Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe’s Sam Welsford took the stage, and Danny van Poppel didn’t win any friends after Stage 2 of the Santos Tour Down Under.
The second day of racing, a 128-km stage in Tanunda, saw the peloton come to the line for a proper bunch sprint. Van Poppel was leading out fastman Welsford – and everything looked legit, until a few hundred meters to go.
A controversial finale
That’s when he seemingly slowed down and veered to the right, notably blocking Tobias Lund Andresen (Picnic PostNL).
In the helicopter footage, you can see that the Dane had no way through and was effectively blocked. He braked hard as Van Poppel slammed the door, and Welsford went clear for the win. It also slowed down Phil Bauhaus (Bahrain Victorious), who was on his wheel. They tried to pick up momentum, but Welsford was already more than clear.
For his actions, Van Poppel received a yellow card and was relegated in the standings shortly after the finish. He was also fined 500 Swiss Francs and lost points in the sprint and mountain competitions.
Furthermore, he lost his 8th place – relegated to the back of the bunch in 118th. Welsford, however, kept the win – with some fans saying he should also suffer for his teammate’s actions. Others called for Van Poppel to be disqualified for the remainder of the 6-day stage race.
Welsford leads the overall general classification after two days, as well as points. Two Canadians are making their season debut in Australia: Israel Premier Tech’s Mike Woods and Pier André Côté. The road national champion Woods sits 45th overall, and Côté – making his debut on the ProTeam squad – is 46th. In 2024, Cote rode for IPT’s development team, the Continental Israel Premier Tech Academy. Stage 3 is a hillier day, from Norwood to Uraidla for a total of 147.5km.
Check out the sprint below.
Victime d’une chute en début d’étape et dans le dur dans la dernière montée du jour, Sam Welsford a néanmoins remporté au sprint la deuxième étape du #TourDownUnder devant Arne Marit et Bryan Coquard pic.twitter.com/QRMx1Cr2vz
— 🚴 Les Rois du Peloton 🚲 (@LRoisDuPeloton) January 22, 2025
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