By Jamie Finch-Penninger?? @FishysCP
Caleb Ewan, Stage 6 winner: ?We got a little bit swamped in the last lap, then coming back down the hill, I had to divebomb through that last corner. That was a bit sketchy, I locked up a few times, but I got up where I wanted to be and once I was there I was fine. It gives me a lot of confidence going into the season, obviously the 4-5 best sprinters in the world weren?t here but I felt like I was winning pretty convincingly, and I feel like I can get closer to those guys as well.?
Rohan Dennis: ?I was basing my form off what happened at the nationals, time trial and road race, and you saw the guys that podiumed at the road race were really nowhere to be seen in the Tour Down Under. I?ve got to learn to not base my form so much off the nationals. Maybe the work I did was really directed towards the time trial, I can ride at threshold all day, but those explosive efforts that Gerro, Henao and Richie have, I couldn?t match that. This year I?ve got more base form, I think it?s better to start with a solid base, rather than peaking straight away, hopefully that?s going to pay off in Paris-Nice, Catalunya and getting into the Rio team. The time trial in Rio is the big goal.?
Richie Porte, 2nd Overall: ?To be honest, it doesn?t hurt like it did last year, I didn?t expect to be 2nd and win a stage, that?s the honest truth. I lost eight seconds with a bit of a silly move on the stage to Victor Harbor, but to be honest I don?t think Simon was beatable. With the workload that I?ve done, I was really happy with what I did (on Willunga), Sergio (Henao) is a fantastic climber, I think Sky brought him here to win the race and to ride him off my wheel like that, it?s great signs. The real racing starts in March with Paris-Nice and Catalunya for me.?
Simon Gerrans, Overall Winner, Points Jersey Winner: ?Everybody in the team had to step up to the plate this week, with two objectives in the race, going for stage win sprints with Caleb and the overall with myself. Often you see that teams that want too much come away with nothing, so it was a bit of a risk, but everybody did exactly what was asked for them and some. You saw some great riding on the front by Heppy and Durbo, Albasini as well. Matt Hayman was protecting us really well in the bunch and Daryl was doing superb leadouts, not just on the hilly stages, but the flat ones as well. Everybody really lifted their game this week.?
Check out Fishy?s podcast Brakedownpodcast for more great interviews, race previews and reports.
