Andre Greipel wins stage 1 of Tour Down Under

Andre Greipel claimed his 17th stage victory in the Tour Down Under when he won the 145-kilometer stage of the 2018 World Tour opener to take an early lead on general classification.

The 35-year-old beat Caleb Ewan and triple world champion Peter Sagan in a bunch sprint at the end of the stage from Port Adelaide to Lyndoch.

Greipel was able to time his finish perfectly to overtake Ewan a few meters from the line. Norwegian rider Daniel Hoegaard crashed at the final bend and was taken by ambulance to a hospital.

”Thanks to the team, they set up the sprint really well,” Greipel said. ”Unfortunately we were already one rider down before the start so we just made the work for the other teams who had to make the chase so we could wait until the final and set a good bunch sprint up.”

The stage, which featured four 26.5-kilometer laps of a course through the wine-growing Barossa Valley, saw an early break by Australians Scott Bowdenand, Will Clarke and South African Nicholas Dlamini.

The trio established a lead of more than four minutes before Bowden dropped back to the peloton. Clarke and Dlamini stayed away, working together until the 110- kilometer point when Dlamini slowed to receive directions from his team. He lost touch with Clarke and fell back into the bunch.

Clarke took 6 seconds in time bonuses from intermediate sprints, while Dlamini took the King of the Mountains jersey after winning the major climb of the stage up Humbug Scrub.

Clarke stayed away until the final lap but was quickly caught as the peloton set up their sprinters on the flat run to the finish.

FULL RESULTS + STANDINGS#TDU 20th Santos @tourdownunder (2.UWT) Stage 1 » Port Adelaide › Lyndoch (145k) #SharingPassionhttps://t.co/cJOalOhaHLpic.twitter.com/6LoxlmSjVS

— ProCyclingStats.com (@ProCyclingStats) January 16, 2018

Tour Down Under 2018 – stage 1 results (Port Adelaide – Lyndoch):

General classification after stage 1: