"It was as hard as I expected it to be" - As the Australians struggle, Mauro Schmid takes up Jayco leadership in Down Under and climbs onto podium

Team Jayco AlUla came to the Tour Down Under with high ambitions as the home team and with a full set of leaders, just like UAE Team Emirates - XRG. However, after stage 2, it's become apparent that it's not the home riders that will carry the responsibility into Old Willunga Hill, but instead Mauro Schmid who climbed to third in the overall classification today.

“It was as hard as I expected it to be! I felt quite good on the Corkscrew until the tow UAE guys went. I think on the steepest part I wasted a bit too much energy because I maybe started the climb in position 70, so I already to do quite a big effort to move back up, and then exactly at this moment they went," the Swiss champion said in a press release.

It was not a good day for Jayco AlUla, who saw Luke Plapp off the back at the base of the Corkscrew climb. It is not confirmed whether he suffered a mechanical or a crash, as he did regain some positions, however the team also did not clarify. Plapp lost 1:43 minutes to Jay Vine and Jhonatan Narváez on the stage, taking into consideration he was one of the main favourites, making it a disaster.

Ben O'Connor finished in the third group on the road 1:08 minutes down, but his 13th place in the overall classification at this point in time is not what the team hopes for. Due to UAE's domination, it is not realistic for any other team to dream of the overall victory at the time being, however in third place as 'best of the rest' is Mauro Schmid, who had a stellar prologue and backed that up with a strong performance on the climbs today.

He was part of the group that formed itself following the categorized ascent to the Corkscrew, and also sprinted to third place on the day, gaining an extra 4 seconds on his direct rivals which protects his current position.

"After that I just tried to do my rhythm, and I knew that when it gets flatter it will be better for me. We had quite a nice group and in the end I think it was nice to get a few seconds on the other guys.”