Dan McLay on the podium of stage 3!
Dan McLay took 3rd place in the 3rd stage of the Tour Down Under, at the end of a bunch sprint through the streets of Campbelltown, the home town of his lead-out man Miles Scotson.
“The team did a good job of getting to the top of the valley heading down to Campbelltown. It was very twisty and very fast. I was on Miles’ wheel in the final. We were a bit far apart with a kilometre to go but he found an opening on the left and reeled me in. I launched from a little too far back perhaps to be able to compete with the Bora-Hansgrohe train, which is really strong here. This result is good for my confidence. We’ve got one last chance with a sprint finish tomorrow and then we’ll get down to work for Louis on the last two stages so that he can achieve the best overall classification possible.”
“I knew the local roads, I used to ride there when I was young. The peloton was very nervous today. It was all about positioning in this final and I think my knowledge of the region helped me do the job I was asked to do today. We placed Dan well and he’s going for a fine 3rd place. Dan is a ‘dark horse’, the ‘big hill’ as they say: he doesn’t make much noise but he’s capable of competing with the best sprinters in the world, as he did today. It’s a good result that can give us confidence to try and do better tomorrow.”
“Everyone respected their role and gave 200% to their mission. We started to get to the front very early on in the race because there were some strategic places that we couldn’t miss. In the final hectometres, when things were really tight, Miles put in a very good finish to put Dan in the best possible position. It’s a great result which is a credit to our team and also to Dan. He came to Australia well in advance to acclimatise and he gave himself the means to perform well. This podium is the reward for all that teamwork.”