Ryder Hesjedal 2016 Tour Down Under diary – Stage 5, McLaren Vale to Willunga Hill

by Aaron S. Lee

ADELAIDE—Australian Richie Porte (BMC Racing) scored a hat-trick with win No.3 atop Willunga Hill in as many years. After a gruelling 151.5km which included two trips up the infamous 3km climb, Porte soloed to the queen stage finish at the 2016 Santos Tour Down Under in stoic fashion on Saturday, with former Sky teammate Sergio Henao (COL) and Cannondale neo-pro Michael Woods (CAN) trailing behind at six and nine seconds respectively.

The dominant victory moves the 30-year-old Tasmanian into second overall, just nine seconds behind race leader Simon Gerrans (Orica-GreenEdge), who is certain to claim his fourth TDU title barring any mishaps in the 20-lap, 90km sixth and final stage in Adelaide on Sunday.

“To be honest I never expected that one,” said Porte, who finished second on GC last year and fourth in 2014. “Today the BMC guys were absolutely incredible and they backed me here, which is nice and I have only just started in this team.

“It’s always nice to win in Australia and on top of Willunga for the third time in a row, I am really happy,” he continued. “The crowds are just incredible, the Australian public just get behind this race so much. It really does feel like riding the Tour de France up this climb, incredible feeling.”

Fellow Aussie and former race leader Jay McCarthy (Tinkoff) fell to fourth, while Ottawa’s Woods climbed three spots to fifth with both trailing by 20 seconds to Gerrans.

For fellow Canadian Ryder Hesjedal and his new Trek-Segafredo teammates, it was just another day at the office. Canadian Cycling Magazine caught up with the three-time Olympian and 2012 Giro d’Italia winner to talk about the penultimate stage:

Hesjedal’s diary entry: Stage 5, McLaren Vale – Willunga Hill, 151.5km

Today’s result did not surprise me. Once you win like that on a course and you know it, you have a confidence and know exactly what you need to do. I had no doubt Richie Porte would be up there and I wouldn’t be surprised if he wins it again in the future if he chooses to come back.

This race is special for the Australians because it’s on their home soil, and they use that to their advantage, which they should because that’s what it’s all about taking advantage when you can.
It was good to see fellow Canadian Mike Woods of Cannondale finish third to move up in to the top 5 on general classification. The stage suited him perfectly, and he’s been riding great. After his performance on the Corkscrew on stage 3, I had no doubt he’d be a contender today.

You can’t race Willunga Hill without taking in the scenery and the crowds. The fans are passionate all week, but something about this stage turns the volume up.

Results-wise for the team, we are looking for more in general. But it is what it is, and personally I felt all right. In fact, I’m feeling better than last year at this time. After the race I got some extra kilometres in, about 40 or 50, to get about 200k on the day.

So I feel good and getting what I need as a training block for the rest of the season. Everyone always wants more, but it’s tough and the levels here are pretty high and the differences are pretty small and you got to be right there.

In general we are happy and we have one more stage tomorrow. Maybe Giacomo Nizzolo (ITA) can pull off the win and it would make for a great way for us to finish the week.

I think he’s definitely one of the most well-rounded sprinters here and can get over more challenging courses. We will see, it’s again more of a crit and not so long a race but we will see where the guys are at after five days of racing in the legs. We will give it our best for sure.

As I mentioned earlier in the week, I’m not a criterium guy so tomorrow I just have got to pay attention and feel the bunch. There’s not really an absolute trick to staying out of trouble in a crit, you just have to have your wits about you and stay alert.

Until then, stay tuned…

-Ryder Hesjedal

Stage 5 top-five results

Place	Rider	Country	Team	Time
1	Richie Porte	AUS	BMC Racing	3:34:16
2	Sergio Henao	COL	Team Sky	0:06
3	Michael Woods	CAN	Cannondale Pro	0:09
4	Diego Ulissi	ITA	Lampre-Merida	0:17
5	Rafael Valls	ESP	Lotto Soudal	s.t.

General classification, Stage 5 top-five results

Place	Rider	Country	Team	Time
1	Simon Gerrans	AUS	Orica-GreenEdge	17:16:31
2	Richie Porte	AUS	BMC Racing	00:00:09
3	Sergio Henao	COL	Team Sky	00:00:11
4	Jay McCarthy	AUS	Tinkoff-Saxo	00:00:20
5	Michael Woods	CAN	Cannondale Pro	s.t.

Aaron S. Lee (@aaronshanelee) is a cycling and triathlon columnist for Eurosport and a guest contributor to Canadian Cycling Magazine.