Tour Down Under stage 4 LIVE: Another chance for the sprinters on shortened stage

Break rolls through the KOM #2, the cat 3 Lower Willunga Hill, which is at the finish line, and the start of lap #2 with a gap of 46 seconds.

Greenwood led the duo through with Plapp on his wheel as they get the bell.

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Tension is rising, as we are getting close to the wind section where the crash happened earlier.

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Cavagna is back in the field, led by Oliver Bleddyn (Australia) followed by Ineos.

Interesting as the Australian team have a rider in the break with Greenwood, especially since their sprinter Liam Walsh is out.

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Cavagna sits up, leaving Plapp and Greenwood to continue in the break.

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Lull before the …. wind in the peloton. Ineos, Astana and Visma all represented at the front.

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Plapp has been pouring water over himself all day. The break now has 1:55 with 51km to go as they get support from the neutral service.

Cavagna seems to be struggling with the heat.

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Jake Stewart also went down in the earlier crash and was forced to abandon.

Best wishes to all riders who went down.

Big crash in the peloton as the teams battled for position in the wind, at around 77km to go.

Break goes through the KOM #2, a tough drag to the finish line on the cat.3 on Lower Willunga Hill

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NSN goes to the peloton hits the exposed roads. The acceleration has decreased the gap to 3:22.

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Red Bull takes over the front of the peloton, and ups the pace slightly. They now have two riders at the front, as the other teams jostle for position.

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Let’s hear what Ethan Vernon (NSN) told Seven this morning in Brighton. His teammate Jake Stewart finished fourth on stage 4.

“I was only expecting two opportunities, so to get an extra one gave a bit of morale last night, after the stage didn’t go our way, and to refocus and reset for today. So, I’m looking to make the most of today’s opportunity.”

About possible crosswinds: “We’ve got a really strong team here for lead out, which normally goes well in the crosswinds. So I think the wind will play a factor today. And we just got to stay out of trouble and stay on the front foot, but also save a bit for a sprint as well.”

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The whole Ineos team is now at the front of the peloton, as UAE seems perfectly fine with the trio up the road, for now.

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Three riders in the break are Rémi Cavagna (Groupama-FDJ United), Matthew Greenwood (Australia), and Luke Plapp (Jayco AlUla)

(Image credit: Getty Images)

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Gap continues to go up for the three riders in the break, Cavagna, Greenwood and Plapp, now at 3L07 with 94km to go.

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A few days ago, on the same finish in Willunga township, Ally Wollaston (FDJ United-Suez) sprinted to victory on stage 1 of the Women’s Tour Down Under after the lone breakaway was caught with 50 metres to go.

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Back in 2023, on a stage that also finished in Willunga township, Bryan Coquard sprinted to victory from a small group that formed in the crosswinds.

It was his 49th win and his first WorldTour victory after 10 years of racing.

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Peloton goes through feedzone with Visma;s Tim Rex grabbing multiple bottles.

(what a great name for a bike racer…. T. Rex)

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With the gap hitting the 2-minute mark, Plapp is now the virtual leader on the road.

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Greenwood struggles to grab a water bottle in the feedzone but he did manage to get one out of two.

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Multiple teams at the front of the peloton: Jayco, EF Education, Uno-X, Visma and Bahrain with a gap of 1:44 to the 3-riders in the break with 104km to go

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Plapp is dousing himself in water, supplied by the neutral service car.

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Riders know that the wind could be a factor as soon as they come off this descent. No one wants to be caught out if crosswinds do hit.

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Jayco, EF Education and Bahrain at the front of the peloton, which so far has not allowed the break of 3 to really pull away. Gap at 52 seconds with 111km to go,

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Jayco, and Visma at the front of the peloton, keeping the three escapees at 45 seconds.

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Urianstad goes to the front of the peloton to take fourth place across the KOM line and nab a few more points.

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Cavagna leads the break across the top, followed by Greenwood and Plapp. No one really interested in the points.

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Plapp calls for neutral support for a water bottle. Gap is not high enough to get team cars in the gap.

Break is climbing the cat. 1 Chandlers Hill with max pitches of 8%, and average gradient of 5.8%

The three riders in the break – Rémi Cavagna (Groupama-FDJ United), Matthew Greenwood (Australia), Luke Plapp (Jayco AlUla) – have one minute on the field with 119km to go.

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When asked how UAE Team Emirates-XRG planned to tackle the altered stage, sports director Fabrizio Guidi told Cyclingnews: “Yeah, actually, it is kind of a defending mode. It’s windy, and when it’s a sprint stage, it’s always difficult. Like yesterday, you saw crashes and all these things and we would always start anyway with a huge concentration.”

“We can never relax, never because everybody thinks it’s easy, it’s easy, but at the end of the day we need to do these 130 km and then tomorrow also, so that’s not the case. We have first and second, and we know that the others are not here for fun. They want to win. It’s a competition. Full respect and keep going like this.”

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Defending champion and second on GC going into this stage, Jhonatan Narváez (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) abandons after a hard crash. Best wishes.

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Another rider from Australia team is trying to bridge across as UAE, team of race leader Jay Vine, are at the front of the field.

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Other riders are trying to get across the 20-second gap.

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Crash. Narvaez went down in the peloton.

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Rémi Cavagna, Greenwood and Luke Plapp are now trying to get away. Plapp goes to the front, and ups the pace.

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Peloton is already strung out, as more riders try to get away.

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Duo is dragged back in by Guillaume Martin. All back together.

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Jayco is leading the chase as Urianstad, driving the move, looks behind him.

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Big reaction coming from the peloton. Everyone wants to go in the break.

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Matthew Greenwood is the first to attack. And KOM leader Martin Urianstad quickly jumps on his wheel.

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Flag drop from the race director Stuart O’Grady, and we are racing!

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Stage 2 winner Jay Vine (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) leads the general classification with six seconds on his teammate Jhonatan Narváez. Mauro Schmid (Jayco AlUla) sits in third place, 1:05 down.

Stage 1 winner Tobias Lund Andresen (Uno-X Mobility) leads the points classification. Michael Leonard (EF Education-EasyPost) tops the best young rider classification, and after spending three days in the break, Martin Urianstad (Uno-X Mobility) tops the mountain classification.

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The road will immediately start to go up when the flag drops, for an uncategorized climb leading for the first KOM, cresting 13.2km into the stage.

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Very nervous peloton, swarming the race director’s car.

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The 136 riders are off for the 3km neutral zone. Given the new profile, this stage could be one for the sprinters again, or will the wind cause chaos?

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In the revamped stage 4, riders will face 130.8km from Brighton to Willunga. Action begins beachside Brighton before travelling through coastal sprints at Aldinga’s Snapper Point and Port Willunga, with peloton set to pass many of McLaren Vale’s best wineries along the way. Racing will finish on Willunga’s main street after a double lap.

The finish line will be on High Street in the Willunga township, in the same spot as stage 1 of the Women’s Tour Down Under, where Ally Wollaston (FDJ United-SUEZ) sprinted to victory.

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Willunga Hill has been removed from stage 4 of the Santos Tour Down Under, due to the Extreme fire danger rating for the area and forecast maximum temperatures of 43°C.