After the first two days reserved for sprinters, the serious things began this Thursday on the Santos Tour Down Underwith the 3rd stage between Norwood and Uraidla (147.5 km). And we witnessed a little surprise, since it is Javier Romo who won this 3rd stage! The Spanish of Movistar trapped the favorites, by attacking after the summit of the last climb of Knotts Hill (2.6km at 7.5%), 5 kilometers from the finish… before managing to contain the chasing group to a wrist of seconds. He thus celebrated his first professional victory, while taking the lead in the general classification!
Video – The summary of this 3rd stage and the victory of Javier Romo
The summary of the stage
The leader of the mountain classification, Fergus Browning (Australia Selection), and Geoffrey Bouchard (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale) attacked from the start uphill, forming the breakaway of the day. The latter was the last survivor, caught just over 30 kilometers from the finish. The day was not easy in the peloton, marked by a fall involving the reigning champion, Stephen Williams (Israel-Premier Tech), whileIde Schelling (XDS Astana) also suffered a heavy fall. The ocher jersey Sam Welsford (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe) was unhooked on the penultimate ascent of Knotts Hill.
During this first ascent, Juan Pedro Lopez (Lidl-Trek) attempted an offensive, without success this time, leaving the action to take place in the last lap. THE INEOS Grenadiers approached the final climb in the lead, after a technical passage, and from the foot, Jay Vine (UAE Team Emirates – XRG) took control of a group comprising only the favorites. 7.4 kilometers from the finish, Michal Kwiatkowski (INEOS Grenadiers) attacked, followed by Rémi Rochas (Groupama-FDJ). Resumed at 7.1 kilometers, Afonso Eulálio (Bahrain Victorious) took over in a group led by the Jayco AlUla of Luke Plapp. Rochas relaunched hostilities 5.8 kilometers from the finish, taking the lead alone at the top of the climb, but was caught again shortly after.
4.8 kilometers from the finish, Javier Romo (Movistar Team) attacked and opened a dangerous gap. As expected, a downhill attack was almost impossible to neutralize with a small group. Offensives of Chris Harper (Jayco AlUla) et Oscar Onley (Team Picnic PostNL) were not enough to resume Romowho won brilliantly and took the lead in the general classification. Behind, 5 seconds away, Jhonatan Narvaez (UAE Team Emirates – XRG) took 2nd place, delighting a group of 17 runners in the sprint and thus gaining precious bonus seconds. Finn Fisher-Black (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe) took 3rd place. The Ecuadorian and the New Zealander respectively occupy 2nd and 3rd place overall, 8 and 10 seconds behind Romo.
