Australian Jay Vine powers to Tour Down Under title on debut
Australian Jay Vine has crossed the line second on the final stage to win the Tour Down Under. Photo: AAP
Australian cyclist Jay Vine has won his debut Tour Down Under after finishing second on the last stage.
British rival Simon Yates tried to break him with a late attack on Sunday, but the UAE Team Emirates leader responded immediately and neutralised the threat.
Yates (Jayco Alula) and Spaniard Pello Bilbao (Bahrain Victorious) trailed Vine by 15 seconds overall going into Sunday’s final stage of the Santos tour.
Vine beat Yates by 11 seconds overall, with Bilbao third at 27 seconds.
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The Australian’s wife Bre celebrated with him at the finish.
“It was pretty hectic at the start … we really had to be on our toes all day,” Vine said.
“The team is just incredible. They deserve this (leader’s) jersey as much as I do.”
Vine, a renowned fan of espresso martinis and Kilkenny ale, said he might enjoy a drink at the team’s Sunday night celebration dinner.
“If there’s Kilkenny at the restaurant we go to, absolutely,” he said.
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Yates attacked inside the last two kilometres of the climb to the finish, with Australian Tour de France star Ben O’Connor (Ag2r) joining him and Vine quickly responding.
O’Connor led them out at the finish, but Vine and Yates came over the top of him and the British rider took out their two-up sprint.
Vine won two stages of last year’s Vuelta a Espana and triumphed at the national time-trial championship earlier this month for the first time.
He secured a WorldTour contract during COVID-19 in 2020 after winning the academy program on the popular Zwift online cycling platform.
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Mt Lofty made its debut as a stage finish in the tour on Sunday, one of several key changes new race director Stuart O’Grady made to the course.
The Old Willunga Hill climb south of Adelaide had been the defining feature of the race for many years, but that was left off Saturday’s stage in that area.
Instead the 112.5-kilometre last stage included four laps of a tough 25.9-kilometre loop in the Adelaide Hills.
A group of 13, featuring Yates’ Australian teammate Michael Hepburn, was caught well before the finish.
-AAP
