Cycling: So far, the Tour Down Under has kept everything it promises - and much more. Every day we experience a different winner. Richie Porte (BMC) won today, but he's still not completely satisfied. No wonder, because Daryl Impey (Mitchelton-Scott) finished just behind him and thus took the lead in the general classification. Of course, he's overjoyed. But Nicholas Dlamini (Dimension Data) also has every reason to be happy. After crossing the finish line, all three professionals answered questions from the Australian television channel 9Now.
Nicholas Dlamini: "I thought the banner was the end"
A newcomer will probably finish the Tour Down Under tomorrow in a mountain jersey. Nicholas Dlamini from South Africa contests his first WorldTour race and can immediately book a huge success. And this despite the fact that he gave away valuable points in today's mountain classification. In an interview with Australian television, he confirmed that he and Thomas De Gendt (Lotto Soudal) made a mistake.
"Yes, I saw the banner. I thought it signaled the end of the mountain, but after the curve I spotted the line and it was another 150 meters away. But then I already had a gap to De Gendt and couldn’t do anything anymore.”
But he is not mad at Thomas De Gendt. After all, the Belgian would have let him take the points, even though he won this ranking himself last year. Dlamini found De Gendt to be the strongest of all the pros today.
“He was the best driver of all of us in the group. I spoke to our Sport Director during the race and he said I should just keep at it. He looked incredibly strong. I was happy to be able to keep up with him for so long.”
In the mountains classification, Dlamini is now twelve points ahead of today's stage winner, Richie Porte. The South African can already look forward to winning the mountain jersey.
💬 @SubaruAustralia KOM leader @nich_dlamini clarifies what happened with @DeGendtThomas on Stage 5. We were right. He was confused 😵 #TDU pic.twitter.com/9PFHyU0Stq
— Santos Tour Down Under 🐨🚴 (@tourdownunder) January 20, 2018
Richie Porte: "It's obviously unfortunate for me"
Despite Richie Porte's fifth straight triumph at Willunga Hill, he's somehow one of the losers. The Australian actually wanted to win again overall, but he didn't want to succeed.
“First of all, a huge compliment to my team. Rohan Dennis and Co. prepared everything perfectly for me. It was probably the toughest win here for me. It really hurt today. It was unfortunate for me, of course, but Daryl is also driving a fantastic tour. He's very clever. I should have gotten more time, but today I wasn't good enough. I'm happy with another stage win here.”
At the same time, Richie Porte took the opportunity to launch a declaration of war in the direction of the Tour de France.
“I've worked hard and I'm super motivated. I hope to be in top form in July.”
💬 @richie_porte chats to @PaulSherwen after another magnificent win on #WillungaHill to claim Stage 5👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼 #TDU pic.twitter.com/QDqJkb0N1H
— Santos Tour Down Under 🐨🚴 (@tourdownunder) January 20, 2018
Daryl Impey: "I didn't even know where Richie was."
The big winner of today was the stage runner-up. Daryl Impey lost contact immediately after Richie Porte's attack. But as Porte crossed the line, Impey suddenly sped around the last corner. He was overjoyed to find out later that he was the new overall leader.
"I can not believe it. I worked so hard for this race but now I'm actually in the leader's jersey. That's fantastic. It's fantastic for us as an Australian team.”
During the race, Daryl Impey didn't think about overall victory at all. Rather, he just drove for a good position. Richie Porte, on the other hand, he hasn't seen at all.
"I just gave it my all. I drove for the podium too. When I saw Jay in front of us I just wanted to get him to go on the podium. In the end I just sprinted. I didn't even know where Richie was."
💬 Here is your new race leader!! @darylimpey will wear the Ocher Leader's Jersey for @MitcheltonSCOTT on the final day tomorrow after a cracking effort up #WillungaHill . He finished 2nd on Stage 5, and takes the race lead on count-back!! #TDU pic.twitter.com/dZrxxnY23h
— Santos Tour Down Under 🐨🚴 (@tourdownunder) January 20, 2018
Cover image source: Twitter @tourdownunder / Channel 9Now