IMPEY TAKES TOUR DOWN UNDER
SA star feels he is maturing as a rider
South Africa’s Daryl Impey became the first rider to win the Tour Down Under back to back
STARTING the year on a high, South African road cyclist Daryl Impey made history by winning back-to-back titles at the Tour Down Under yesterday.
Impey, the first South African to wear the yellow jersey at the Tour de France, finished the final stage third place for a 13-second overall victory.
He finished behind Richie Porte and Wout Poels to claim a 13-second victory on Willunga Hill on the sixth and final stage.
“That’s special to go back to back. I never dreamed to come here and win twice in a row,” said Impey, who rides for Mitchelton-Scott.
“Every year we come here with strong ambitions. I knew the competition is always tough. I just believed in myself, and it was just fantastic to pull it off.”
Impey raced to victory in 2018 claiming his maiden World Tour general classification title on countback.
“Last year I was a lot more ecstatic because I felt like I made a big step. I feel like I am maturing more as a rider, and that’s so exciting,” Impey said.
Impey’s fourth-stage victory proved to be decisive getting within seven seconds of race leader Patrick Bevin.
Bevin suffered a setback on the penultimate stage where he crashed before re-joining the peloton to consolidate his lead.
The New Zealander was hospitalised but given the all clear to line up for the final stage and a chance to defend his league.
A patched-up Bevin turned in a brave fight but the injuries had taken its toll and he dropped back with 25km to go.
“Yesterday we really dug deep, and we took some valuable seconds,” Impey said.
Team Dimension Data’s Ryan Gibbons finished the final stage in 12thplace but it was not enough to crack the top-10 on the general classification.
He finished 11th overall after an excellent ride the day before where he finished sixth to claim the Young Rider’s jersey.
“I gave it my all today and had nothing left in the end so it’s a real pity to miss out on a top-10 result by just three seconds,” Gibbons said.
“With a bit more experience I am sure I could’ve saved those three seconds somewhere out on the road but the key is to learn from this and take the positives with me, of which there are many.
“After not expecting to be anywhere near GC contention before the race started, I am relatively pleased with where I am at.”
Fellow Team Dimension Data rider Nicholas Dlamini, who was crowned King of the Mountains in 2018, had to be content with a 100th place overall.