Australian Steele Von Hoff grabbed the victory at the end of a crash marred finish of Bupa Stage 4 of the Tour Down Under to Mount Barker. The 27-year old Australian crossed the line at the end of the 144.5 kilometre stage from the beachside suburb of Glenelg in a time of 3:24:28 holding off South African Daryl Impey (Orica-GreenEDGE) with Dutch rider Wouter Wippert (Drapac Professional) third.

The 27 year old Victorian gave the UniSA-Australia national team its second stage win of the week. The first was that of Jack Bobridge who claimed early glory on stage one and today played a pivotal role in the action.

"Jack Bobridge was looking after me saying, 'be patient, be patient. I know these roads like the back of my hand'," von Hoff said after the stage. "I just trusted it then he delivered me in the final km under the banner and then I just sniveled and held the wheel of the trains. He told me to like (get on) Quicksteps' because with [Mark] Renshaw here there was definitely a fantastic chance and I did that and it opened up on the left hand side of the road.

"I think we're batting well above our average here: two stage wins, the ochre jersey for two days now," von Hoff said of the UniSA team. "This is fantastic, we've got such a good team here and good staff as well.

“For this race, UniSA and also the Pro Conti team Drapac, we’re always getting crushed whenever we try to form our trains and go up the front. We’re definitely putting on a display that we’re here and we’re staying.”

Von Hoff, who raced with World Tour team Garmin-Sharp in 2013 and 2014 lost out when the team merged with Cannondale and is this year on the roster of British registered continental team NFTO.

“My goal is to get back into the World Tour,” said Von Hoff. “The merger between Cannondale and Garmin left me behind this time but this win today will help me to go back to the highest level.

“It’s a fantastic feeling to come off with a WorldTour win and I just wish that it was on a team that I could contribute the points to. NFTO will be absolutely pumped for me winning this stage so I’m really happy to be with them this year. They’re right behind me to try and get back up to WorldTour.”

The day began with a flurry of attacks as teams tested the resolve of BMC who were up to the task and countered any dangerous moves to protect their race leaders.

Eventually four riders, Bobridge, Australian Michael Hepburn (Orica-GreenEDGE), Frenchman Cedric Pineau (FDJ) and Brit Peter Kennaugh (Team SKY), made an attack stick.

As they rode clear to a margin of close to two minutes Bobridge became the race leader on the road and that made him a marked man. But his eyes were on the Subaru King of the Mountain contest that today was a category two climb up Sellicks Hill, 44 kilometres into the stage. He made sure he grabbed the maximum points on offer over the top of the climb to take over the lead in the polka dot jersey competition.

Behind him on the climb was Hepburn then Kennaugh and Pineau and by then the group's advantage was down to 1:30 as BMC powered the chase.

“It was a very hard race at the start,” said Bobridge who returned to the bunch after the climb. “I saw the opportunity to go up the road for the KOM competition, so I did but as soon as I collected the points, I dropped back to the bunch to repay Steele [Von Hoff] for his help in the first few days. 

“Everyone was going crazy before the (final) sprint so I told him to stay calm and relax,” explained Bobridge.  “He did a perfect sprint for himself. He just shows his classiness."

"We believed it when we started," UniSA manage Dave Sanders said. "We knew only Kittel could beat us, and when Kittel was gone, I said, 'Ok, matey, you're the fastest man here, show it.' It's a huge win for Steele. He needs it. He's a better bike rider than what he's given credit for."