Welsford wins last Tour stage, Narvaez secures title

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Welsford wins last Tour stage, Narvaez secures title

*********** sprint ace Sam Welsford has won his third stage in this year’s Tour Down Under as Jhonatan Narvaez confirmed the overall win.

A ****** with about 1.4km left in the 90km stage on Sunday split the peloton, but it did not affect the overall standings because it happened within the last 3km.

Welsford’s Red Bull Bora Hansgrohe leadout man Danny van Poppel set him up perfectly and the *********** Olympic track cycling gold medallist pumped his fists as he easily won the stage.

French sprinter Bryan Coquard (Cofidis), who won stage four, was second in the stage, which was 20 laps of a circuit in the Adelaide parklands.

It is Welsford’s sixth stage win at the race overall, after he won three last year as well. He also claimed the points classification this year.

All riders caught behind the ******, including Narvaez, were awarded the same time as Welsford.

Narvaez (UAE) is the first rider from Ecuador to win the Santos Tour, unofficially beating Spaniard Javier Romo (Movistar) by nine seconds in the 25th edition.

Narvaez, who was runner-up last year, snatched the overall lead from Romo by taking out the Santos Tour’s Queen stage on Saturday, featuring the iconic Willunga summit finish.

Welsford had a Tour of big contrasts – while he won the first two stages and was the overall leader until stage three, he also crashed twice and was dropped on the last climb before the finish of stage four, where he also would have been a contender.

Australians Kelland O’Brien (Jayco AlUla) and Damien Howson (ARA national team) joined Dane Casper Pedersen (Soudal Quick-Step) in a break that went clear in the first few kilometres.

They never gained more than 45 seconds on the peloton and were reeled in as the sprinters’ teams lined up for the finish.

Pedersen was the last of the trio to be caught on the final lap.

Earlier on Sunday, French sprinter Clara Copponi scored her first win for Lidl-Trek, taking out the women’s Tour Down Under classic street race on the same circuit.

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