As it happened: Romo shakes up GC on Tour Down Under stage 3

Welcome to Cyclingnews' live coverage of stage 3, from Norwood to Uraidla, of the Tour Down Under. The stage starts at 11:10am local time or 12:30am GMT and finishes roughly four hours later.

Double stage winner Sam Welsford (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) leads the general classification with Arne Marit (Intermarché-Wanty) in second place and Matthew Brennan (Visma-Lease A Bike) in third. Both are tied at 14 seconds back. 

Welsford also leads the point classification. Second in the points classification Tim Tom Teutenberg (Lidl-Trek) will be wearing the blue sprint jersey, as Welsford will obviously be in the ochre leader’s jersey.

Fergus Browning (ARA Australia) nabbed more KOM points after two days in the break, and has a solid 26-point lead in the mountains classification. Brennan leads the best young rider classification. 

Race director Stuart O'Grady expects stage 3, with 3236 meters of elevation gain over 145.3 kilometres, to be the toughest stage this year.

Racers will begin in Norwood and head for the slopes of Norton Summit, then push further into the Adelaide Hills and towards the Uraidla finish. The journey there is anything but cruisy, with the new ascent of Knotts Hill climbed twice, tight turns, and a rollercoaster last approach in the mix.

Anticipation is high for stage 3 of the Tour Down Under which will start in a few minutes.

Racers are now riding through the 5.1km neutral zone. As soon as the flag drops, the peloton will be climbing cat. 2 Ashton, a 10km ascent with 4.1% average gradient and max of 12.6% Ouch.

Race director O'Grady is blowing his whistle and slowing the riders in the neutral zone. Nerves are high and everyone is ready to go.

And we are racing! 

And we have the first attack. Durbridge makes a move. And IPT marks his wheel.

Durbrudge accelerates again with Gerrans on his wheel. The 137-rider field is lined up behind the Australian champion.

And now Dries de Pooter goes solo off the front. Field has not reacted ... so far.

Seeing the peloton not responding. Geoffrey Bouchard jumps to bridge up followed by Browning and an Ineos rider.

Swift is the Ineos rider who joined to make it four off the front. Peloton is spread across the road - 145km to go.

Schelling accelerated from the peloton to join the four riders up the road. And that created a reaction from the peloton.  A 5-rider chase group is forming behind.

And the four riders were caught. Harper counters, with Soler still following the moves.

IPT is covering all the attacks from Jayco. Schultz was on Harper's wheel for this acceleration.

Peloton is strung out, flying up at 40kmph on Norton Summit. Still Harper driving the front.

Sprinter Walls, third on stage 1,  is having trouble keeping with the pace of the peloton

Connor Swift takes a solo flyer with 141km to go, on a false flat but the road will kick up again soo.

Browning is responding to Swift's move.

Race leader Welsford is at the back of the peloton, still looking comfortable. 

Browning catches  Swift, about 400 metres before the KOM line. 

Browning goes the front with 200 metres to go, Swift gave him a look but stays close on his wheel.

Browning takes maximum KOM points with Swift on his wheel. Browning now has 51 points, and has a big lead in that competition.

Break

Two riders escaped after a flurry of attacks on the first climb of the day. Connor Swift (Ineos Grenadiers) was joined Fergus Browning (ARA Australia) at the front. The duo has a lead of 1:20 with 135km to go.

Now that the breakaway is established. Let’s take a closer look at today’s stage. The climbing started early, with Norton Summit, and then it is an up-and-down journey that will end with the category 1 Knotts Hill, which the racers will tackle twice. The second time up Knotts Hill comes at 5.6km from the line.

Georg Zimmermann (Intermarché-Wanty) described the climb as “really nasty and steep.”

The adage of ‘It might not be the day to win the GC battle, but it could easily be the day the race is lost’ rings true for today.

Read more in  ‘The big shakedown’ – New climb set to transform GC on stage 3 of Tour Down Under - Preview

As for the weather today. It looks like stage 3 will be the coolest day at the Tour Down Under - forecast of just 26C in Adelaide and it’s a bit overcast too.

“Coming in, I was still thinking Willunga was the main stage, but after reconning the third stage, I think it might be the most important,” Finn Fisher-Black told Cyclingnews.

Fisher-Black is racing his third Tour Down Under, but his first for his new team Red Bull-Bora Hansgrohe.

“It's massive for me,” Fisher-Black said when asked about how much of a target the Tour Down Under was. “This race is always one of my favourite races of the year, and I always seem to feel quite good after the summer in New Zealand. 

Read more at ‘No time to lose focus’ as Finn Fisher-Black launches with new team Red Bull Bora Hansgrohe at Tour Down Under

Swift on the team radio, and lets go of Browning's wheel with 131.5km to go, as the duo has 1:23 gap.

Will Browning continue solo? It's a long way to the next KOM.   

Browning continues on solo. He now has 1:23 on the peloton with 127km to go.

The champion of Willunga Hill from 2024, Oscar Onley (Picnic-PostNL), is coming for another crack at winning the Tour Down Under. The Brit finished fourth overall last year, 20 seconds behind winner Stephen Williams (Israel-PremierTech).

“I think I naturally put pressure on myself, and I come here with high expectations,” Only said at the start. 

“And I think everyone now looks at me to be up there, and kind of expects me to win or get good results. So that brings a bit of pressure, but you approach each stage and each race in the same way you normally do. It doesn't really affect how I ride.”

Bouchard jumps to try and bridge up to Browning off the front. The Australian is just starting the descent with a gap of 2:08 with 120km to go.

Defending champion Stephen Williams (Israel-PremierTech) expects stage 3 to be a "tough" day.

"It's going to be a tough day, although the level was really high I’d say on the climb [yesterday], I think today is going to be a lot harder. It's obviously longer, a lot more elevation and the climbs are steeper, so definitely the first day for the GC battle, I think so can expect a good race out there," he said at the start.

"We're defending champions, so I think the onus will be on us [to control the race] and a couple of other teams. So yeah, sure, we'll put a hand forward and take the race on, and hopefully we'll have the legs to show in the final."

"I think UAE, [Picnic PostNL] and Jayco as well. I think those teams are the strongest on paper for the GC, also Ineos. Hopefully we all come together and make the race happen and come into that final time together. 

Field is descending, no urgency being shown. UAE, Visma and Red Bull at the front. 

Browning is looking over his shoulder, looking for Bouchard who is 55 seconds behind.

Bouchard caught Browning and the Australian asked 'what's happening back there?' with a smile. Duo has 2:22 to the field with under 111km to go. 

Teams are lined up at the front of the peloton. On one side of the road is Red Bull followed by Visma and UAE on the other side with Ineos besides them. 

Simon Clarke jumps from the field as we get close to the first intermediate sprint. Protecting Williams on GC so that his rivals don't take that one bonus seconds.

Browning takes the 3 points and time bonus seconds at the first intermediate sprint, followed by Bouchard.

Clarke gives a quick look underneath, eases off the pedal and takes third. Job done. 

Bouchard and Browning continue to roll through, no urgency shown in the break or the peloton. 

The field makes its way through the feed zone. 

More info on the new feed zone rules: WorldTour peloton tests out new UCI feed zone rules at Tour Down Under - 'it's a seismic shift'

100km to go

Bouchard and Browning in the break with 2:12 gap.

UAE at the front of the peloton followed by Red Bull. So far, the other teams are sitting back and waiting for the carnage of Knotts Hill.

Jayco leader Luke Plapp is holding to his usual spot at the back of the peloton.

UAE Team Emirates XRG is still at the front, working for their two leaders:  2023 winner Jay Vine and new teammate, Jonathan Narváez, the 2024 runner-up.

“The team is strong,” Narváez said at the start in Norwood. “It’s one of the hardest days today. I think I will try, with the team, to take the victory.”

“[Jay Vine] is strong, I’ve been training with him. We have two cards to play.”

Bouchard and Browning, in the break, now have 2:50 on the field with 90km to go.

Plapp, at the back of the peloton is doing a few short warmup sprints. He stretched, dropped back a few times and sprinted back up to the field.

Rain drops at the head of the race! This may cause concern in the field.

UAE set the pace at the front of the peloton for most of the stage so far. 

Gap is now up to 3:31 with 84km to go

Jayco teammates are joining Plapp at the back of the peloton. 

The raindrops only lasted a few minutes, much to the racers' relief.

The last time the Tour Down Under finished in Uraidla in 2019, the stage was won by Peter Sagan.

That year, the slightly uphill finish came after a relatively flat stage. Completely different for the 25th edition of the Tour Down Under.

75km to go

Jayco moving Plapp up as the UAE pace has reduced the gap to 2:24, after hitting a maximum lead of 3:33.

Browning and Bouchard pushing the pace at the front. Browning hopes to make it to the second KOM of the day, in about 33km, to get even more points. 

Soudal, UAE and Jayco teams are lining up at the front, gathering speed. 

Break entering Hahndorf and is cheered by a big crowd but no time to enjoy for the duo who are still completely committed to the move. Gap is at 2:32 with 68km to go

Riders are digging through their musettes, picking out the best snack, before getting rid of the bags. 

Ineos and Bahrain join the other teams, UAE. Jayco and Red Bull at the front holding the breakaway pair to 2:40. 

Crash

Crash in the peloton, with most if not all Israel-PremierTech going down including defending champion Williams and Cote. Williams was limping as he got back on a bike and is now being led by his teammates, around 59km to go.

Williams has Schultz, Clarke and another teammate with him as they chase to rejoin. 

Peloton is continuing on its pace but not attacking, as they are spread across the road. Williams, with a bloody elbow and knee, has three teammates, Coté, Clarke and Schultz to bring him back.

A Visma rider also caught in the crash is on Williams' wheel and getting a ride back to the field.

Williams reconnects with the back of the peloton with 55km to go.

Williams is now with his teammate Corbin Strong at the back of the peloton. 

Williams and his teammates are sharing gels at the back, taking a short breather.  They still have not moved up. 

Clarke is trying to make a path while at the pace is amping up at the front. They are starting to race for position for the upcoming and dreaded climb of Knotts Hill.

Damien Howson of ARA Australia shared his thoughts at the start of the day in Norwood:

"It's always nice to do Tour Down Under with the national team - it's a home race for me. I'm from Adelaide so it's pretty special being back here with friends and family able to see what I do for the majority of the year. So yeah, today's stage 3, the first GC day. It'll be quite stressful out there. Hard startup on the summit, but then once you get to the laps, it's gonna be race on. So we'll start to see the race take a bit of shape, and the contenders will come out to play today. “

“The last two years, coming back here with the national team, being the experienced rider of the group, I've had the pleasure to watch the younger guys and Australia's next up and coming stars compete. If I can give my two cents worth to help those guys out, it's always a pleasure. They're showing their ability here and what they can offer amongst the best riders in the world. So it's really exciting to see, and we've started the race really well - we've got a really good grip on the climber's jersey at the moment but it's never over til the last stage."

The leadup to Knotts Hill is on technical, twisty roads while the gap is tumbling, down to 1:48 with 51km to go.

Williams has moved back to the front third of the field.

race leader Welsford is keeping his teammate Fisher-Back safe towards the front. 

Welsford making a move off the front as the breakaway duo are tackling the tricjy descent with 46km to go.

45km to go

Bouchard and Browning has 1:47 on the peloton led by UAE.  Field is stretched, flying down the twisty road leading to Knotts Hill.

Riders made the turn into the Basket Range, and the start of Knotts Hill. Breakaway sees 2.3km to go to the top.

The steepest sections on the climb come early on in the 2.6km ascent, with pitches hitting 13%. That's going to hurt the legs.

Sprinters are falling back.

And no surprise Welsford is dropped, along with other sprinters.

Browning and Bouchard are inside of 1km to go to the top. Browning is driving the pace. 

Jayco have now taken charge at the front with Plapp sitting on Harper followed by UAE. 

Browning gets the maximum points! He now has 61 points.  The breakaway pair has 45 seconds on the charging peloton.

Harper followed by Fisher-Black at the front as they crested. Vine, Narvaez, Schmidt all close to the front. 

Around 4 kilometres to the second intermediate sprint, at the finish line in Uraidla, and the breakaway has only 37 seconds.

Plapp drifting back, looking behind him and talking on his radio. 

Break holding a gap, around 54 seconds as they see 1km to go to the intermediate sprint with its 3,2, and bonus seconds on top for top 3 across the line. 

Bouchard crosses first, followed by Browning cheered on by the fans. Peloton races for the remaining bonus second and Fisher-Black gets it,

Good test for the peloton to take the final sweep to the finish line the next time around.

Move from Juan Pedro Lopez from the front of the peloton and more riders follow with 33km to go. 

Both UAE and Red Bull are represented in the move. And everything is back together,

Attacks continue at the front, from Edmonson, and counter by Lopez with Askey close by.

Once again, Plapp is at the back of the still sizeable peloton with 28km to go. 

Browning sits up as Bouchard continues solo with 27km to go.

While the other sprinters have been dropped, Brennan who almost surprised on stage 1 is still in the peloton.

And Bouchard is reeled in. It's all back together with 25.5km to go.

Teams are lining up at the front, EF Education on the right side, AG2R on the right, Lidl and Movistar in the center.

Race leader Welsford is leading a small group of dropped riders,  being passed by cars.

Defending champion Williams is at the back of the field, surrounded by his teammates.

20km to go

Peloton, reduced to about half, is speeding towards Knotts Hill followed by the short, fast drop to the finish line.

EF, Ineos on their shoulders. Visma is also moving riders up as teams try to keep position at the front of the field. 

Crash

Two XDS Astana riders down.

Ineos lined up on the right side of the road. Groupama in the middle and still AG2R on the left with 15km to go.

Average speed is 39kmph as the field is spread across the road.

And here we go. Teams accelerating before the descent at 13.1km to go.

Pace on. IPT taking charge at the front, being marked by Ineos.

IPT's Strong is leading the peloton on the descent. Riders free wheeling down. 

10km to go

Ineos is in control with 5 riders at the front as they speed towards to Knotts Hill.

Long line of riders, with Ineos in complete control. Gaps opening up in the field as Ineos takes every corner as fast as they can.

2.5 km to the top of the climb, and 8km to the finish line. And Red Bull takes the front to set the pace on the climb. 

Poppel pulls off after brining his team to the front, then Hamilton does the same and Jay Vine accelerates at the front, UAE taking control. Onley on his wheel.

Kwiatkowski attacks at the front with Rochas. Harper leading the chase with Plapp with him. 

Group of around 20 riders together and Eulalio tries to escape.

Jayco slowly closing the gap to Bahrain's Eulalio with 1km to go to top of climb.

Plapp stamping on the pedals with 400 metres to the top. and a counter by Vine.

Rochas accelerates and goes over the riders, and gets a small gap as he crests the top.

Williams was dropped on the climb by Plapp's acceleration.

At the front, Plapp, Scheffield, Onley lead a group of 12 riders.

Romo attacks and opened up a handy gap.  Vine tries to follow with Harper on his wheel.

Plapp makes a move but that is shut down as Romo continues solo.

Hesitation in the field and Harper tries to fly to catch Romo with 3.4km to go.

Romo is persisting at the front inside of 3km to go. Harper still chasing solo. 

Onley jumps and goes around Harper to chase Romo. 

Mollema at the front of the group to try and reel Onley and Romo with 1km to go. 

Onley is reeled in by Jayco. 

Movistar's Romo wins! Photo finish for second between Fisher-Black and Narvaez.

Narvaez took second ahead of Fisher-Black in a photo finish. 

Results

Movistar's Javier Romo had time to celebrate his first UCI victory with his late stage daring attack. 

The Spanish rider takes over the general classification with eight seconds on Jhonathan Narvaez (UAE Team Emirates XRG). Patrick Konrad (Lidl-Trek) is third, and Finn Fisher-Black (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe) fourth, both tied at 10 seconds.

Let's hear from the new Tour Down Under leader Javier Romo (Movistar).

“[This victory is] so important. From this winter, I worked a lot thinking about Tour Down Under and I can imagine this day. I'm so happy, I want to say thank you to my team because today, they work is very good for me. They have a lot of confidence in me, and so important this victory. Also for my family, my girlfriend and all the people who helped me this year.”

When did you know you had the win? “Until after the last kilometre, I know it - that the victory was mine.”

Let's hear from Finn Fisher-Black (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe) who finished third in the field sprint, and now sits fourth overall tied at 10 seconds back with third place Patrick Konrad (Lidl-Trek).

“The guys delivered me to the last climb perfectly. I think Danny was MVP today, coming over that penultimate climb, and then again, last one. But yeah, in the end, coming over the climb, I think the best plan, was for me to just wait for the sprint, I have an okay kick, so I thought may as well just play my cards."

"And without a teammate in the front, I couldn't bring back Romo, so just had to wait and pray that they would bring him back. But in the end, we had to sprint for a second. And think it was third on the line from this I'm happy with that."

About the tactics in the group with five Lidl-Trek riders. "I went to the back of the group, just after these rollers, and I saw, like, five Trek guys and those two guys up the road. I wasn't sure what the tactics were there. I was hoping they had pulled them back on this downhill into the finish, but in the end, I think it was Jayco chasing him back. So yeah, maybe controversial tactics there. But it is what it is."

About getting the leader's jersey.  "I think it’s a pretty honest race on Willunga, that's simple. It's just the strongest is going to be there. But tomorrow could be interesting. I haven't checked the forecast. I mean, it's a stage known for the wind, so, we'll see. But I've got a good team around me again for tomorrow, so I'm happy with that, and see how we can go forward and try to get that jersey."

Let's hear from the KOM leader Fergus Browning (ARA Australia) who spend another day in the break, nabbing more points to have an unsurmountable lead.

“The Norton summit kicked off pretty hard, and I was feeling pretty good, and luckily got across, got the first points, and then out there by myself, [and I thought] geez, I semi-tried to sit up and go back to the peloton, but then luckily had a guy come across, and we had a bit of fun out there. And, it was a good day.”

What did say when Bouchard bridged up? “I was just relieved. Like, it was just nice to see someone, that was a long day, or would have been a very long day if I was by myself.”

About confidence of holding on to KOM jersey to the finish. “I think now to sort of soak up the last three days and really make the most out of this experience and opportunity. It's been great.”

Fourth on the stage, Albert Withen Philipsen (Lidl-Trek) takes over the white best young rider jersey. He now sits seventh overall, 15 seconds down.

“I didn't quite get in the right moves and had to close a bit too much. Then in the sprint, I got close to the barriers and had to settle for fourth place.”

“I'm really happy to grab the white jersey for now, but I'm a bit disappointed with the stage. I think I could have done more.”

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

Tour Down Under: Javier Romo wins stage 3 with late race solo attack