Brady Gilmore hedged his bet with an early sprint and came so close to the win on stage 5 of the Tour Down Under in what was another impressive result from the neo pro in his maiden WorldTour race.

With eight laps of a hilly course in Stirling and more than 3000 meters of climbing, it was always going to be a tough day of racing. Having lost Corbin Strong following a crash on stage 1 and Jake Stewart to a crash yesterday, the team backed Gilmore to take his chance on the final day in the Adelaide Hills,

With the breakaway caught inside the final two kilometers, Gilmore surfed the wheels perfectly and launched his sprint from behind with around 300 meters to go. After getting the jump on the rest of the field, Gilmore dug deep and looked set to hang on but was ultimately denied in the final 50 meters with Matthew Brennan (Visma – Lease A Bike) coming around him to take the win.

“I can’t thank the boys enough for setting me up today and giving me the opportunity,” said Gilmore. “Coming into the final, I knew I had to be on the right side of the road because it was the shortest run to the line. I gambled a bit there and got boxed in slightly. By the time I found my way out, the bunch was already strung out and I was maybe seventh wheel or so.

“I started moving up, hoping a gap would open, but it didn’t. At that point I had to go early. I’d rather go early and get overtaken on the line than wait too long and get boxed in or run out of road. So, I’m happy with it. I gave it everything, maybe I went 20 or 30 meters too early, but I’m still learning. The legs are good, and overall I’m happy with the day.”

Gilmore leaves the race not just happy with his results and form, but with a eye opening experience in WorldTour racing.

“It’s crazy, honestly,” adds Gilmore. “All racing is hard, but this is different. You’re doing personal-best power numbers before you even hit the key sections. They race full gas into everything. That’s the big difference, you’re doing a huge effort before the real effort even starts.”

Sports Director Sam Bewley praised Gilmore’s approach to the stage, making the most of the opportunity presented.

“With Corbin out of the race, it gave us the chance to back Brady on a finish that really suited him,” explained Bewley. “The stage probably wasn’t as hard or as reduced as we expected, but it was still a very good finish for him and he was excited about the opportunity. The guys really rallied around Brady, guided him through the final, and did everything they needed to do to give him a chance to sprint for the win, which was awesome. He showed his talent today, and I think it highlights what he’s capable of and that he can win at WorldTour level. He was very close.”

After Ethan Vernon’s win on stage 4 and top-ten results every stage with the exception of stage 2, when Nick Schultz finished 11th, the team can be proud of its first race as NSN Cycling Team said Bewley.

“Looking at the week as a whole, I think we can be really happy. Pat (McCarty) and I were talking about it in the car on the way back. We’ve had three top fives, a stage win, and a second place. We came here with the objective of stage results and stage wins rather than an overriding GC ambition, and we achieved that with yesterday’s stage win and some really close placings. So it’s been a good start to the year for us, and now it’s onwards to Geelong for the Cadel Road Race.”

Photos: Sprint Cycling