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Alberto Bettiol (EF Education-EasyPost) captured victory on the first race day of the 2023 WorldTour season, powering into the overall lead at the Tour Down Under after the opening prologue in Adelaide.
The Italian perhaps wasn’t the top favourite for victory on the 5.5km course, but circumstances turned the day to his favour. Having set off as the fourth starter, Bettiol was one of the few men who could tackle the course in dry conditions before the heavens opened early on.
His time of 6:19 set him up for a long spell in the hot seat and, almost two-and-a-half hours later, nobody had managed to go any quicker, even the specialists who headed out on drying roads late on.
The effect of the downpour that hit the race after the first 15 minutes of action was such that only Magnus Sheffield (Ineos Grenadiers) and Julius Johansen (Intermarche-Circus-Wanty), who set off two hours after Bettiol, were able to get within 10 seconds of the leader.
Sheffield set a time of 6:27 to take second place, while the Dane went a fraction under 10 seconds slower to round out the podium.
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