Coquard sprints to second Tour Down Under stage win
French sprinter Bryan Coquard has won his second Tour Down Under stage, holding off his rivals to take out the high-speed finish at Victor Harbor.
The Cofidis rider beat German Phil Bauhaus (Bahrain Victorious) and Ecuador’s Jhonatan Narvaez (UAE) to take out the 157.8km stage from the coastal suburb of Glenelg.
Narvaez was caught on the barriers in the final sprint and signalled to the commissaires at the finish, but it did not look like there were any illegal moves at the finish.
Coquard also won a stage at the Tour two years ago.
Australian sprint ace Sam Welsford (Red Bull Bora Hansgrohe), who won the first two stages, dropped out of contention for a third place when he lost touch with the front group on Nettle Hill inside the last 25km.
Spaniard Javier Romo (Movistar) finished safely in the front group to retain the overall lead ahead of Saturday’s Queen stage, featuring the iconic Willunga Hill summit finish that will most likely confirm who wins the Santos Tour title.
Switzerland’s Mauro Schmid, a member of the Australian Jayco AlUla team, was in a small group that stayed away for most of the stage and he won the two intermediate sprints, gaining six seconds of time bonuses.
As the race hit the Nettle Hill climb, the peloton caught most of the breakaway riders.
But Schmid was the one member of the escape that stayed clear and he crested the climb with a lead of nearly 30 seconds.
The Swiss national champion survived until 13km to go, when the front group caught him.
That sparked a succession of attacks, with Romo riding superbly to help ensure no one broke clear.
Australian Jay Vine (UAE), the 2023 Santos Tour winner, lost some skin when he crashed early in Friday’s stage, but was able to finish the stage.
Ecuadorian Harold Lopez (Astana), who crashed heavily near the end of Thursday’s stage, remained in hospital. But his team said he has avoided facial fractures.
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