-back win on Tour Down Under stage 2

Welcome to Cyclingnews' live coverage of the Tour Down Under stage 2, starting and ending in Tanunda. The stage starts at 11:10am local time or 12:30am GMT and finishes roughly three hours later.

Stage 1 winner Sam Welsford (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) leads the general classification with four seconds on Matthew Brennan (Visma-Lease A Bike). Zac Marriage (ARA Australia), who spent most of the stage in the break, sits in third place, five seconds down by virtue of the time bonus seconds taken in the intermediate sprints.

Welsford also leads the points classification, while Matthew Walls (Groupama-FDJ), third on stage 1, will wear the blue points jersey on stage 2 as Brennan will be in the white best young rider’s jersey. Also, in the break on stage 1, Fergus Browning (ARA Australia) leads the mountain classification.

Stage 2 of the Tour Down Under is set to start in just under 10 minutes. In the 128.8km stage, the peloton will tackle three laps of a hilly circuit around Tanunda with three trips over Menglers Hill in Angaston. The climb is the biggest obstacle of the day but with the final ascent coming 22km from the finish, there is a good chance the sprinters can get to the front for the flat finale.  

We're in for another exciting day of racing for the 137 riders in the field, on a mostly sunny and a little cooler today compared to yesterday. 

Unfortunately, Dylan van Barle (Visma-Lease A Bike) sustained an injury in the final kilometres of yesterday’s stage and will not take the start. 

Read more: Dylan Van Baarle crashes at Tour Down Under, breaks collarbone in fresh injury setback

Stage 2 of the Tour Down Under is set to start in about two minutes. In the 128.8km stage, the peloton will tackle three laps of a hilly circuit around Tanuda with three trips over Menglers Hill in Angaston. The climb is the biggest obstacle of the day but with the final ascent coming 22km from the finish, there is a good chance the sprinters can get to the front for the flat finale.  

The riders are rolling through 2.2km neutral section on their way to the official start. 

As soon as the flag drops, the road will go up for the first KOM of the day, the cat. 1 Menglers Hill. Racers will tackle the 2.7km climb from its steeper west side, used  here to challenge the sprinters. A maximum incline of 12.2 per cent will sting, with 6.9 per cent the average incline. 

Race director Stuart O’Grady is trying to calm down the riders in the neutral zone.  

The Cyclingnews team reports a relatively cool start today ... well not really but its all relative!

The forecast for Tanunda today doesn't even crack 30°C with 29 expected and the temperature sitting in the low 20's as riders are rolling in the neutral zone.

Still, the sun still had a bit of bite so the ice stockings were out again regardless.

And we’re racing! 

And who else but ARA Australia to launch the first attack. Fergus Browning is hunting for more KOM points.

Reaction from the field with a Lidl and Intermarche riders trying to bridge up to Browning

Crash!

Crash on middle of the straight road. Welsford is involved, and is continuing. Multiple  EF Education riders also involved.

James Knox calling for his Soudal team, needed assistance after the crash. 

Race has not slowed down at the front. Patrick Konrad of Lidl_trek and Georg ZImmermann of Intermarché have joined Browning in the break with 126km to go.

Welsford, his shorts all ripped on his right side, is being brought back to the field by his teammate.

Peloton shut down attacks, waiting for race leader Welsford and others to rejoin after that early crash.

Filip Maciejuk, who did all the work at the front of the peloton yesterday, is getting a bike change.

124km to go

Trio of Browning, Zimmermann and Konrad have a gap of 1:18 

Browning had this to say about the aggressive racing of ARA Australia:

"I think it's so special racing in Australia, and it's such a big opportunity, it's really important. We have a strong team, and we just got to show that we belong here. It's really good opportunity to showcase everyone's talents and try and get our name out in the world stage."

Peloton is on the steepest part of the climb as the breakaway has 1.3km to the top of Menglers Hill.

With 200 metres to go, Browning goes to the front of the break.

Browning spent about 130km in the break yesterday, takes top points in the first KOM. The other two riders did not contest for the points.

The trio now have 2:31 on the peloton.

Welsford is with a teammate fairly back in the field while more teammates monitor the front as the gap is now at 2:44. 

As soon as they crest the climb, two Red Bull riders line up at the front to set the pace.

Race leader Sam Welsford in the ochre leader's jersey at the start in Tanunda this morning:

"It's great to be back in this jersey. I really love wearing it. I was lucky to wear it enough last year, and hopefully I can wear it for more than one day if we can win today, it would be really nice to wear it again. It will be a bit more tricky today with the parcours. But I think all the boys are really motivated to try and make it our race."

"It will be tough. I think it's, it's quite steep three times. Is also quite tough up there. But I think we have really good team to do a lot of controlling and make it our race. I think we have to see how the how the peloton go on this climb, you know, if we just keep to our strategy and try to just limit our losses on the climb in the last time up. If the climbers go full to try to drop me, and then try to come back before the sprint and then, and then have line up another lead-out."

Nikias Arndt about his teammate Welsford and his team plans for stage 2:

"Last year he was second on this stage, unfortunately, the lap was the other way around, which suited us slightly more. But still, we are super motivated. I think today is a really good chance for us, but the big challenge will be to survive the climb, and if we are there, then we have a big, big goal for today with the sprint."

Red Bull might be backing Filip Maciejuk for the sprint today according to Arndt.

"It's a good opportunity for climbing sprinters, and these teams will make it hard, and that will be the challenge for Fil [Filip Maciejuk] and also for Sam, but at the end, maybe also, yeah, these two sprinters will meet up a lon the back and then come back. We have to see how it goes. But Fil is in great shape. The team around him is super strong, so we will support him, and we are also confident that we can make it to a sprint."

Welsford made his way in the field as his teammates are setting a fast pace at the front to hold the gap at 2:48.

Welsford is sitting sixth wheel behind his teammates at the front of the peloton, keeping the break at 2:40 with 107km to go.

Three riders in the break seem to be working well together.

Gap coming down quite rapidly. It is now 2:08 at the escapees see 5km to first intermediate sprint.

Fergus Browning (ARA Australia), Patrick Konrad (Lidl-Trek) and Georg ZImmermann (Intermarché-Wanty) in the break with 1:52 gap with 101km to go.

Browning talking with his team director Martin Barras with 1.2km to go to the intermediate sprint.

Zimmermann accelerates but Konrad goes over the top to take the top points and the bonus time second.  Browning was distanced by the move and had to chas eback on.

"Sprinting is freakin' hectic, innit?”  Brennan said of his first WorldTour sprint where he finished a close second.

Today’s stage is expected to be a reduced bunch sprint. Can Welsford repeat his victory? He was almost caught on the line by Brennan as he was celebrating his win. His team is working hard at the front of the peloton to control the gap to the break.

Read more: 'I thought maybe I mucked that up' - Tour Down Under stage 1 winner Sam Welsford went early in the sprint

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Filip Maciejuk is back at the front of the field, keeping a tight leash on the peloton today.

Riders picking up extra bottles and food in the team convoy. Lots of movement at the back. 

Red Bull is holding the gap around the 1:40 mark with 90km to go.

Konrad is having a dynamic conversation with his team car. 

Breakaway of Zimmermann, Konrad and Browning start lap 2 with a gap of 1:42.

Red Bull is still in control of the peloton as they in turn cross the finish line to start lap 2, and go through the feedzone.

Breakaway see a head crosswind , which will change soon to a tailwind when they turn towards Mengler's Hill. 

Wind is blowing from the riders' right, leading to an echelon shape for Red Bull team at the front of the peloton. They have slowed down slightly to protect their sprinter Welsford, who crashed early in the stage, as they approach the climb. 

Breakaway see 5km to KOM #2. KOM leader Browning took top points in the first KOM today as the other two in the break did not contest.  Gap at 1:30 with 76km to go.

Roos! 

Tightly packed peloton as they race towards Menglers Hill, letting the gap increase, now at 1:47 

Browning is sitting behind Zimmermann and Konrad with 1.5km to go to the KOM. 

Trio keeps rolling through as they climb Menglers Hill. Browning takes the front inside of 700 metres to the top as they go through an official feedzone.

Browning takes another uncontested 10 points for a total of 41 points in the mountains classification. Trio has 2:21 to the field.

70km to go

Peloton speeds through the official feedzone, taking bottles from their soigneur. Gap at 2:25.

Speaking of feedzone. 

The men's peloton in the Tour Down Under are having to cope with what race director Stuart O'Grady called "a seismic shift" in the UCI regulations regarding feeding riders during the race.

More here: WorldTour peloton tests out new UCI feed zone rules at Tour Down Under - Organisers react to last-minute regulation changes, teams convince UCI to be flexible

Tom Paquot is trying to get the mount sorted for his race computer. He stops by the side of the road to figure things out.

Peloton gave up around 40 seconds when they eased up on the climb, gap increased to 2:21 but now they are accelerating again under the impetus of Red Bull team.

The peloton is flying down the descent, going over 90kmph on the sun-dappled road.

Zimmermann and Browning had a short chat as Konrad was driving the break. We are coming closer to the second intermediate sprint where Konrad came around Zimmermann to take top points and time bonus seconds. Gap at 1:28

Visma-Lease A Bike just put a rider in the rotation at the front of the peloton with 58km to go.

With 55km to go, Visma rider's pull at the front of the peloton reduced the gap to 1:14. The Visma team, working for Brennan, is massed behind Red Bull at the front.

Visma believes in the chance of their young sprinter Brennan, 19 years old.

"Matthew showed now both yesterday as well as in the Criterium on Saturday, that he's fast and he is, he's able to be up there, positions himself well – So yeah [are we], confident, for sure," Visma-Lease a Bike DS Addy Engels told Cyclingnews before the start of stage 2.

Konrad is at the front of the break followed by Zimmermann and Browning as they see 2km to intermediate sprint.

Once again Zimmermann jumped first with Konrad getting on his wheel for the sprint. Waiting for official results. 

Confirmation that Zimmermann crossed the line first for the second intermediate sprint ahead of Konrad. Browning did not contest, lost ground and took third. 

Meanwhile, their gap is 58 seconds with 46km to go.

Browning sits up and waits to be reeled in by the peloton. 

Konrad also sits up, and the peloton is back together with 45km to go. 

Australian champion Luke Durbridge (Jayco-AlUla) explained the crash that took him, and a few more riders, down in stage 1's finale with three kilometres to go:

"It was just a normal lead-out sprint stage crash - a couple of guys doing the lead-out, they swing off, they come back slower - guys are trying to move up. Inside the last three k's, it's quite messy in a sprint stage so it must have been a kick of wheels. I'd actually pulled it up and I saw it happening. I pulled it up and then couple guys hit me from behind."

"I actually have one skin suit, and I've actually ripped a hole in it. Bit of a wait for the next one."

Lull before the storm as the peloton is spread across the road with 42km to go. Still to come is the third time up Menglers Hill only 22km before the fast finish in Tanunda.

Stage 2 is the last chance, until stage 6, for the sprinters to go for victory, and their teams are massing at the front. Tomorrow, it's time for the climbers and GC contenders.

Jostling for position had started in the peloton with 37km to go. Red Bull at the font on the left side of the road with Welsford at the end of the line. Visma, Movistar also represented in the field spread across the road.

Daryl Impey had this to say about his first year as a directeur sportif with Israel-PremierTech:

"It's been great. At the end of my career, I was starting to not enjoy the intensity of it all, so it's been nice to kind of take your foot off the gas. You still feel like you're in the race in the car, which is great. And then to work with my mate, Sam [Bewley], and then the rest of the staff has been great. It's been a nice transition."

"You have other stresses. When you're a bike rider, you worry about yourself only. When you work in a team, you've got to worry about everyone. So it's a big change in that kind of way."

Will the final climb of Menglers Hill lead to a late race attack from opportunists? We will find out in around 10 kilometres.

32km to go

Field is all together as they cross the finish line to start the bell lap. 

Ineos amps up the pace with Ben Swift hammering at the front.

And now its IPT at the front, working for their sprinter Corbin Strong.

More teams showing interest - UAE, Jayco and Cofidis trying to position themselves with Visma and Red Bull still at the front.

Washing machine is in full effect as teams send riders to the front, and there's simply not enough room for everyone with 28km to go.

Report that the racers will have a tail- or cross/tail- wind for the slight downhill finish. It's going to be a very fast finale.

Geraint Thomas is working for his teammates as the road starts going up inside of 27km to go.

Pace is accelerating under the impetus of Durbridge. It's a full leadout to the bottom of the climb.

Durbridge did his job and swings off as his job is done. Thomas  pulls off too and is off the back as his Ineos team throws the hammer down at the front.

Connor Swift is trying to drop the sprinters, putting the hurt on the field on the climb. Jayco behind him with 1.6km to go to the top of the climb.

IPT is also at the front, keen to make it hard as their sprinter Strong is a .... strong.... climber.

Attack by Juan Lopez  with 23.3 km to go, and 1,2 km to the top of the climb. Reaction from the field.

Everything is coming back together after that acceleration by Lopez. Lots of looking around by riders. 

Harper taking the front, winding across the road,  and attacks pause which is good news for the sprinters. 

Welsford is hanging on at the back of the peloton on his teammate's wheel.

Harper attacks again on the right side of the road.  Immediate reaction from Movistar. 

Movistar' Romo goes over the top first, and takes KOM #3. Peloton is single-filed but no splits seen in the field. 

Schmidt pushes the pace, and Movistar counters, marked again by Red Bull and IPT.

So far no attacks have stuck. And now it's Kwiatkowski's turn to try to get something going but it's immediately shut down with 19km tog o.

Welsford is tacked onto a small group, which has been dropped by the field and they are chasing as attacks continue at the front.

Visma accelerates to try and prevent Welsford to catch back onto the field with 18km to go . Van Poppel is working at the front of the chase group to try and bring it back.

Alpecin and Visma put in another dig. Brennan, Bauhaus made the split and in the front group. 

Welsford is going deep, rocking and rolling to try and catch the field. Huge effort to chase back, and they still have not connected. 

Another teammate goes back to help with the chase. And as soon as they connect, more attacks at the front with 15km to go.

Narvaez attacks! 

And now it's Soler's turn as Ineos try to close that move. 

Small respite as riders look at each other. That didn't last long as Philipsen attacks, covered by Huising. 

Attack from Schelling, covered by UAE. Welsford is in the bunch with 12km to go.

Accelerations from multiple teams continue at the front, putting the hurt on the sprinters inside of 10km to go. 

Field is spread across the road. Brennan is on Bauhaus' wheel with 9km to go.

Welsford is a but further back, on the other side, sitting behind two teammates.

A bit easier tempo, as the peloton blocks the whole road. Some riders choose to use the gravel gutter to move up. 

Field has to navigate road furniture inside of 6km to go. 

For a few kilometres, the peloton split into two, each using a different side of the road before coming back together. Welsford is still about midpack with 4km tog o.

EF pushing up in the left side of the road. Bauhaus and his team right in the middle. Groupama taking a turn for their sprinter Walls.

Welsford being moved forwards by his teammates with 2.4km to go.

Walls, Bauhaus and Welsford are shoulder to shoulder and the peloton keeps changing shapes, spitting up and rejoining. 

 Welsford bumping shoulders to stay on Van Poppel's wheel with Bauhaus behind him.

Van Poppel leads out Welsford! And Welsford sprints to victory.

Van Poppel, who changed his line after launching Welsford in the final 100 metres, was relegated to 118th place, the last position in the group he finished with.

Results

Let's hear from stage 2 winner Sam Welsford (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe):

"Bloody hell - it was bike off in the first 5k to the race, and that was less than ideal. It was a pretty hard day out there. The break of three came back quite early, and then everyone started getting quite nervous, then last time up the climb I was on my limit. That was really hard. I had the boys around me the whole time in the climb, so we kept calm and did a really good job of getting over. And then attacks were coming up the ride, and I was just hoping that there'd be a moment we could get back on the downhill, and eventually got back on. And then the boys just sat really patient. We knew it was a long, hard finish with the wind, and we hit the front quite early - those boys did a long turn on the front there. 

About the work of his teammate Danny Van Poppel: "Oh, man, I don't think I can describe how that was. He pulled me back on after the climb, and then still managed to do that 20-second lead out at God knows what power. That was amazing. I'm just happy to finish it off for him, and Laurence [Pithie] - Ben [Zwiehoff], Ryan [Mullen] - all the guys came back on the climb and tried to help me get back on. And I had Ryan on me the whole time pacing so we knew if we got on, we'd be in for a sniff. And I said to the boys, 'Get me on and I'm gonna bloody win this thing'. So we did. I mean, at that moment on the climb, wasn't really thinking like that, because my legs were screaming, but yeah, I'm really happy for the team."

About taking back-to-back wins: "I think it's always hard to win again - everyone looks at you even more. The parcours didn't suit us as well as yesterday, but we made it our race. I think it's a really dream start for us here."

Here's what Arne Marit (Intermarché-Wanty) who finished second had to say:

"Yesterday I had a puncture right before the climb. I felt all day, quite good. But then in the end, yeah, when I had to do the final I had no recovery when coming back from the puncture. [Today] I knew the [final] climb would be on the limit for me, and I was actually all the time on the back, but suddenly a guy five places in front of me dropped a gap, and then I knew - fuck - I cannot make it up myself, so I just stayed calm. But I heard in the radio that Welsford was dropped, and he had still three mates in the back, and they rode full gas.”

“I think at 10 kilometer from the finish, I came back, but I gambled so much. It was full gas, but actually I still had some legs, so I didn't do any pulls in the back. In the end, I found my teammates. I was actually not quite sure about my legs, but as a sprinter, you can always do something more when you see the line.”

“I knew the wind was coming from the left, so the space was left, and Dries [De Pooter] actually brought me perfect position. He was not doubting anything about me. So I really have to thank the team. And this second place gives a lot of confidence, really.”

Fergus Browning (ARA Australia) went into the break - again - and increased his lead in the mountains classification.

“I think the day went a little bit easier than I thought it was gonna go. And I was happy to have two, two guys come across with me. And, I think my job was done up that second KOM, just cruised around. 

About going into more breakaways. “I take every day as it comes and make the most of every opportunity I have.”

About the conversation with the other two riders in the break.  “We just control the effort. No point going super deep. I think maybe learned a few lessons yesterday, I didn't have to go as hard and sort of controlled, control the effort. And, I felt a lot better today.”

Georg Zimmermann (Intermarché-Wanty) made his way into the early break and managed to get five bonus seconds in the two intermediate sprints. For his efforts today, was awarded the most combative prize.

Did you think the break would survive? “Not really, but I was hoping to stay out longer. My personal goal would have been to go over the last climb in the front, then hope for stronger group to come from behind, but the others didn't commit to it, and said, oh no the sprinting points and mountain mountain competitive mountain points are good enough. Alone, I didn't want to commit so we went back to the bunch and took a more easier approach to the finish.  But the main goal of the day was to sneak some seconds, like I did here last year. And, tomorrow, and on Saturday, we will see what these five seconds are worth.

About stage 3. “Tomorrow is really tricky day, like there's a technical approach to the final climb, and that one is really nasty and steep, and afterwards, there's no time to recover. It's only up and down for a couple of kilometres to the finish. So tomorrow, I expect the first big, GC action and stressful day. So I'm glad I could get a little advantage today.”

Welsford also leads the point classification.

Matthew Brennan (Visma-Lease A Bike), is third on GC tied on time with second place Marit, and retained the best young rider jersey. 

Our race report, results, and photos can all be found here:

Tour Down Under: Sam Welsford survives early crash to win stage 2 in Tanunda