There was a common theme running through the planning for stage 2 of the Santos Tour Down Under with the writing on the wall, in big and bold letters. UAE Team Emirates-XRG were clearly the team to beat, after all how could they be expected to be anything but a force to be reckoned with given they had two former winners on the start line in Jay Vine and Jhonatan Narváez, plus Adam Yates on board as well.
Any one of those riders alone would be a formidable contender but together what they delivered was a perfectly executed plan, that actually went even better than they had hoped.
First they controlled the situation on the first climb of the Corkscrew and then on the final effort Yates proceeded to put on the pressure to stretch and split the field, setting the scene for Vine to launch his attack and quickly pull out a gap and the only rider who ended up being able to cross it was his teammate Narváez.
"Adam did perfect and actually Narváez was supposed maybe to fall, but was able to follow," UAE Team Emirates-XRG sports director Fabrizio Guidi told a small group of reporters, including Cyclingnews, after the stage.
"It was outstanding today, in the final with two, I think that Jay deserved the win in his country – they talked together and they arrived safely at the end. That was good."
Vine eased off the pace a little at some points in the climb to allow Narváez to stay in touch – "I'm not gonna drop my teammate for no reason," Vine said – and then Narváez sat up before the line and clapped as the Australian took the stage and race lead. The agreement had been made before hand that this day was for Vine but that they were best off sticking together until the end to put them in an enviable position of having two riders with a significant margin to all their rivals.
"It's better to have two guys a minute clear of the rest of the group," Vine told reporters after taking to the podium. "We've got some really demanding stages still to come."
At the end of the Thursday's stage Vine had both vanquished the frustration of previously not having won a stage at the Tour Down Under despite having claimed the race win, and was also in possession of the ochre leader's jersey while Narváez was sitting just six seconds behind.
The gap from second spot to Mauro Schmid (Jayco AlUla) in third was then 59 seconds – a staggering margin in a race where the differences are often so razor thin that it comes down to bonus seconds. In fact Vine took his 2023 victory with an 11 second margin and Narváez won by nine seconds last year.
"Anything can happen," said Vine with a chuckle when it was put to him that 'you can't lose it from here'. "But yeah, it's really good to have such a big lead compared to my last tour. It's a lot more secure and we also got Johnny in second now so we've got a very strong position."
What's more, Yates is also lingering in ninth spot at 1:23, just 18 seconds away from the third spot on the podium.
"It is a good day but it's not finished," said Guidi.
The three stages ahead first deliver a lumpy 140.8km to Nairne, which the sprinters are hoping to get their way through so they can make it another bunch battle, while the climbers will come to the fore again on Saturday, with a triple ascent of Willunga Hill on a day where temperatures are forecast to hit as high as 42°C. Then it's a punchy final day on a circuit that takes in the wearing climb to Stirling which riders will tackle eight times.
"This year is a different race, harder so I like that we are in this position but, still, we have to ride to Stirling," concluded Guidi.
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