AFTER testing his sprinting legs in Adelaide on the opening stage of the Tour Down Under, Bathurst’s Mark Renshaw played a team role in the second leg of Australia’s biggest cycling event.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
A member of the Dimension Data outfit which is contesting this year’s Tour Down Under, Renshaw placed sixth in the People’s Choice Classic prelude on Sunday and 11th in Monday’s opening stage.
Both of those came down to a sprint finish, but the 148.5 kilometre second stage in the Adelaide Hills was one for the climbers.
It meant Renshaw’s job was to try and help team-mate Nathan Haas figure in the final climb.
That he did, with Haas finishing the stage in fifth place, 19 seconds down on victor Richie Porte.
“The team was really good today. Coming up the Gorge, Mark Renshaw and later Jacques Janse van Rensburg put me into position and helped me entering the climb up to Paracomb in second wheel behind Peter Sagan,” Haas said.
“That was where I wanted to be and I think I showed that for the kind of rider I am, I was the best in my class against a lot of climbers.
“I put a lot of thought and effort in approaching today’s stage and it’s great to see that it all worked out.
“The laps around Stirling were hard and took a lot of power out of people’s legs.”
Renshaw, who is contesting the Tour Down Under for the 15th time, finished the stage 11:23 down on Porte, who won in a time of 3:46.66.
Dimension Data ranked sixth out of the 19 teams. The tour concludes on January 22.
