With a perfectly timed jump, Caleb Ewan (Lotto Soudal) won stage 2 in the Santos Tour Down Under, a stage from Woodside to Stirling. In the traditional uphill sprint in Stirling, Ewan was faster than 2019 champion Daryl Impey (Mitchelton-Scott) and Nathan Haas (Cofidis, Solutions Crédits). The victory was the right answer to his disappointing seventh place in stage 1.
“I am so happy, especially after what happened yesterday, when we were absent in the final”, explained Ewan. “We had a really good plan. We spoke about it for about one hour after yesterday’s stage one. We checked what we could do better.
“I have to say that the boys did absolutely a perfect job today. They did everything I asked for. They brought me in perfect position. A win like today, you really can’t do it on your own. I said to them yesterday that if I wanted to win today’s stage, a real tough one, I would need all their help. They really helped me all day and put me in a good position on the climbs, so that I was out of the mess.”
It’s Ewan’s 8th stage win in Tour Down Under since 2016 and he takes the ochre-coloured leader’s jersey thanks to better stage placings than his rivals. Previous race leader Sam Bennett (Deceuninck – Quick Step) is second, and Impey is in third, one second behind.
The race continues tomorrow with a 131-kilometre stage from Unley to Paracombe.
