Jay Vine Doubles Up at Tour Down Under after Power Show with UAE Teammate Narváez
UAE Emirates XRG dominates the Tour Down Under. In the hilly stage to Uraidla, featuring the final climb of Corkscrew Road, Jay Vine and Jhonatan Narváez were unstoppable. The two broke away on the final climb, with the Australian team leader, taking the win. Vine also took over the race lead. The first chasers finished just under a minute behind.
On paper, the third stage was the toughest of all, with 3,722 meters of climbing over a distance of less than 150 kilometers. From the start, it was all about climbing towards Ashton. The route continued over rolling terrain towards the day's queen stage: the famous Corkscrew Road. This is a 2.5-kilometer climb averaging 9%, with gradients peaking close to 24%!
This tough ascent had to be tackled twice in the last eighty kilometers, the final time in the finale, with the summit 13.6 kilometers from the finish line.
Three riders tried in the finale to prevent the winner emerging from the peloton, but the attack by Fran Miholjevic (Bahrain Victorious), Pepijn Reinderink (Soudal Quick-Step), and Martin Urianstad Bugge (Uno-X Mobility) stalled just before the final Corkscrew Road climb. There, the pace increased dramatically, and leader Tobias Lund Andresen lost contact. He had to relinquish his leader’s jersey.
Under the pace set by Adam Yates, UAE Emirates XRG put pressure on the competition. This led to a decisive move by Jay Vine on Corkscrew Road that no one could follow. Well, only Jhonatan Narváez managed to stick with him. The two launched a duo attack, crested the climb together, and steadily pulled away from the rest. In Uraidla, Jay Vine held his arms aloft to claim the victory.
Behind them, Mauro Schmid took third by winning the sprint from the group of eight chasers, ahead of Andreas Kron and Filippo Zana. The gaps in the general classification are even more significant: Vine leads after the first hilly stage with six seconds over Narváez and more than a minute over Schmid.
