Ewan wins the last stage, Gerrans claims the overall victory in Tour Down Under

Simon Gerrans (Orica-GreenEdge) safely negotiated the final stage of the Tour Down Under to claim an unprecedented fourth overall title while his team also celebrated the stage victory with Caleb Ewan. The win was the sixth from six stages for Australian riders in the sole Australian WorldTour race.

Ewan was the first to launch his sprint on the finish straight as he powered away in his low aero position for his second, and Orica-GreenEdge’s fourth, stage of the race. Mark Renshaw (Dimension Data) held off Giacomo Nizzolo (Trek-Segafredo) for second place as Gerrans crossed the line in 11th place.

For Gerrans, a fourth overall win ten years on from his first was built on the back of wins on stage 3 and 4 to see the 35-year-old also take the lead in the WorldTour standings.

“I couldn’t have asked for any more of the guys this week, they really did a sensational job this week. They kept me up the front and out of trouble this week and we tried to get Caleb the best run to the line that we could but what a fantastic week we’ve had.

“We are so lucky to have this race here in Australia, its fantastic to the race the Santos Tour Down Under with Orica-GreenEdge, an Aussie team wining the only WorldTour race we have in Australia, the opening WorldTour race of the season. It’s just awesome, a great way to star the season

Tour Down Under – stage 6 results:

1 Caleb Ewan (Orica GreenEdge) 1:55:02
2 Mark Renshaw (Dimension Data)
3 Giacomo Nizzolo (Trek–Segafredo)
4 Adam Blythe (Tinkoff)
5 Alexey Tsatevitch (Katusha)
6 Ben Swift (Sky)
7 Marko Kump (Lampre–Merida)
8 Davide Martinelli (Etixx–Quick-Step)
9 Leigh Howard (IAM)
10 Wouter Wippert (Cannondale)

 

Final general clasification:

1 Simon Gerrans (Orica GreenEDGE) 3:34:16
2 Richie Porte (BMC) 0:00:09
3 Sergio Henao (Sky) 0:00:11
4 Jay McCarthy (Tinkoff) 0:00:20
5 Michael Woods (Cannondale)
6 Ruben Fernandez (Movistar)  0:00:28
7 Domenico Pozzovivo (AG2R)
8  Rafael Valls (Lotto Soudal)  0:00:36
9 Steve Morabito (FDJ) 0:00:49
10 Patrick Bevin (Cannondale) 0:00:50