Martijn Keizer broke away during the first stage of the Tour Down Under overnight in Australia. The Team LottoNL-Jumbo rider attacked between Prospect and Lyndoch to grab the mountains jersey, but did not succeed in his aim of keeping it. The stage ended up in a bunch sprint, Caleb Ewan (Orica-GreenEDGE) won with LottoNL’s Enrico Battaglin 12th.

“I wanted to grab the first mountain jersey, so I aimed for a spot in the early breakaway,” Keizer said after the race. “I was very close to that jersey. Orica-GreenEDGE started to control the race very solidly afterwards, which meant that we didn’t consider having a chance for the stage victory. I’m glad that I showed some spirit at the start of the season anyway.”

“It’s a pity that Martijn didn’t grab the mountain jersey,” sports director Frans Maassen added. “He was exhausted in the end of the stage and unfortunately, was dropped by the peloton in the moment that Primoz Roglic broke four spokes and had to change bikes. But fortunately, he was able to get back to the peloton with ten kilometres to go. Caleb Ewan was simply the best in the bunch sprint.”