THIS WEEK IN PRO CYCLING
Tour Down Under: Day takes the day, Jonker holds the lead
Ben Day, Queensland’s time-trial champion, led home an all-Aussie trifecta in the penultimate stage of the Jacob's Creek Tour Down Under at Willunga on Saturday.
While the Team Australia rider won in style, beating Tour de France sprinters Robbie McEwen (Lotto) and Baden Cooke (FDJeux.com)after attacking 3km from the finish, it will be South Australian Patrick Jonker who will be acclaimed the overall victor when the Tour ends on Sunday.
Jonker, 34, riding in his swansong tour after a distinguished career, holds a nearly unassailable 1:34 lead over McEwen with Belgian Philippe Gilbert (FDJeux.com) next best at 1:39.
Jonker had UniSA teammate Luke Roberts to thank for getting him over the strenuous climb to the top of Old Willunga Hill with the leading bunch, and then it was all plain sailing in the frenetic 20km downhill rush to the finish.
“I don't think I would have made it without Luke today,” Jonker said of his teammate, a member of the record-setting world team pursuit championship squad. “Luke did a tremendous job on Willunga Hill and the others did a tremendous job before it.
“I was hurting a bit because of all the attacks the last few days, so my legs weren't as fresh and I couldn't go with (Giuliano) Figueras,” he said. “I knew he was a candidate for overall having ridden a good Giro D'Italia, so I was glad to catch Figueras.”
Jonker stalled on the question of whether he was now assured of holding the leader's yellow jersey, but said he had no plans to re-assess his retirement.
“It's not in the bag until you're over the line, you know how it is with racing, you can always fall or puncture around a corner,” he said. “But we're a lot closer than we've ever been, yeh.
“I'm pretty confident now after seeing how the team has really come up to the occasion and shown that they're able to defend the yellow jersey againstworld-class opposition.
“If I was a few years younger I would have attacked, and now I'm just happy to stay with Baden and Robbie, so I guess it's time to retire.”
Day, 25, cruelly denied a possible victory when he punctured earlier in the tour, said he afraid not to keep going after initiating his break.
“I thought I'm in trouble here, but I just kept my head down and I had my director (Dave Sanders of the Victorian Institute of Sport) in my ear cheering me on, and so I thought ‘If I stop, they'll probably kill me.’”
