"The entire team should be proud of this achievement" - Aaron Gate secures a surprising second place for XDS Astana in the last race on Australian soil
Cycling
XDS Astana Team continues to perform strongly from the start of this season and today they have scored perhaps their best result yet. After not so good showing at Tour Down Under, they weren't in a position of favourites for the last race in Australia, but Aaron Gate turned predictions upside down to secure an impressive second place at the Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race, winning a sprint against the likes of Laurence Pithie and Corbin Strong.
"The whole team put in a huge effort today to set me up for the best possible position in the finale. Our plan was to be in the lead group and fight for the sprint. My teammates stayed with me the whole time, helping me position well before the circuit and then leading into the climb, so everything went as planned," New Zealand champion Gate said on a team website.
"It was extremely hot today, which made the race even tougher – many riders struggled in these conditions," he explained as the thermometer showed staggering 41°C at times. "On the final climb, only a few of us were left in the front group when Mauro Schmid attacked. We couldn’t close the gap immediately, and after that, it turned into a tactical battle."
"In the end, Schmid made his move at the right moment and managed to stay away, while Aaron won the sprint from the group behind. I believe this was the best possible result for us today, and the entire team should be proud of this achievement," adds XDS Astana's sports director Mark Renshaw.
Results of the 2025 Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race:
| Position | Rider | Team | Time | UCI points |
| 01 | Schmid Mauro | Team Jayco-AlUla | 04:26:07 | 300 |
| 02 | Gate Aaron | XDS Astana Team | + 03 | 250 |
| 03 | Pithie Laurence | Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe | + 03 | 215 |
| 04 | Romo Javier | Movistar Team | + 03 | 175 |
| 05 | Bagioli Andrea | Lidl-Trek | + 03 | 120 |
| 06 | Strong Corbin | Israel-Premier Tech | + 03 | 115 |
| 07 | Sheffield Magnus | INEOS Grenadiers | + 03 | 95 |
| 08 | Rochas Rémy | Groupama-FDJ | + 03 | 75 |
| 09 | Onley Oscar | Team Picnic PostNL | + 03 | 60 |
| 10 | Fisher-Black Finn | Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe | + 08 | 50 |
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- That's true, however there are hilly/mountainous one day races that Jonas doesn't compete in. Ardenes, autumn Italian racesvappaxbipmv10-03-2025
- Has been said before if differently. The persistence is such that you have to start considering the possibility it’s the man himself, trying to attract attention when there is none ;-)Mistermaumau10-03-2025
- Success in who’s eyes or according to what criteria?Mistermaumau10-03-2025
- It’s still interesting when neither are there :-) You know there is always still a thing called imagination? Shame you can’t see the interest in any race if you feel it’s only about who wins or is likely to. On the one hand people enjoy knowing one or both exist, on the other hand they moan when one is partipating. I think we should be looking more at our own attitudes towards expectations from entertainment.Mistermaumau10-03-2025
- It's not wrong if Jonas sticks to a plan and be as calculated as he can most of the time. While, it may seem boring, that's how they got an impulsive rider like Tadej worn out on stage 11 of TdF 2022. Of course, that also means that he didn't know how to read the room and adapt. One clear example is stage 6 of TdF 2023 where he was, in fact, riding at the front for Tadej after failing to drop him before Tadej attacked and dropped him.
KerisVroom10-03-2025 - Yes, but Pogacar is considered an outlier among modern GT riders. Modern GT riders mostly focus on stage races.KerisVroom10-03-2025
- Who f-ing cares what Doper says? Why are you giving this windbag air time?critguy10-03-2025
- And yet you were the only one commenting on the article... Ignore it and maybe they will get the pointvappaxbipmv10-03-2025
- The simple fact that we don’t see Jonas racing any of the classics tells the difference between the two.Pedalmasher10-03-2025
- yes, the prior preparation must be rational and precise, but the races have so many dynamic variables, they are chaotic. Jonas and Tadej have different styles in responding to the situations. Tadej is flexible and very reactive on his own, more instinctive . Jonas' style is passive, static, he sticks to the previous plan and waits for instructions before modifying it, more calculated.
maria2024202410-03-2025