Brennan delivers late boost for Visma as Vine wraps up Tour Down Under despite kangaroo crash

Stage 5 brought the race to Stirling for eight laps of a hilly circuit that promised a final chance to unsettle the general classification, with constant rises and dips offering room for a late raid.

A breakaway formed after a flurry of early attacks, with Baptiste Veistroffer (Lotto-Intermarché), Robert Stannard (Bahrain-Victorious) and Fabio van den Bossche (Soudal-Quick Step) getting clear first. The race stayed jumpy, and later Luke Plapp (Jayco AlUla) and Pascal Eenkhoorn (Soudal-Quick Step) bridged across to Stannard, before Pavel Novak (Movistar Team) also made it to the front as the gap briefly grew.

UAE Team Emirates-XRG were thinner than they would have liked to control after losing Jhoantan Narvaéz and Vegard Stake Laengen in stage 4, and the team faced another setback early on when a crash rippled through the peloton after a kangaroo appeared roadside. 

Jay Vine was caught up in it, had to change bikes and chase back on, but returned to the bunch once the pace eased. The incident still left a mark, with Mikkel Bjerg forced to abandon and Juan Sebastián Molano also exiting later, leaving Vine with only a reduced support group for the run to Stirling.

The situation though never drifted out of reach for the Australian leader, helped by other teams keeping the move in check. 

The real danger came on the penultimate lap when the climbs finally bit and attacks started to stick from the peloton. Santiago Buitrago (Bahrain-Victorious) went with 21 kilometres to go and was joined by Gal Glivar and Movistar pair Jefferson Alveiro Cepeda and Javier Romo, last year’s runner up. The front group was swept up in the shake-up and the remnants were quickly shed.

The attackers carried around half a minute into the final 7 kilometres, most of it uphill, but the chase ramped hard as multiple teams committed to bringing it back. With 3 kilometres left the advantage had been slashed, Romo had been dropped from the move, and the final kilometres became a full speed drag race toward a sprint.

Visma took control inside the final kilometre, lining things up for Brennan after a committed lead out. INEOS Grenadiers surged to the front and Brady Gilmore (NSN Cycling Team) launched early for Team Jayco AlUla, looking set to steal it with a long, powerful effort. Brennan waited, then drove past in the final metres to take the stage and a much needed win for Visma after a disapointing week so far.

Behind him, Fisher-Black snatched second and Lund Andresen completed the podium, while GC leader Jay Vine stayed out of trouble to secure his second overall victory at the Tour Down Under, adding to his first title in 2023, with Mauro Schmid (Team Jayco-AlUla) and Harry Sweeny (EF Education-EasyPost) both finishing more than a minute down on the Australian.