Race Report: Efex Men's Stage 3 | Santos Tour Down Under

Norwood to Uraidla
Start: The Parade, Norwood
Finish: Greenhill Road, Uraidla 
Distance: 147.5km

Movistar’s Javier Romo’s maiden WorldTour victory stunned the favourites at the Santos Tour Down Under at the Uraidla finish line on Thursday.

The 26-year-old Spaniard conquered the efex men’s stage 3 and powered to victory over the Pound Road, Knotts Hill climb which made its debut and was the most talked about stage of the 25th anniversary of the coveted race.

“I’m very happy, this morning I cannot imagine this day but I worked from September for this race,’’ Romo said.

“My team had a lot of confidence in me, and they worked very well to help me.

“The position today was very important and in the final (to the finish line) I had very good legs and everything was perfect.”  

Romo’s solo attack to the finish line saw him wrestle the Santos ochre leader’s jersey from Australian sprint king Sam Welsford.

The West Australian road and track star owned the leader’s jersey for the first two stages but kept the Ziptrak sprint jersey ahead of Friday's Hahn Stage 4, Glenelg to Victor Harbor.

UAE Team Emirates – XRG’s Jhonatan Narvaez finished third ahead of Finn Fisher-Black (Red Bull – BORA – Hansgrohe) across the finish line at Uraidla.      

The race

efex King of the Mountain #1 — Ashton 2 4.1% 12.6% 10.00km 10.0km

ARA Australia’s young gun Fergus Browning picked up 10 more points to ensure the efex King of the Mountain jersey stays on his back for now.

Connor Swift (Ineos Grenadiers) earned valuable points in second spot ahead of UAE Team Emirates - QRG Julius Johansen and Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale’s Geoffrey Bouchard.

The peloton powered up Norton Summit Road after The Parade, Norwood start with an average speed of 40 km/h before the first KOM at Ashton.     

Ziptrak® Sprint # 1 — Adelaide Road, Echunga at Echunga Uniting Church 39.1km

It was no surprise as Browning continued to put himself in the WorldTour shop window by earning maximum bonuses at Echunga.

Bouchard also claimed bonuses for a second intermediate sprint placing alongside veteran Australian Simon Clarke, 38, (Israel-Premier Tech) in what appeared to be a ploy to test the peloton’s patience with last year’s champion Stephen Williams lurking in the shadows.   

efex King of the Mountain #2 — Knotts Hill 1 8% 13.4% 2.64km 106.7km

Browning created history by being the first ever Santos Tour Down Under rider up Pound Road on the way to conquer Knott’s Hill.

Bouchard was on his wheel.

Jayco AlUla’s Chris Harper was third ahead of Finn Fisher-Black (Red Bull – BORA – Hansgrohe) and Jayco AlUla’s Plapp.   

Ziptrak® Sprint #2 — Greenhill Road, Uraidla at Uraidla Institute (Finish Line) 112.4km

It started getting serious as Bouchard claimed maximum bonuses, followed by Browning and Finn Fisher-Black.

The race started splitting after the sprint before the peloton came back together.    

efex King of the Mountain #3 — Knotts Hill 1 8% 13.4% 2.64km 141.9km 

Groupama-FDJ’s French star Remy Rochas powered first over the KOM followed by Narvaez, Romo, Finn Fisher-Black and Oscar Onley from Team Picnic PostNL.

efex King of the Mountain #1

10km, efex King of the Mountain #1 - Ashton (category 2)
Distance: 10.0km, Total Ascent 495m, Maximum Gradient: 17.8%, Average Gradient: 5.0%
Stony Rise Road, Ashton                
Approx. 11:34am

efex King of the Mountain #2

106.7km, efex King of the Mountain #2 - Pound Reserve (category 1)
Distance: 2.636km, Total Ascent 199, Maximum Gradient: 22.2%, Average Gradient: 7.5%
Veer left on to Marble Hill Road, Ashton
Approx. 1:52pm

Efex King of the Mountain #3

141.9km, efex King of the Mountain #3 - Pound Reserve (category 1)
Distance: 2.636km, Total Ascent 199, Maximum Gradient: 22.2%, Average Gradient: 7.5%
Veer left on to Marble Hill Road, Ashton
Approx. 2:42pm

Ziptrak® Sprint #1

39.1km, Adelaide Road, Echunga at Echunga Uniting Church
Approx. 12:15pm

Ziptrak® Sprint #2

112.4km, Greeenhill Road, Uraidla at Uraidla Institute (Finish Line)
Approx. 2:00pm

SANTOS OCHRE LEADER’S JERSEY – JAVIER ROMO OLIVER (MOVISTAR TEAM)      

ZIPTRAK SPRINT JERSEY LEADER – SAM WELSFORD (RED BULL-BORA-HANSGROHE)

EFEX KING OF THE MOUNTAIN LEADER – FERGUS BROWNING (ARA AUSTRALIAN NATIONAL TEAM)

ZWIFT YOUNG RIDER’S JERSEY LEADER – ALBERT WITHEN PHILIPSEN (LIDL-TREK)

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