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Tour Down Under 2014: stage five – five observations

Reflections on an exhilarating fifth stage of the WorldTour season's opener


Marginal gains

We thought the Tour Down Under would be a closely contested affair, and a race traditionally decided by the finest margins will go to the wire again this year. There is no more thrilling sight in sport than a photo finish, and Adelaide has witnessed a few, and not only on two wheels (Damon Hill’s duel with Michael Schumacher at the Australian grand prix to decide the 1994 Formula One driver’s championship springs immediately to mind).

Simon Gerrans and Diego Ulissi cross the line one place apart for the third time in five stages. This year’s Tour Down Under will again be decided by fine margins. pic: ©Sirotti

Tom Jelte Slagter’s slender 17-second victory margin to claim last year’s race seems positively emphatic compared to Gerrans’ countback triumph over Alejandro Valverde the year before. Cameron Meyer settled an all-Aussie duel by just two seconds to claim overall victory in 2011, leaving Matt Goss (again) to rue what might have been. Tomorrow, the race may be decided  by placings for the second time in three years, with mere seconds being too rough a guide to separate the potential winners. Victory can be gained by the aggregation of marginal gains, quoth the sage Brailsford. Nowhere more so than in Australia, it seems.

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