Philipsen back on the podium at Murray Bridge

Jasper Philipsen continued his consistent run on stage 4 of the Santos Tour Down Under, claiming 3rd place and moving himself back into the leaders jersey in the sprints classification.

The final sprint proved technical with Philipsen sticking to the wheel of Elia Viviani (Deceuninck Quickstep) coming into the last corner at 300m to go. It was again Caleb Ewan (Lotto Soudal) who had the edge and took another convincing win, with Philipsen close behind in 3rd and showing his  sprinting form. 

Crosswinds threatened to split the group on the run-in to the line, though all the GC favourites finished in the main bunch including Diego Ulissi who continues in the hunt for the podium in 6th place, just 15 seconds behind race leader Richie Porte ( Trek Segafredo).

Tomorrow’s stage takes the riders from Glenelg to Victor Harbor (149km) with the punchy climb of Kirby hill coming close to the finish, though another technical sprint in anticipated.

Philipsen: “Coming into the final corner we knew it was going to be technical and I was a bit too far back in the final metres. It’s another podium placing but it’s been hard to get a win this week so far. The team worked really well for me and tomorrow could be another good chance for us to go for a good result.”

Stage 4 Results

1.Caleb Ewan (Lotto Soudal) 3h29’08”

2.Sam Bennett (Deceunink Quickstep) s.t.

3.Jasper Philipsen (UAE Team Emirates) s.t

General Classification after stage 4

1.Richie Porte (Trek Segafredo) 13h39’32”

2.Daryl Impey (Mitchelton Scott) +3’’

3.Robert Power (Sunweb) +8’’

6.Diego Ulissi (UAE Team Emirates) +15’’