Elia Viviani remained in contention for the green jersey at the end of stage four.
Quick-Step Floors will start the penultimate day of the Tour Down Under with three riders who could play an important role in the battle for the general classification, after Eros Capecchi, Dries Devenyns and Enric Mas all made the cut on the tough climb which spiced up the stage four final and arrived in Uraidla on the same time as winner Peter Sagan (Bora-hansgrohe), who pipped Daryl Impey (Mitchelton-Scott) to victory.
Norton Summit Road – the most popular climb in the Adelaide region – was the main attraction of the day; the 5.5km ascent featured in the past on the course, but never so close to the finish, and as expected, it had an impact on the race, considerably reducing the peloton to just 35 men, after several teams decided to put the hammer down on the 6% gradients.
Despite a couple of skirmishes on the undulating roads leading to the finish in Uraidla, it all came down to a reduced bunch sprint, which saw Dries Devenyns place sixth, a result that catapulted the experienced Belgian into the top 10 with two stages to go.
Victorious in Port Harbor, Elia Viviani continued to make inroads in the green jersey rankings, where he now lies in third position, after grabbing a total of four points at the two intermediate sprints. Overall, it was another good day at the office for Quick-Step Floors, as sports director Rik Van Slycke underlined after the finish.
"We kept our GC ambitions alive and having three riders within 14 seconds of the race leader gives us options for tomorrow's stage, which should be full gas from the start and witness some fireworks on Willunga Hill. It won't be easy, as many riders will want to have a say there, but we'll do our best, just as we will continue fighting for the green jersey, even though also there it will be quite the battle for the top spot."
Photo credit: © Tim De Waele / Getty Images
