Richie Porte wins stage 3, takes lead in Tour Down Under

Australian Richie Porte seized the overall lead in the Tour Down Under cycle race Thursday when he out-climbed his rivals in the hilltop finish of the third stage at Paracombe.

Porte won the stage in 2017 and went on to win the tour. He made the same audacious break on the last climb Thursday to distance his rivals and take possession of the tour leader's jersey.

The first two stages of the six-stage race — first event of the UCI World tour — were won by sprinters: Ireland's Sam Bennett took the first stage and Australia's Caleb Ewan the second.

Thursday's hilly 131 kilometer (81 mile) third stage from Unley to Paracombe was designed for climbers such as Porte and it was inevitable the winner would push the sprinters out of the top places on general classification. With another tough climb to come in the finishing stage at Willunga on Sunday, Porte seems well-placed to claim his second win in his home tour.

Porte won Thursday's stage by a wide margin from Australian Rob Power and Britain's Simon Yates, who courageously stayed in the race after suffering a gashed knee in a fall on Wednesday's second stage.

He finished the stage with a six-second lead on general classification over two-time defending champion Daryl Impey of South Africa. Power is nine seconds behind Porte in third place and Yates is two seconds further back in fourth.

"The team were fantastic today firstly," Porte said. "I have to take my cap off to those boys.

"They put all their faith in me, they did a fantastic job in controlling it. I felt good at the bottom of the climb and got a bit of a gap there. It's a pity there was a bit of a headwind in the climb because I think we could have done some real damage."

The stage was a tough one, featuring more than 2,600 meters (8,500 feet) of climbing. Riders passed from Unley in suburban Adelaide through Crafers, Cudlee Creek, fire-ravaged Lobethal, Gumeracha, Inglewood and Houghton.

There were four laps of an 11km (6.5 mile) circuit through Paracombe before the race reversed and came back through the finish line in the opposite direction. The last climb featured a 20 percent gradient at the base and 11 percent overall, favoring the powerful Porte.