Drapac’s Will Clarke gets Most Combative jersey in TDU Stage 1

Drapac Professional Cycling has made a strong opening statement in their debut appearance on the UCI WorldTour, with Will Clarke claiming the Europcar Most Competitive prize for his breakaway efforts on Stage 1 of the Santos Tour Down Under in Angaston.

Clarke heeded the words of DS Henk Vogels, attacking within the opening few hundred metres of the stage, with UniSA’s Neil Van der Ploeg for company.

In the team’s pre-race meeting, Vogels told the squad of Clarke, Jonathan Cantwell, Robbie Hucker, Travis Meyer, Bernie and Wes Sulzberger and Darren Lapthorne that he wanted “to see red on the front. We’re not here to spectate,” urging the septet to take “every opportunity for the win.”

The pair ploughed on alone for 122km kilometres of the 135km stage, Clarke averaging 345 watts for the time he was away. A maximum advantage of just over four minutes was gained, with Van der Ploeg the first to be reeled in while Clarke was forced to relent just ahead of the Menglers Hill climb.

“It was pretty hard with just myself and Neil Van der Ploeg,” Clarke explained.

“Today the plan was always for one of us to be in the breakaway and it ended up being me so I took that responsibility and tried to stay out there as long as I could. I gave it my best but unfortunately they chased pretty hard and brought us back pretty early really. I had a crack anyway.”

The peloton split with Lotto Belisol, Team Sky, Tinkoff-Saxo and Orica GreenEdge pushing the pace up the climb. Hucker, Lapthorne and the Sulzbergers made the selection, finishing in the winning group of Orica GreenEdge rider, Simon Gerrans.

The four are just 11 seconds in arrears of Gerrans on the general classification heading into Stage 2 which will see the peloton tackle 150km between Prospect and Stirling, where two years ago Clarke soloed to victory. Asked if a repeat was on the cards, the 28-year-old explained he would concentrate on his recovery before putting his mind to the task.

“Tomorrow’s Stirling; I like Stirling so you never know.”

Vogels described the ride of Clarke’s on Tuesday as a “gutsy effort,” and admitted he held back in radio communications.

“It was really hot and windy and I’m really proud of him,” he said. “It was a great way to start Drapac Professional Cycling‘s first race on the UCI WorldTour and it was awesome to see.”