Tour Down Under stage 2 - LIVE

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

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

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

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

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.

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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Narvaez attacks! 

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

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

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

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.

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

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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.

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.

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

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

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.

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

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

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

32km to go

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

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

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."

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.

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.

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.

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."

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

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

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.

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

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

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.

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

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

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

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.

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.

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

70km to go

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

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

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

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

Roos! 

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.

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

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

Konrad is having a dynamic conversation with his team car. 

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

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

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

"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

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.

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

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

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.

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.

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."

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."

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.

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.

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

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

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."

124km to go

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

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

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

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

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.

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

Crash!

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

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

And we’re racing! 

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

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.

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

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. 

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.  

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

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. 

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.  

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.

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.