Stage three at the Tour Down Under saw a controlled afternoon of racing, with the bunch intent on setting up a fast group finish. Working well as a group, the Team dsm-firmenich PostNL squad kept GC finisher Oscar Onley safe, before turning their attention to setting up fast-man Emils Liepins for the finish. Positioned brilliantly by Pavel Bittner, Liepins was right to the fore as the sprint opened but got swamped by others on the gallop to the line, ultimately finishing the day in a solid tenth place.
Liepins expressed: “The main goal like always was to keep Oscar safe, which we did well, taking the wind early at 40 kilometres to go. Once we done that with around 15 kilometres to go when it started to get really hectic Pavel and I grouped up together for the sprint. He put me in a very good position and I was in Welsford’s wheel. When the sprint started my gear jumped to a really hard gear, I think I maybe touched the shifter, so I lost some speed and positions in the sprint. I’m super happy how we worked together, I think we did very well. It’s the first races for me with the team and we need to get used to each other, but today we did really well. I’m sure if we continue to work like that together then the victories will come.”
