Women’s Tour Down Under stage 3 LIVE: A final test for the climbs in pursuit of the overall title

The break of Carina Schrempf and Mikayla Harvey has a 1:49 lead on the peloton with less than 5km to the bottom of the Corkscrew climb.

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EF, Lidl are massing on one side of the road, Liv is coming up the middle and Canyon is on the other side of the road. Everyone wants the front.

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Jostling for position at the front of the peloton as they race towards the first time up Corkscrew.

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Different teams, such as Canyon, SD Worx and Picnic, coming to the front of the peloton with the gap to the 2-rider break at 2:20 with 37km to go.

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Dygert had a near miss, taking a very wide turn at the front on the descent, but she holds it up.

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Peloton is stretching out on the descent, with gaps appearing with riders of different technical skills as they speed down the road.

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Break is flying down a descent at 91.3kmph. Schrempf makes it look easy.

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Peloton is keeping the 2-rider break on a tight leash now. The gap is 2:40 with 47km to go.

The Corkscrew is coming!

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Break of Carina Schrempf and Mikayla Harvey have 3:39 to the peloton with a rider each from Lidl, EF and UAE leading the chase. Schrempf’s teammates are sitting behind the chase trio, trying to disrupt.

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The acceleration nibble one minute from the gap, now down to 3:53 inside of 63 km to go.

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Movistar’s Carys Lloyd is going for the time bonus second, denying the point for Wollaston.

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Wollaston is moving up to get ready for the upcoming sprint to take that final point and Kraak takes over the front.

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Once again, the break rolls through the intermediate sprint led by Harvey this time.

Fenix DS is telling both riders in the break about tactics for the upcoming kilometres.

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1.5km to go to the second intermediate sprint. Break of Schrempf and Harvey still have 5:02 on the peloton.

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Harvey missed her bottle in the feedzone so she grabs bottles from the neutral car. Schrempf is pouring bottles onto her head. Both riders have ice socks for another wam day.

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The peloton is getting serious about closing the over five-minute gap, with UAE, EF and Lidl each putting in a rider in the chase rotation at the front.

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UAE and EF chatting, thumbs up, and they are organizing a rotation to try and bring the gap down.

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Still no real reaction from the peloton to close the gap, though UAE is now massing at the front on the right side of the road while Fenix was on the other side, trying to disrupt any attacks or chase.

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Make it over five minutes now for the duo up the road with 77km to go.

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Gap has ballooned to 4:05 as no team has taken control of the peloton. Everyone seems to be looking at EF.

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Schrempf and Harvey are working well together, taking turns at the front. They now have 2:45 on the field with 82km to go.

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First sighting of kangaroos!

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Break now has a 2:15 gap

Mikayla Harvey (SD Worx-Protime) and Carina Schrempf (Fenix-Premier Tech) (Image credit: Getty Images)

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AG Insurance is upping the pace in the pack.

With the gap at 1:58, Harvey is now the virtual leader on the road

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Attacks nullified in the peloton while Schrempf and Harvey have a 1:44 lead with 89km to go.

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Paula Ortiz attacks and Wollaston jumps on her wheel.

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Movistar accelerates first but Wollaston crosses the line for third place in the intermediate sprint, taking the one second bonus and the 1point.

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Movistar vs FDJ for the one-second bonus and 1 point.

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The two riders in the break roll through the sprint line with Schrempf crossing the line first.

Behind Movistar is jostling for position. Their leader Baril jumped for the bonus seconds in the sprints on stage 1

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Schrempf and Harvey have 1:43 on the peloton led by FDJ United-Suez with Wollaston sitting third wheel with 1.3km to go to first intermediate sprint.

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Fenix-Premier Tech team car, heavy on the horn, is trying to get past the peloton to make it up to Schrempf in the break.

Teams only have one car in the race to support their riders.

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Ella Wylie stops and gently puts her bike on the side of the road. Unknow if it is mechanical at this point.

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The two riders in the break are not seen as real GC threats. Harvey is 1:19 down and Schrempf is 1:58 back.

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Peloton is taking a breather, spread across the road as they pass the Big Rocking Horse

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Mikayla Harvey joins Carina Schrempf in the break with 98.7km to go. The duo has 50 seconds on the field.

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More attacks from the peloton. causing another split.

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Reijnhout, is on the radio, and sits up from the chase while Harvey continues on.

Reijnhout is a danger in GC, sitting 24 seconds down

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Rosita Reijnhout and Mikayla Harvey are chasing solo rider Schrempf hard, trying to close the 51 second gap.

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Both riders – Harvey and Reijnhout – were at the back of the field when they attacked with 103km to gom causing a response in the peloton.

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Major attack by SD Worx and Visma rider!

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Peloton all together.

Lauren Dickson stops for assistance from her mechanic. Fauve Bastiaenssen also stopped. Maybe a small crash

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Coupland looks behind her to see the damage. Peloton is chasing with some earnest, and Koster goes again covered by the Australian champion.

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Wait!

Another attack by Koster followed by Coupland. Reaction from more riders in the field, splits happening behind.

Carina Schrempf of Fenix-Premier Tech has 50 seconds on the peloton. Another solo breakaway.

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Schrempf’s teammates are at the front of the peloton, seemingly disrupting any attempt to chase.

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Schrempf is not looking back and keeps pushing on her pedals. She does have a gap. Will we have another solo break for the third day?

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Second major attack of the day by Austrian Carina Schrempf of Fenix-Premier Tech.

She caught the peloton by surprise.

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Peloton still together with 110km to go.

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UAE Team ADQ may have lost a gastro hit Brodie Chapman yesterday, but even without her, they still have a most formidable line-up for the final stage and are well positioned with the powerful Mavi Garcia, Dominika Wlodarczyk and Paula Blasi all sitting in the group of riders 24 seconds back from race leader Wollaston.

DS Michel Cornelisse explained that the team didn’t come with a sprinter, so the focus for them has always been stage 3.

“Stage three is, for us, the best stage,” he told Cyclingnews before the start of stage 3. “We have a few good climbers, and the first two stages were also okay for us. We did not lose time – that was the biggest danger. And today it’s going to happen and will decide who is going to win the Tour Down Under.”

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Race leader Wollaston moves to the front to set the pace. As more riders take over on the descent.

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Attack by Anouska Koster, and more riders follow but nothing gets away.

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Small move has been reeled back in as some riders at the back are struggling to hold on.

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The attack caused a split at the front with a small group trying to escape. Having missed the move, Visma is leading the chase in the field.

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Blasi easily picks up more points and attacks immediately come at they crest the climb led by Fenix-Premier Tech.

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200 metres to the top of the climb. Blasi is at the front behind her teammate while rival Koster is in the middle. Realini is boxed in.

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Peloton is still together as they approach the first QOM of the day. Mountain classification leader Blasi is at the front.

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The EF Education-Oatly teammates, world champion Magdeleine Vallieres and defending champion Noemi Rüegg, shared their thoughts on the Seven broadcast at the start in Norwood.

When asked if the rainbow jersey brought more space and respect in the peloton, Vallieres replied, “I think we’re getting – with the team – a lot of respect, but also because of Noemi winning last year, I think we’re a team for contenders for the win. So yeah, I think people are respecting us more.”

Rüegg, who sits third overall, added, “I think the GC is still quite open, but we are going to try everything to go for the win in the GC. And I think we have a super strong team to do this. I have a lot of trust in the girls, and yeah, I’m excited.”

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Carlotta Cipressi and her Human Powered Health teammates at the start of stage 3 (Image credit: Getty Images)

Human Powered Health hasn’t had an easy run at the Tour Down Under this year, as, through a combination of illness and injury, the squad is now down to three riders – Marit Raaijmakers, Carlotta Cipressi and Nina Buijsman, who has just switched over from FDJ-SUEZ. Despite the small team remaining Buijsman is still solidly positioned heading into the final stage, tenth overall at 24 seconds in arrears, after finishing eighth on a challenging stage 2.

“It speaks volumes on Nina to be able to be riding so well with only two supports, so we’re looking at it in the positive sense of, for the rest of the season, being in a really strong position,” Human Powered Health sports director Clark Sheehan told Cyclingnews before the start of stage 3.

“And yesterday, seeing the riders come in, they were pretty spent and exhausted, but Nina still had life in her … so really, who knows what the race in the future holds, but I feel pretty optimistic. We’re hoping for a lot, but to get a top 10 in the World Tour race for us … it’s a real victory at this point.”

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Color-blocking at the front as teams are organizing, lining up behind their teammates.

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Peloton is 6km away from the first challenge of the day, the cat. 2 climb up Kangaroo Creek Reservoir near Castambul, which extends over 2.2 kilometres and has an average gradient of 5%. Its steepest section, though, clocks in at 13.3%.

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Coupland is back in the peloton and flag drop by race director Stuart O’Grady!

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After talking to her DS in the Liv Alula Jayco car, Coupland stopped by the side of the road to get a new race radio from DS Jess Allen.

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A touch of wheels in the peloton by Australian champion Machenzie Coupland, looking backwards as she raised her hand.

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Crashes on stage 1 and heat on stage 2 took a toll on the peloton, which is now down to 74 riders.

2 teams – Human Powered Health, and ARA Australian National team – are down to three riders each.

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Riders are fairly relaxed on the neutral rollout.

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Rüegg also leads the points classification with 17 points on Nelson, and 19 points on Rüegg.

Paula Blasi (UAE Team ADQ) leads the mountain classification, with a 15-point lead on Alessia Vigilia (Uno-X Mobility), and 16 points on Gaia Realini (Lidl-Trek). Three QOM sprint on the menu in the final stage.

In another battle that will heat up today, Justyna Czapla (Canyon-SRAM zondacrypto) leads the best young rider classification, tied on time with Rosita Reijnhout (Visma-Lease a Bike) and Paula Ostiz (Movistar).

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Riders are rolling out of Norwood for a long neutral section out of the city which means that the first climb for this closing stage comes just 10 kilometres into racing proper.

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Nelson will soon find out if the pay-off from the hard work can keep rolling into a tough stage 3.