Jay Vine Tour Down Under: Kangaroo Incident & GC Win

Jay Vine went into Sunday’s final stage of the Santos Tour Down Under over a minute clear of his next rival but, as was stated after a big crash took out his teammate and the defending champion Jhonatan Narváez on Saturday, nothing was guaranteed and anything could happen.

The unexpected did indeed happen when with 95km to go Vine and UAE Emirates-XRG teammate Mikkel Bjerg were amongst a number of riders left sprawled on the ground in the most bizarre of circumstances.

They had collided with kangaroo that had jumped in the peloton, colliding with riders and causing chaos before limping away.

It was a very close call for Vine: Bjerg, who was riding close to him, was forced to withdraw from the race due to the crash. Vine wasn’t seriously injured but had to change bikes with Ivo Oliveira, and was fortunately able to finish the stage and seal his overall win.

But he acknowledged the close call, and also the tough race the team had faced.

“Everyone asks me what is the most dangerous thing in Australia and I always tell them it’s kangaroos because they wait and hide in the bushes until you can’t stop and then they jump out in front of you,” he said.

“Point proven today, two of them blasted through the peloton as we were doing probably 50k an hour. One of them stopped, went left-right left-right left-right and then I ended up hitting its backside as it was flaying around on the ground. It’s one of those things.

“Bad luck, but luckily I am okay and happy to be able to hold onto the jersey.”

‘It’s not over until it’s over’

The withdrawals of Bjerg and Narváez weren’t the only DNFs for the team. Vegard Stake Laengen also came down on Saturday and withdrew with a rib injury. Juan Sebastián Molano was a non-finisher Sunday, although that was due to fatigue after riding on the front for an extended period of time to defend Vine’s lead.

Seven riders from each team begin the Tour Down Under, meaning Molano, Adam Yates and Oliveira had to step things up when the others crashed out.

“I guess it was probably more challenging time wise three years ago,” Vine said, comparing his overall success this week with his race win in 2023.

“But this year we started off really positive and we just had more and more bad luck as the race went on. Today was never going to be easy. I’ve been saying all week that it’s not over until it’s over, but it’s definitely proven to me it’s never over till it’s over in this race for us.

“Unfortunately we lost another guy so thoughts are with him, praying for him as well. There’s only so much you can do and luckily enough we were able to take the overall.”

He ended up 1:03 ahead of Mauro Schmid (Jayco AlUla) and 1:12 clear of Harry Sweeny (EF Education-EasyPost). He also won stage two to Uraidla ahead of Narváez.

Brennan blasts home ahead to salvage Visma-Lease a Bike’s race

Stage five settled the final general classification but it also gave a final chance to the teams who had missed out during the event. The 169.8km race started and finished in Stirling and included multiple ascents of a category 2 climb.

The tough route favored both a breakaway and, if things came back together, a punchy uphill sprinter, and that’s how things worked out.

Several breaks got clear, with Santiago Buitrago (Bahrain Victorious), Gal Glivar (Alpecin-Premier Tech) and Movistar riders Javier Romo and Jefferson Cepeda dangerous in the finale and staying out front until a kilometer to go.

Matthew Brennan’s Visma-Lease a Bike team did a lot of work to try to set the Briton up, bringing back that move and then getting him into position.

He remained calm when Brady Gilmore (NSN) launched a huge surge with about 400 meters to go, slotting onto his back when and then powering past to reach the line first. Finn Fisher-Black (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) was second with Tobias Lund Andresen (Decathlon CMA CGM Team) third.

For Brennan it was a welcome boost after a tough race.

“We were disappointed all week with the results we did but we still were giving it 100 percent every day. To finish it off today, very happy,” he said.

“I think we picked up on everything we made mistakes on earlier this week. On a finish like that, I think it was really important to time it well. I think that’s what we did, so chapeau.”

As for Vine and his UAE Emirates-XRG team, they showed a lot of determination and persistence.

“I can’t fathom how much bad luck we have had in the last couple of days,” he said.

“We’ve got guys that are in the hospital. I have come out unscathed, but you never want that to happen.”