Tour Down Under 2017 Route stage 2: Stirling - Paracombe

Wednesday, 18 January 2017 - In stage 2 of the Tour Dow Under the riders race from Stirling to Paracombe. The 148.5 kilometres route is hilly and the finish line is at the end of a steep climb. In the last 1.2 kilometres the road goes up with a 9.9% gradient.

Jay McCarthy, Juan José Lobato, Diego Ulissi and Tom-Jelte Slagter - they all powered to victory in Stirling. Yet, this edition the riders leave from the 'wettest place in South Australia' to race to Paracombe, where a steep closing climb probably is going to decide on the winner. In 2015 Rohan Dennis powered away from the pack to win solo, ahead of Cadel Evans and Tom Dumoulin.

The race is played out at an elevation of 300 to 600 metres, but with 30 kilometres to go the riders descent to around 100 metres. This is the quiet before the storm. Following a flat section of around 10 kilometres a steep uphill finish lays waiting. The arrival at Torrens Hill Road is the only KOM-climb in stage 2. And rightly so: in 1.2 kilometre the riders face a 9.9% gradient.

The first three riders on the line take time bonuses of 10, 6 and 4 seconds.

Results/race report 2nd stage 2017 Tour Down Under.