Richie Porte repeats his victory on Willunga Hill in the Tour Down Under 2015 but doesn't take the jersey!

Saturday 24 January 2015 at 15h43

The 5th stage of the Santos Tour Down Under 2015 today was the famous Willunga Hill stage which is traditionally part of the Tour Down Under since 2003 and which often has a big influence on the final general classifiction. This was also the case when Richie Porte (Team Sky) won the stage in a solo attack today, but Rohan Dennis (BMC Racing Team) again showed he's very strong and managed to keep the first place in the general classification!

The summary of the 5th stage of the Tour Down Under 2015: McLaren Vale > Willunga Hill - 151.5 km

The winner of the first stage, Jack Bobridge (UniSA Australia) was very active at the start of the stage and after a neutralised attempt, the Australian rider managed to get away with Greg Henderson (Lotto-Soudal) and John Kerby (Drapac Professional Cycling Team). Despite the fact that Jack Bobridge was only 39 seconds away from Rohan Dennis (BMC Racing Team) in the general classification, the American team apparently didn't see this breakaway as a real threat though and the leading trio thus managed to create a gap above 5 minutes and 30 seconds!

While Jordan Kerby won the first intermediate sprint of the stage, the gap was still around 5 minutes but at about fifty kilometers from the finish it was down to 3 minutes. Greg Henderson won the second sprint (even though he didn't really do anything for that) while Jordan Kerby lost contact with the two other riders of the breakaway a few kilometers further.

At the foot of the first climb of Willunga Hill their gap was only 1'47" and while Jack Bobridge targets the jersey of the King of the Mountains classification which he can secure by arriving first on top of this first climb, Greg Henderson gives up the efforts. Bobridge's gap goes under one minute on top but he manages to reach his goal for the day which was to be sure to win the King of the Mountains classification at the end of this Santos Tour Down Under 2015 after having taken back the jersey yesterday thanks to his short presence in the breakaway.

Once he reached his goal, at about twenty kilometers from the finish, Jack Bobridge decided that he did enough efforts for the day and he was taken back by the peloton with the Astana team leading it. Their accelleration at the head of the peloton breaks it up in two, but the main riders like Rohan Dennis and Cadel Evans (BMC Racing Team) and Richie Porte (Team Sky) are in the right group. At the foot of the final climb, the Orica-GreenEDGE team shows up at front, probably thinking of a victory for Daryl Impey.

In the end it was however Richie Porte, already winner on Willunga Hill last year, who managed to go off alone thanks to his repeated attacks. The only rider who more or less managed to follow him was Rohan Dennis and while Porte won the stage, Dennis for now manages to secure his ochre leader's jersey of the general classification!

The video summary of the 5th stage of the Tour Down Under 2015

The classifications of the Tour Down Under 2015 after the 5th stage

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The stage classification for the 5th stage: McLaren Vale > Willunga Hill

Here's the top 10 of this 5th stage, the queen stage of the Santos Tour Down Under 2015:

1/ Richie Porte (Team Sky) - 3h37'32"
2/ Rohan Dennis (BMC Racing Team) - +0'09"
3/ Ruben Fernandez (Movistar Team) - +0'16"
4/ Cadel Evans (BMC Racing Team)
5/ Tom Dumoulin (Team Giant-Shimano)
6/ Domenico Pozzovivo (AG2R La Mondiale) - +0'19"
7/ Tiago Machado (Team Katusha) - +0'24"
8/ Moreno Moser (Cannondale-Garmin) - +0'26"
9/ Gorka Izaguirre (Movistar Team) - +0'28"
10/ Arnold Jeannesson (FDJ)

The general classification of the Tour Down Under 2015 after the 5th stage

Usually, this stage decides of the general classification and this was again the case this year. Rohan Dennis has done everything he could to remain the leader of this Santos Tour Down Under 2015 and he keeps the lead of the general classification for 2 seconds. Nothing's sure yet however since there will be bonus seconds up to grab in the intermediate sprints and at the finish of the last stage on a circuit in Adelaide tomorrow. Rohan Dennis currently probably dreams of his overall victory in this first UCI WorldTour race of the season however!

Tom Dumoulin (Team Giant-Alpecin) finished the stage at the 5th place at 16 seconds and drops off the podium. The Dutch rider is however only 2 seconds seperated from Cadel Evans and could cease the occasion of tomorrow's sprint to get back on the 3rd step of the podium!

For now, the top 3 of this Australian is 100% Australian however:

1/ Rohan Dennis (BMC Racing Team) - 17h19'09"
2/ Richie Porte (Team Sky) - +0'02"
3/ Cadel Evans (BMC Racing Team) - +0'20"
4/ Tom Dumoulin (Team Giant-Alpecin) - +0'22"
5/ Ruben Fernandez (Movistar Team) - +0'24"

Post by Cycling, Tour Down Under.

Tomorrow's stage: the final stage on the circuit in the streets of Adelaide

The 6th and final stage of the Santos Tour Down Under 2015 tomorrow will take place on a circuit in the streets of Adelaide: see the race route of the 6th stage of the Tour Down Under 2015. The circuit will however not be exactly the same as before but this shouldn't prevent one of the sprinters to win this stage ... Stage during which there will thus still be some suspense for the final podium of this race!

door Thomas Vergouwen
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this publication is published in: Tour Down Under | Tour Down Under 2015