Tour Down Under 2024: Onley wins on Willunga Hill - Williams new overall leader

Oscar Onley (Team dsm-firmenich PostNL) made an irresistible move not far from the finish, overtook former world champion Julian Alaphilippe (Soudal - Quick Step) and could no longer be caught by the competition. Although the Briton had the sprint-strong Ineos-Grenadiers climber Jhonatan Narvaez on his wheel, he was unable to do anything to counter the pace of the eventual winner. Onley proved his great form with the victory - he is now level with the new leader Stephen Williams (Israel-Premier Tech) in the overall standings.

Onley wins thanks to a spirited start

The top favourite for the stage win, Simon Yates from the Australian team Jayco-AlUla, opened the finale with a burst of speed one kilometre before the finish. Only eight riders around the overall leader Isaac del Toro, Julian Alaphilippe and the eventual winner Oscar Onley were able to follow. The pace then shot up again. First del Toro had to let go, then three riders broke away shortly before the finish: Jhonatan Narvaez, Stephen Williams and Oscar Onley, the latter of whom had a wafer-thin lead in the end. Yates, on the other hand, lacked the final punch after his first attack, meaning he only finished sixth.

"I wasn't sure I could do anything against such strong competition. I am grateful to everyone who supported me in this victory." - Oscar Onley in the winner's interview.

>> Tour Down Under 2024: All men's and women's results at a glance

>> Tour Down Under 2024: The favourites for overall victory

Tour Down Under 2024 - Results: The top 10 of stage 5

1. Oscar Onley (Team dsm-firmenich PostNL) 2:52:23
2. Stephen Williams (Israel-Premier Tech) +0:00
3. Jhonatan Narvaez (Ineos Grenadiers) +0:00
4. Julian Alaphilippe (Soudal - Quick Step) +0:03
5. Bart Lemmen (Visma | Lease a Bike) +0:03
6. Simon Yates (Team Jayco-AlUla) +0:03
7. Valentin Paret-Peintre (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale) +0:06
8. Isaac del Toro (UAE Team Emirates) +0:06
9. Damien Howson (Team Australia) +0:12
10. Finn Fisher-Black (UAE Team Emirates) +0:20

The current standings in the overall standings

1. Stephen Williams (Israel-Premier Tech) 16:08:18
2. Oscar Onley (Team dsm-firmenich PostNL) +0:00
3. Jhonatan Narvaez (Ineos Grenadiers) +0:05
4. Isaac del Toro (UAE Team Emirates) +0:05
5. Julian Alaphilippe (Soudal - Quick Step) +0:13
6. Bart Lemmen (Visma | Lease a Bike) +0:13
7. Simon Yates (Team Jayco-AlUla) +0:13
8. Valentin Paret-Peintre (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale) +0:16
9. Damien Howson (Team Australia) +0:22
10. Axel Mariault (Cofidis) +0:24

This is how the 5th stage of the Tour Down Under went

On the 129 kilometres from Christies Beach to Willunga Hill, several riders sought to escape to the front as soon as the race began. First nine riders were able to break away from the peloton, then four escapees crystallised and rode ahead of the peloton for a long time: Casper Pedersen, Johan Jacobs, Samuele Battistella and Liam Walsh.

It was the latter who took the three bonus seconds at the first intermediate sprint. There was also another sprint 48 kilometres before the finish, where the Swiss rider Jacobs was the fastest. However, the peloton didn't really let the day's leading group off the leash. The four riders had a maximum lead of three and a half minutes, while in the peloton it was mainly the team of overall leader UAE Team Emirates and the Australian team Jayco-AlUla that did the chasing for favourite Simon Yates.

30 kilometres before the finish, the Dane Pedersen then tried it on his own, because the Willunga Hill was on the agenda for the first time, which had to be tackled twice today. The three other escapees were caught by the peloton right at the start of the climb, while Pedersen fought in vain at the front: he was caught by the peloton shortly before the mountain classification. Luke Burns once again took the full ten points, extending his lead in the mountain classification.

The final climb up Willunga Hill began without a breakaway, where Chris Harper was the first to try his luck with an attack. However, the Australian was unable to really break away and was quickly caught by the peloton. Favourite Simon Yates then opened the final with an attack, but it was not enough. Shortly before the finish, Onley, Williams and Narvaez broke away and decided the victory among themselves. Onley took the stage win, Williams the overall leader's jersey.