Tour Down Under: Spaniard Bilbao wins third stage

Schachmann with good form to 12th place

The trio of Bilbao, Yates and Vine pulled away from the rest of the riders on the up to 13 per cent steep climb on Corkscrew Road six kilometres before the end of the stage and maintained their lead of 28 seconds to the finish. Berlin-born Maximilian Schachmann finished the stage in southern Australia in twelfth place. The Bora-Hansgrohe rider commented: "As expected, it was a hectic stage with an even more hectic finale. The final climb was pretty tough. We tried to ride well into the climb and then be at the front. The level here in January is pretty high. I think I was missing something this early in the season to get a better result today."

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Australian Jay Vine takes overall lead

Jay Vine is now 15 seconds ahead of the Spaniard Bilbao in the overall standings. Yates is third, 16 seconds behind. The best German in the overall classification of the Tour Down Under 2023 is Schachmann in twelfth place, 1:01 minutes behind.

The fourth stage of the Tour of Australia takes the riders around 135 kilometres around the small town of Willunga in the south of Adelaide on Saturday. The Tour Down Under ends on Sunday on Mount Lofty to the east of Adelaide.

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