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Australian bicycle owner Jay Vine has gained his debut Tour Down Underneath after ending second on the final stage.
British rival Simon Yates tried to interrupt him with a late assault on Sunday, however the UAE Group Emirates chief responded instantly and neutralized the menace.
Yates (Jayco Alula) and Spaniard Pello Bilbao (Bahrain Victorious) trailed Vine by 15 seconds total going into Sunday’s ultimate stage of the Santos tour.
Vine beat Yates by 11 seconds total, with Bilbao third at 27 seconds.
The Australian’s spouse Bre celebrated with him on the end.
“It was fairly hectic at the beginning… we actually needed to be on our toes all day,” Vine stated.
“The group is simply unbelievable. They deserve this (chief’s) jersey as a lot as I do.”
Vine, a famend fan of espresso martinis and Kilkenny ale, stated he may take pleasure in a drink on the group’s Sunday evening celebration dinner.
“If there’s Kilkenny on the restaurant we go there, completely,” he stated.
Yates attacked contained in the final two kilometers of the climb to the end, with Australian Tour de France star Ben O’Connor (Ag2r) becoming a member of him and Vine shortly responding.
O’Connor led them out on the end, however Vine and Yates got here excessive of him and the British rider took out their two-up dash.
Vine gained two levels of final 12 months’s Vuelta a Espana and triumphed on the nationwide time-trial championship earlier this month for the primary time.
He secured a WorldTour contract throughout COVID-19 in 2020 after profitable the academy program on the favored Zwift on-line biking platform.
Mt Lofty made its debut as a stage end within the tour on Sunday, considered one of a number of key adjustments new race director Stuart O’Grady made to the course.
The Outdated Willunga Hill climb south of Adelaide had been the defining characteristic of the race for a few years, however that was left off Saturday’s stage in that space.
As an alternative the 112.5-kilometer final stage included 4 laps of a troublesome 25.9-kilometer loop within the Adelaide Hills.
A bunch of 13, that includes Yates’ Australian teammate Michael Hepburn, was caught properly earlier than the end.
-AAP
