Saturday brought the first race of the season for the Wolfpack.
Soudal Quick-Step returned to action after three months for the Tour Down Under Criterium, the fast race held in downtown Adelaide that precedes the first World Tour event of the season. The circuit was fast and flat, with just a few technical corners that didn’t stop the peloton from making sure the day came down to a bunch sprint.
It was the scenario everyone was expecting, but the group had to work hard behind an ambitious three-man breakaway which took off right after the start and put around 25 seconds between them and the chasers. It was only on the last of the race’s 30 laps that the leaders were brought back, some 1500 meters from the line, where only a small group ended up fighting for the win after a crash derailed many of the sprinters’ teams.
Going into the last kilometer, Casper Pedersen found himself in a good position to go for a nice result, but the Dane was among the riders blocked by the pile-up and couldn’t feature in the finale, which witnessed a victory of Sam Welsford (Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe).
On Tuesday, the Tour Down Under will get underway with what should be another opportunity for the sprinters.
Photo credit: ©Dario Belingheri / Getty Images
