Team Sky’s Geraint Thomas is clearly a man for all seasons.
The Welshman provided one of the highlights of last summer by aiding Great Britain’s men’s team pursuit squad in their successful quest for gold at London 2012.
Determined that his return to the road in 2013 would be equally successful, he braved the Welsh winter to put in the training miles that helped him to power up Corkscrew Hill, south Australia, in decidedly warmer conditions, on the second stage of the Tour Down Under.
He now has an ochre jersey to protect him from the sun, and will aim to wear it all the way to Adelaide on Sunday, a task that, while not easy given the quality of a field that includes defending champion, Simon Gerrans (Orica-GreenEDGE), and world champion, Philippe Gilbert (BMC Racing), is not beyond him or a strong Team Sky line-up.
Here’s a gallery of images capturing all the action from stage two, caught through the lens of official UCI WorldTour photographer, Stefano Sirotti.
Thousands of people lined the barriers in Rostrevor to await the arrival of the riders at the end of a grueling 116.5km stage from Mt Barker
British champion, Ian Stannard, is one member of a heavyweight squad sent by Team Sky to ride in support of Thomas and Edvald Boasson Hagen
Matthew Hayman, riding on home soil, paced Thomas on the lower slopes of Corkscrew Hill
World road race champion, Philippe Gilbert, was one of about 40 riders brought down in a crash on the descent into Rostrevor
Thomas celebrates with two new friends after pulling on the ochre jersey of race leader
