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Brit Oscar Onley earns first career victory on Willunga Hill

24th Tour Down Under is showcasing young riders

January 19, 2024
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Twenty-one-year-old Brit Oscar Onley of DSM-Firmenich PostNL won the queen stage of the 24th Tour Down Under on Saturday, and the runner up, another Brit, took over the race lead from UAE-Emirates’ Mexican Issac del Toro with a stage to go. Both Onley and 20-year-old-year del Toro have bagged their first career wins at the 2024 Tour Down Under. The top Canadian was Derek Gee in 43rd.

The Course

Starting in Christies Beach, the business end of the 129-km featured two climbs of Willunga Hill, 3.4 km of 7.2 percent, the final a summit finish.

After a failed breakaway, a quartet centered around Casper Pedersen scampered away and enjoyed the cameras until it was swallowed up before the first Willunga. On Willunga I, the leader of the mountains classification, Luke Burns of Team Australia, crested first to cement his jersey.

There were no attacks down the other side, and as the peloton charged towards Willunga’s foot, del Toro was back in the pack before UAE-Emirates bossed the front with 5 km to go. Simon Yates’ teammate Chris Harper drove the rapidly-thinning group on Willunga’s lower slopes. Harper and Oscar Onley skipped away but the move was extinguished just before the red kite.

Yates attacked and created an octet including Julian Alaphilippe. Scot Onley burst from this group to snag the victory, Welshman Steven Williams of Israel-Premier Tech the runner-up. The two are tied on time, but Williams gets the ocher jersey on countback. Del Toro is only five seconds back, and both Yates and Alaphilippe are 13 seconds in arrears.

Saturday is the conclusion of the first event of the 2024 Tour Down Under, a stage that ends on Cat. 1 Mount Lofty.

2024 Tour Down Under, Stage 5
1) Oscar Onley (Great Britain/DSM-Firmenich PostNL) 2:52:23
2) Steven Williams (Great Britain/Israel-Premier Tech) s.t.
3) Jhonatan Narváez (Ecuador/Ineos) s.t.
43) Derek Gee (Canada/Israel-Premier Tech) +1:24

2024 Tour Down Under GC
1) Steven Williams (Great Britain/Israel-Premier Tech) 16:08:18
2) Oscar Onley (Great Britain/DSM-Firmenich PostNL) s.t.
3) Jhonatan Narváez (Ecuador/Ineos) +0:05