Jhonatan Narváez wins Tour Down Unders' queen stage and takes over race lead into final day

As many predicted, Jhonatan Narváez has won stage 5 of the Tour Down Under at the Old Willunga Hill and with it came the ochre jersey, a big reward for UAE Team Emirates - XRG who will probably open up the season with a GC win.

The breakaway of the day was formed by five riders featuring Juan Pedro López, Ben Swift, Pascal Eenkhoorn, Michael Hepburn and Oliver Bleddyn. The move would be caught the first time up Willunga Hill where the pace was fast and Jayco AlUla really tried to surprise, launching Chris Harper on the attack and later Mauro Schmid to join him in the front.

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The duo gained a real gap on the peloton, deorganized at the top of the climb, but soon things would start coming under control once again as the teams gathered. In the flat run-up to the final ascent the strong winds led to splits as INEOS Grenadiers forced the pace in front.

It was a legitimately dangerous move however there was a lot of firepower to chase and this didn't prove deadly for those who had been dropped. Race leader himself Javier Romo went on the attack in the final ascent, and it took some big efforts to close it down, a lot from Luke Plapp.

However the sprint scenario couldn't be avoided, and a few riders went in to the final meters together and just like last year, almost the same protagonists were involved. Only this time, Jhonatan Narvaez had the legs to finish it off and with it comes the race lead due to the bonus seconds. he beat Oscar Onley and Finn Fisher-Black, with Romo coming in shortly after.

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