The processional stage for Rohan Dennis in the ochre jersey, but it will be full gas for the other riders as they try to pick up some World Tour points in this short stage in Adelaide. We should see some frantic racing from the teams without a sprinter, as they attempt to get themselves into breakaways and furious chasing from the squads with a fast man attempting to peg them back.
The Course
The profile is so flat for this stage that the Tour Down Under organisers haven't even bothered to publish one. 20 laps of 4.5 km circuit around the heart of Adelaide, with a tiny bump (not hill, mountain or even rise) that is used to for KOM sprints on laps 10 and 15.
The weather will be mild and in the low twenties, with a 20km wind that will be a headwind for the sprint. I'm not sure how wind affected the race will actually be however, with lots of buildings, fans, etc. around to shield the riders.
The Tactics
Simple pimple for all involved. GC all wrapped up bar the shouting, so Dennis will just have to avoid any splits in the peleton at the finish and stay on his bike. The KOM classification is also decided, so there won't be any meaningful sprints for those points. The points jersey is currently with Daryl Impey, and that could change, but it will all come down to the final sprint in any case.
So breakaways will attempt to get away and the sprinters' teams will try and most probably succeed in catching them, and then there will be a sprint.
The Verdict
In fitting with the laziness of the rest of this preview, I will reduce the question to; is Kittel going to sprint? I think yes, 90 kms is not so much further than 51 kms which he won at in the People's Classic just 6 days ago against the same riders. Obviously the problem with Kittel at this stage of the season is not so much the sprinting, but the 100+ kms that come before it. He'll be much more at home on this Adelaide pancake, and his Giant-Alpecin team might even be given a pass on chasing as Kittel hasn't been present to date in the sprints.
The profile is so flat for this stage that the Tour Down Under organisers haven't even bothered to publish one. 20 laps of 4.5 km circuit around the heart of Adelaide, with a tiny bump (not hill, mountain or even rise) that is used to for KOM sprints on laps 10 and 15.
The weather will be mild and in the low twenties, with a 20km wind that will be a headwind for the sprint. I'm not sure how wind affected the race will actually be however, with lots of buildings, fans, etc. around to shield the riders.
The Tactics
Simple pimple for all involved. GC all wrapped up bar the shouting, so Dennis will just have to avoid any splits in the peleton at the finish and stay on his bike. The KOM classification is also decided, so there won't be any meaningful sprints for those points. The points jersey is currently with Daryl Impey, and that could change, but it will all come down to the final sprint in any case.
So breakaways will attempt to get away and the sprinters' teams will try and most probably succeed in catching them, and then there will be a sprint.
The Verdict
In fitting with the laziness of the rest of this preview, I will reduce the question to; is Kittel going to sprint? I think yes, 90 kms is not so much further than 51 kms which he won at in the People's Classic just 6 days ago against the same riders. Obviously the problem with Kittel at this stage of the season is not so much the sprinting, but the 100+ kms that come before it. He'll be much more at home on this Adelaide pancake, and his Giant-Alpecin team might even be given a pass on chasing as Kittel hasn't been present to date in the sprints.