During of the sixth and last day of the Santos Tour Down Under which included five ascents of Mount Lofty (1.3 km at 7.3% (max 13.3%))we were obviously expecting a show and a three-way match between the leaders of the general classification – Jay Vine (UAE Team Emirates), Pello Bilbao (Bahrain Victorious) et Simon Yates (Team Jayco AlUla) – to find out the name of the big winner of this 2023 edition. And the least we can say is that we were not disappointed this Sunday. But despite several offensives, no one managed to outrun the wearer of the leader’s jersey, Jay Vinewho succeeds his compatriot richie doorwinner of the last edition in 2020 (the Australian event has returned to the calendar after two years of absence due to Covid-19). Simon Yates tried everything but finally had to “settle” for victory of stage.
Video – Yates the 5th stage and Jay Vine winner of the Tour Down Under!
Here is another look at the closing kilometer for the Schwalbe Men’s Stage 5, which brings the Santos Tour Down under to a close!
Schwalbe tires | @SantosLtd #TourDownUnder pic.twitter.com/pCTFQRlG3v
— Santos Tour Down Under �’�’♀�’� (@tourdownunder) January 22, 2023
A beautiful final duel between Jay Vine and Simon Yates!
In the sprint, the British climber from Team Jayco AlUlawho quite naturally won the first victory of his season – the first since July 2022 -, showed his burst of speed to win his duel against Jay Vine (UAE Team Emirates). Two seconds behind the leading duo, Ben O’Connor (AG2R Citroën Team) completed the stage podium, followed by the other overall contenders (Pello Bilbao, Magnus Sheffield, Mauro Schmid, Jai Hindley…). But the information to remember from this day remains the final victory of Jay Vine who is thus perfectly successful in his debut with his new team, UAE Team Emirates. Simon Yates (Team Jayco AlUla) et Pello Bilbao (Bahrain Victorious) accompany him on the final podium of this 2023 edition of the Santos Tour Down Under who was returning to the calendar after two years of absence due to Covid-19.