Richie Porte (Sky) took an impressive solo win and Simon Gerrans (Orica-GreenEDGE) reclaimed the leader's jersey on the fifth stage of the Tour Down Under that finished on the Willunga Hill. We have already posted several reactions and have gathered a few more below.

 

Addy Engels (sports director Giant-Shimano whose best rider was Simon Geschke in 38th)

“We knew that there would be wind at the top but Simon was positioned too far back and lost ground as the hammer went down. It’s a shame he missed out on an opportunity to move up the overall GC as he was climbing well, but tomorrow will be another opportunity for Marcel Kittel and we will make a plan for that now.”

 

Adam Hansen (Lotto Belisol, KOM leader, 9th on the stage, 8th on GC +0.37)

"Today was an important day for GC. Going into the stage I was 12th overall, now I'm 8th. That's a good improvement from last year when I ended up as 16th and I'm very happy. It's also very special to win the mountain jersey here and to stand on the podium tomorrow after the last stage, especially because this is an Australian race. Today I was more focused on GC than on the KOM jersey, but it's a nice bonus. The team worked very well for me. They've always put me in a safe position. It was a big honour to have these guys work for me.

 

"It’s really good to be the king of the mountains here. I’m a bit surprised that I made it. It wasn’t my priority but I decided to go for it the first time up Willunga Hill. Jurgen Roelandts led me out but I didn’t want to go full gas against the AG2R rider (Axel Domont) who was sprinting for KOM points as well. It’s very nice to get the jersey."

 

Jens Voigt (Trek, most aggressive rider, 53rd on the stage, 96th on +31.22)

“Probably my last race that I do in Australia so I thought I might as well go out in style. Last time of my life that I will do Willunga Hill so I feel pretty good. The break went right after the start and I could sense this was going to go and I gave it a go and followed the group and we quickly gained some good time. I thought okay if they give us 10 minutes or more we have a fair chance of making it. Obviously Sky and GreenEdge had different plans, they wanted the stage win and the bonus seconds.

 

About his new attack after getting caught: ""When we got caught after breaking away, I attacked again, but what else should I do? Just disappear? I didn’t have to work for a leader or anything and I wasn’t gonna win the stage against the favourites, so I thought I’d better do it in style, put on a show, entertain the people.

 

"But actually, it could have worked as well, had those guys laughed and said ‘oh!, this is just Jens, he’s an old man with number 42 on his back, like his age, let him go’. And then, with a good lead, I wouldn’t have been caught again.

 

“It was still crosswinds so it was hard for everybody in that group so I thought I just give it a go, I have nothing to lose. I was just mad that I got caught, and so I thought I would stretch my legs a little bit to make them work even harder. And hey, you have to entertain the crowd as well, and hey who knows how it turns out? I have won races like that."

 

Kim Andersen (sports director Trek whose best rider was Laurent Didier in 40th)

“Not very good for us, we were not good enough in the climb and with the crosswind over the top, and so we did not make the front group. We still have a lot of new riders who need to learn how to work together, and so on. Jensie [Jens Voigt] did a good job, he was in front and took the most aggressive rider jersey.”

 

Fabrizio Guidi (sports director Tinkoff-Saxo whose best rider was Rory Sutherland in 12th)

“Surely, I’m sorry we couldn’t win today but I saw a dedicated group of riders sacrificing themselves 100% to follow the plan accurately and watching the yellow and blue front line of the pack awakes a special feeling. Once again, Rory was following the best riders in the field but unfortunately lost his top-10 position. However, there’s another day tomorrow where we want to prepare for the final bunch sprint of the race."

 

Laurent Biondi (sports director Ag2r-La Mondiale whose best rider was Maxime Bouet in 18th)

"The results of this fifth stage are average. Maxime is not far from the best but he found himself on his own on the last lap. It is a shame. Axel [Domont] was with him until the top of the first climb but he sprinted for the mountains classification and paid for the efforts at the top of the Willunga when the peloton accelerated. Splits occured and Maxime was alone up front in a group of thirty riders. Obviously, it would have been nice if he had been accompanied by one or two teammates.

 

"Axel is 2nd in the mountains classification, equal on points with Adam Hansen. There are still two KOMs tomorrow, but it will not be simple [Actually there are no KOMs tomorrow]. The Lotto team will certainly try to win the stage but Adam Hansen will not leave Axel's wheel. He should again try to get into break . It will be difficult but we will try !"

 

Enrico Gasparotto (Astana, 82nd on the stage, 84th on GC +27.09)

“I lost my SRM power meter on stage two – the one that Ulissi won. This morning the police came to our mechanic Perry and handed it to him. I have no idea who found it, all I can do is say thanks. This happened to me one time before at Liege Bastogne Liege in 2012.  Only in countries where they love cycling is this even possible.”

 

Dmitry Konyshev (sports director Katusha whose best rider was Egor Silin in 8th)

"I think we can be happy with the stage and with the final result. The team was great today, and I can say the same about Egor. He was in good shape and he showed himself at very high level. All the team did a perfect job today – Mikhail Ignatyev in the breakaway, Eduard Vorganov on the last climb, all other guys too. Now Silin is 10th in the general classification with only 3 seconds to 7th place. Of course, it would have been great to have got these 3 seconds today but we missed them for a mere nothing. Anyway, both the team and Egor are satisfied with the result. Tomorrow is the last stage and Egor has the same time as the 8th and 9th places. The riders ahead of him are better in the sprint, but anyway we will fight till the end."

 

Wes Sulzberger (Drapac, 22nd on the stage, 64th on GC +21.14)

“The first lap up there I followed the Movistar guy [Ruben Plaza]. I was hoping that there would be a reaction from the bunch and they would come across and I was banking on that happening and then a small group would stay away because I didn’t want to go up there with Cadel and Richie on the last lap.

 

“Hansen had his team riding for points for the KOM so it didn’t really work out. I tried to conserve as much energy as I could then slotted back in over the top when we got hit by the cross-winds.”

 

“Cadel [Evans] and Richie [Porte] went straight from the bottom and I managed to follow him for the first bit and then I was just really in the red and was just hanging on the wheel at one stage there and I tried to get a bit of a gap and in the end, Cadel came over the top. I couldn’t match it then and I found my group and slotted back in and tried to help the other guys.”

 

Robbie Hucker (Drapac, 24th on the stage, 18th on GC +2.05)

“I’m happy but I think we’re happier as a team just to get into third overall in the team classification. It’s a bonus for an individual result. As a team we ride really well today and all the boys are really happy.

 

Speaking about his late call-up to the race: “I didn’t have any pressure on myself coming into this race and I think that really helped me. I’m really surprised at the way I rode.”

 

Henk Vogels (sports director Drapac whose best rider was Wes Sulzberger in 22nd)

“When the break went with Jens [Voigt] in it I told the boys to sit in and take care of themselves and they did that really well.

 

“They’re attacking and they’re aggressive and it only takes three or four seconds to let him go and they’ve got a good gap. I’d rather them do that than just hang on for 10th, or 11th or 16th. It’s what it’s all about and I’m also quite pleased with how Jonathan Cantwell, our sprinter, climbed up the hill.”

 

Jack Haig (UniSA, best young rider, 20th on the stage, 17th on GC +1.58)

"I managed to stay with the Carlos Verona (Omega Pharma-Quick Step), who was second in the Young Riders Jersey, so I get to keep that and that was the main aim for today. I saw him at the end of the climb the first time, after which I was left with no team-mate while he had his whole team with him. So I was just hanging on to the wheels. I pushed myself so hard. It scared me racing in the wind like this. In the final climb, I was pretty tired. I had to go really deep but I just marked Carlos all the way up.

 

"We drove down the hill yesterday after the race to see the hill, and the first time riding up the hill today wasn't too bad. It was probably harder going over the top and across the bridge and with the cross winds and Green Edge were really driving it, and I didn't really have any teammates left so I just had to fend for myself.

 

"There were heaps of people out there and I just managed to keep myself out of trouble and get over the hill and keep the jersey. Tomorrow I'll be looking to stay there. Hopefully we can get Caleb up there, he's the sprinter and he's quick enough to be up there with all those guys as he showed in the criterium before the Tour started."

 

Dave Sanders (sports director UniSA whose best rider was Jack Haig in 20th)

"You never know what is going to happen, these hill climbs can get really messy and people can get lost but the guys got Jack there down the bottom of the hill near the front group, and he did his job and we got a jersey. We would've liked to have had a couple of guys there but he was on his own after the first time. He's got the stuff so it was up to him to deliver and he did. The cycling world is watching him; his performance today will have been noticed."

 

"Brad [Linfield] is not well today; he has a really sore throat and is really quite ill. He's a young man above being a cyclist and we stopped him before the final lap. He'll be okay, he just needs some recovery.

 

"As for the rest of the team, our aim tomorrow is to consolidate and not lose any time. We have our eyes fixed on keeping that jersey and that's what we'll be out to do."