Simon Yates and Jayco-AIUla are going to give it all at Tour Down Under final stage:” We won’t be giving up until the very end”

Simon Yates and his team Jayco-AIUla have being one of the most active in Tour Down Under. With Simon Yates being 15 seconds behind race leader Jay Vine, the team still has hopes to win the race and will put dynamite on tomorrow's Mount Lofty stage, the final stage of the race.

“I’d prefer to be 15 seconds in front than 15 seconds behind, but it is possible for us to win the Tour Down Under. We won’t be giving up until the very end. We didn’t come here to get second or third on GC. We have to go all-in and try to win it. Of course, if we finish second or third, we’ll accept it."

"But we’ll race hard right to the end. We’re up against things, with the gap to Vine at 15 seconds, but Simon is strong too and a real fighter. We’ve won and lost the Tour Down Under in the past, and we know that even one second can make a difference.”, told Jayco-AIUla sports director Matthew Hayman to CyclingNews.

The Australian team, despite coming with a strong squad with the likes of Michael Matthews and Simon Yates, is struggling to get a win on their native race Tour Down Under. They have being close to it in almost all stages, securing already a 2nd (Simon Yates stage 3) and 3rd place (Michael Matthews stage 1) but eventually ending a bit short of the win. Still, the Australians have a strong Simon Yates that has clear chances to win not only tomorrow's stage but also the general classification of the race since it's a course that suit him.

“I think anything is possible with the new stage on Mount Lofty. There is no existing script for the stage, it’s up to us to write. If it was the usual finish on Willunga Hill, it would be hard, but with Sunday’s stage, we do have options. We’re up against Jay Vine, he’s the guy we have to beat. He’s in great shape and UAE Team Emirates are strong too, but he’s in a new situation as race leader and so that gives us a chance. We'll definitely give it a go.”, said Hayman who also rode on the team as a professional cyclist.

One rider that went with high expectations to this race was Michael Matthews, who aimed not only stages but also the general classification victory. The Australian started well in the competition, being 10th on the prologue and 3rd in the bunch sprint on stage 1. But a mechanical problem in a key phase of stage 2 eventually lead Matthews to lose more than 2 minutes and all hopes for a general classification win.

“ It’s disappointing what happened to Michael’s chances. We were chipping away at the bonus seconds, and he was well-placed to go for the win,” Hayman said about the stage 2 situation.