The 116.5km, second stage of the Santos Tour Down Under has been won by Team Sky’s Geraint Thomas. The stage, technically known as the ‘Hahn Superdry Stage’, which runs from Mount Barker to Rostrevor and is the shortest in the event’s history, saw Thomas make an impressively powerful climb up the closing stage drag of Corkscrew Road before a blistering sprint to the finish that saw a victory comfortable enough for the Welshman to celebrate ahead of the line despite the chasing pack. The win puts the Olympic Gold Medallist (Team Pursuit) in overall lead ahead of Stage Three –139km, Unley to Stirling.
Speaking after the day’s drama a clearly ecstatic Thomas said, ‘I’m really happy with that. I’ve worked hard since the Olympics trying to lose the track weight and I’ve got some good kilometres in over the winter. I wanted to start this year strong. I knew I had decent form but you never know how well everyone else is going… To get the win is a massive bonus for all the hard work over the winter.’
