Tour Down Under: Juan Jose Lobato wins stage two as Jack Bobridge retains overall lead
Wednesday 21 January 2015 06:51, UK
Spain’s Juan Jose Lobato sprinted to victory on stage two of the Santos Tour Down Under as Jack Bobridge retained the overall lead of the race.
Movistar rider Lobato produced an unstoppable late surge in Stirling to beat Dary Impey into second place by a bike’s length and team-mate Gorka Izagirre into third.
Bobridge, riding for Uni SA, followed in the main bunch in 20th position to hold on to the ochre jersey, but his gap at the top of the general classification has been cut to three seconds.
Lobato is now in second place after picking up ten bonus seconds for his win, while Lieuwe Westra remains four seconds off the lead in third place.
'Difficult finish'
Pre-race favourite Richie Porte, of Team Sky, finished seventh on the day and is now 14th overall, 13 seconds adrift.
Lobato said: “It was a very difficult finish for me but I managed to come through at the end and it was a good victory for the team.”
Bobridge said: “It was everything but easy after yesterday’s ride. The legs were a little bit sore today. It was super-hard.”
The rolling 150.5km stage started in Unley and although Thomas de Gendt (Lotto Soudal), Campbell Flakemore (BMC Racing) and Cameron Meyer (Orica-GreenEdge) broke clear, the peloton was wary not to let the escape group win for a second day in a row and restricted them to a maximum gap of just 3min 35sec.
De Gendt won both intermediate sprints to pick up six bonus seconds, but the trio had been swallowed up with 24km to go.
Impey falls short
Pure sprinters such as Marcel Kittel were unable to stay with the peloton on the gentle rise to the finish, but a large group still arrived into the final 1km to set up a bunch sprint.
Impey, of Orica-GreenEdge, looked to have fended off all challengers with an early surge, but then Lobato conjured an unstoppable burst to secure his first win since last August.
Bobridge stayed with his general classification rivals to retain his lead and ensure his focus stays on the Tour Down Under for now, and not his attempt at the hour record on January 31.
He said: “I came here to look after the young guys here for GC, but now I am in the jersey I have got to defend it as much as possible and worry about the hour record next week.”
Porte said: "It’s no secret I’m here to try and win this bike race. I’m in good condition at the moment. I’m really looking forward to tomorrow and stage three."
Stage two result
1 Juan Jose Lobato (Spa) Movistar, 3:42:24
2 Daryl Impey (RSA) Orica-GreenEdge, same time
3 Gorka Izagirre (Spa) Movistar, st
4 Tom Dumoulin (Ned) Giant-Alpecin, st
5 Cadel Evans (Aus) BMC Racing, st
6 Luis Leon Sanchez (Spa) Astana, st
7 Richie Porte (Aus) Team Sky, st
8 Niccolo Bonifazio (Ita) Lampre-Merida, st
9 Nathan Haas (Aus) Cannondale-Garmin, st
10 Samuel Dumoulin (Fra) Ag2r-La Mondiale, st
Selected others
15 Geraint Thomas (GB) Team Sky, st
20 Jack Bobridge (Aus) Uni SA, st
General classification
1 Jack Bobridge (Aus) Uni SA, 6:41:55
2 Juan Jose Lobato (Spa) Movistar, +3secs
3 Lieuwe Westra (Ned) Astana, +4
4 Daryl Impey (RSA) Orica-GreenEdge, +7
5 Gorka Izagirre (Spa) Movistar, +9
6 Niccolo Bonifazio (Ita) Lampre-Merida, +13
7 Gianni Meersman (Bel) Etixx – Quick-Step, st
8 Samuel Dumoulin (Fra) Ag2r-La Mondiale, st
9 Nathan Haas (Aus) Cannondale-Garmin, st
10 Cadel Evans (Aus) BMC Racing, st
Highlights of stage two will be shown on Wednesday at 8am and 12pm GMT on Sky Sports 1HD and at 7.30pm GMT on Sky Sports 3HD. Watch stage three of the Santos Tour Down Under live on Thursday from 2.30am GMT on Sky Sports 1HD.
