User:Formula164457/sandbox/2014 Tour Down Under

The 2014 Santos Tour Down Under was the 16th edition of the Tour Down Under stage race. It took place from 21 to 26 January and was the first race of the 2014 UCI World Tour.

The race was won by Dutch rider Lieuwe Westra of the team, after taking back the lead on the penultimate stage of the race and held the race leader's ochre jersey to the finish, the next day, in Adelaide. Westra also won the third stage of the race in Campbelltown where he had taken the race lead, before losing it the next stage to José Joaquin Rojas thanks to sprint bonuses. Westra's winning margin over runner-up Richie Porte from and third-placed 's Diego Ulissi was three seconds. Like Westra, Porte won one stage of the race, winning the queen stage at Willunga Hill. Rojas won the opening stage in Angaston and held the race lead for three days. The other stages were won by German sprinters André Greipel and Marcel Kittel  in Victor Harbor and Adelaide, respectively, and Jan Bakelants who won the second stage at Stirling for.

The race's other classifications were swept by Australian riders, as Gerrans' consistent finishes across the week ensured that he won the blue jersey for the sprints classification on equal points with Rojas. Gerrans was still classified ahead by virtue of placing higher in the general classification. rider Rory Sutherland was the winner of the mountains classification and 's Rohan Dennis was the winner of the young rider classification, finishing ninth overall, while the teams classification was won by Gerrans' outfit.

Participating teams
As the Tour Down Under is a UCI World Tour event, all 18 UCI ProTeams were invited automatically and obligated to send a squad. Australian teams Avanti Racing Team and received a wildcard invitation, completing the event's 20-team peloton.

The 20 teams invited to the race were:

Pre-race favourites
Among the starting list, three riders were picked as general classification favourites. These were Australians Richie Porte, Cadel Evans and Simon Gerrans. Other noted possible contenders were Lieuwe Westra, Robert Gesink , Diego Ulissi , José Joaquin Rojas and Frank Schleck. The start list also featured several top sprinters, with the likes of Francesco Gavazzi (Astana), Elia Viviani, Marcel Kittel , Roberto Ferrari (Lampre-Merida), Matthew Goss (Orica-GreenEDGE), Mark Renshaw and Tour Down Under regular André Greipel ( all looking to test each other early into the season. 2013 winner Edvald Boasson Hagen (Team Sky), does not feature in the startlist with his team's leadership handed to Porte.

Classification leadership table
In the 2014 Tour Down Under, four different jerseys were awarded. For the general classification, calculated by adding each cyclist's finishing times on each stage, the leader received an ochre jersey. This classification was considered the most important of the 2014 Tour Down Under, and the winner of the classification was considered the winner of the race.

Additionally, there was a sprints classification, which awarded a blue jersey. In the sprints classification, cyclists received points for finishing in the top 15 in a stage. For winning a stage, a rider earned 15 points, with one point fewer per place down to a single point for 15th place. Points towards the classification could also be accrued at intermediate sprint points during each stage; these intermediate sprints also offered bonus seconds towards the general classification. There was also a mountains classification, the leadership of which was marked by a green jersey. In the mountains classification, points were won by reaching the top of a climb before other cyclists, with more points available for the higher-categorised climbs.

The fourth jersey represented the young rider classification, marked by a white jersey. This was decided in the same way as the general classification, but only riders born after 1 January 1990 were eligible to be ranked in the classification. There was also a classification for teams, in which the times of the best three cyclists per team on each stage were added together; the leading team at the end of the race was the team with the lowest total time. Additionally, the most aggressive rider, or riders, of each stage were recognized on the podium.


 * Notes:
 * In stages 2, 3, and 5, Simon Gerrans, who was second in the sprints classification, wore the blue jersey, because José Joaquin Rojas (in first place), wore the ochre jersey as leader of the general classification during those stages.
 * In stages 4 and 5, Rory Sutherland, who was second in the mountains classification, wore the green jersey, because Lieuwe Westra (in first place), wore the ochre jersey as leader of the general classification during those stages.