Greig Leach

It was a little strange to see the former winner of the Tour de France being dropped by the peloton on the final climb of Mengler Hill. To be fair, Geraint Thomas (Ineos-Grenadiers) had been driving the pace on the front of the peloton to keep his teammates well positioned before the turn onto the climb. Just ahead two riders, one from Alpecin-Decuninck and another from Intermache-Wanty were losing touch with the main peloton as well. According to Phil Liggett, Thomas finished dead last in the opening stage of the 25th Tour Down Under, as well.