Jay Vine hopes for a helping hand from Visma | Lease a Bike as UAE’s control threatens to break apart before final stage

Vernon took victory in the heavily shortened stage — raced without the Willunga Hill climb but finishing on a rise into the town of Willunga. That was a notable achievement, especially considering his sprint train was effectively dismantled by earlier crashes. “We lost Corbin at the start, and Jake crashed too, so we had very few riders left,” Vernon said, referring to Corbin Strong and Jake Stewart.

NSN didn't have the best sprint preparation in stage 3 on Friday, but a day later everything fell into place. “These guys got up and were truly incredible. If you think back to yesterday's stage, we completely turned things around in 24 hours. They kept me cool, which allowed me to stay calm because I wasn't suffering as much as the riders around me.”

“I played around a bit and it paid off,” smiled Vernon, who knew exactly what to do in the final 600 meters. “We looked back at previous editions of this finish and saw that it was always won from a jump. I was still feeling pretty comfortable 250 meters from the finish line, so I went for it and got a gap. I then held on.”

For Vine, the day was a mix of highs and lows. The Australian safely crossed the line and now defends a healthy 1 minute and 3-second lead over new second-placed rider Mauro Schmid (Team Jayco AlUla) in the overall classification. However, teammate Jhonatan Narváez was forced out of the race after a heavy crash early in the stage. At the time of his crash, Narváez was just six seconds behind Vine on GC.

“Cycling is a team sport, and on a day like today even more so than on a hilly stage,” Vine said, reflecting on seeing Narváez go down and Vegard Stake Laengen withdraw with a rib injury after a fall behind the peloton. “It’s disappointing, and we hope both recover well.”

The last stage features another rolling parcours, and Vine acknowledged that UAE Team Emirates–XRG will need to manage the race if they want to protect the leader’s position. “Today we did it smart by letting the right group go up front. I’ve got a big gap to second, so I’ll race smart and let others chase their own places in the standings,” he said.