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Tour Down Under 2014: stage five – five observations

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


Voigt the indomitable

Hands up if you don’t cheer like a madman every time Jens Voigt (Trek) gets in a break? No takers? Didn’t think so. The veteran German remains a potent force and if this is to be his final season (we’re hoping for a change of heart), Voigt is determined to go out in style. Climbing from the team bus into blazing heat to face the prospect of a double ascent of one of the most selective climbs in professional cycling, perhaps only the Jensie among the 150 or so riders contesting the 2014 Tour Down Under would have allowed himself a smile.

Jens Voigt delivered another trademark attack to lead a breakaway up the first ascent of Old Willunga Hill. pic: ©Sirotti

After just 50km, Voigt had placed eight minutes between himself and the pursuing peloton, riding with fellow escapees, Matteo Trentin (Omega Pharma-QuickStep), Mikhail Ignatyev (Katusha), and Movistar’s Jose Lobato. Almost inevitably, it was Voigt who crested the summit of Old Willunga Hill first, but with equal inevitability, his doomed attack was reeled in before the second and final ascent. The outcome, however, appears to mean little to Voigt. He is the embodiment of the philosophy that it is the taking part that counts. The phrase is often used derisively; as faint praise to those unable to win. Voigt gives it a nobler sense. When/if he goes, he will be missed.

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