Tour Down Under 2014 Stage 3 Cadel Evans VS Richie Porte

We filmed this LIVE from Tour Down Under 2014 Stage 3 Corkscrew Road.

Attack on the Corkscrew dropped Porte and Gerrans

Cadel Evans (BMC) rode to a morale boosting victory on Stage 3 at the Tour Down Under after attacking on the slopes of the Corkscrew, distancing his rivals to open a gap which he extended on the fast descent into Campbelltown to win by 15 seconds. Richie Porte (Sky) broke clear with Evans on the climb but couldn't sustain the speed that Evans was setting and was joined by Simon Gerrans (Orica-GreenEdge) who has put under pressure from Evans and the duo summited the climb together. They were joined by a larger group on the 7.4km descent to the finishline but could do nothing to reel in the 2011 Tour de France winner who has now won either a stage or jersey in three decades of racing the Tour Down Under.

"I had an idea of the opportunity I could get in Corkscrew climb and I knew what to do. My team did a fantastic job to position me where I had to be. I had been training well but winning is what we are here for," Evans said after claiming the stage win.

"It's amazing to be back racing in Australia and win. A stage race is all about the leader's jersey. Time bonus is the key to win this race overall. We'll see how it goes in the next stages. I haven't won the GC yet.

Gerrans had entered the stage as a favourite for the win with ds Matt White stating yesterday that Gerrans was undroppable in response to guestions that BMC and Sky would form an alliance today but Gerrans missed out on bonus seconds to concede the ochre jersey. "I didn't maintain the overall lead but that doesn't mean the race is lost yet, definitely not. Once on the climb it was everybody for himself, but the climb was so steep... In the downhill, that's where Cadel showed his strength. I'm disappointed to lose the ochre jersey but it's not over."

Despite losing contact with Evans on the climb, Porte shrugged off the result and is already targeting Saturday's stage up Willunga Hill. "Cadel was absolutely flying, I tried to go with him. In those hairpins, I couldn't stay with him, and he got away. It's a little disappointing, but Saturday is another hilltop finish, I am quite hopeful we have the team to at least get up there on the podium," Porte said.

"Yesterday, they were saying the same thing about Simon [that race is over]. I guess Saturday will decide it all."

Nathan Haas (Garmin-Sharp) won the bunch sprint for second and Diego Ulissi (Lampre-Merida) continued to impress with third place. With bonus seconds, Evans now holds a 12 second lead over Gerrans on a day when the gc was given a shake up. Rohan Dennis (Garmin-Sharp) was one rider who saw his ambitions for the win disappear as was Javi Moreno (Movistar) as both lost minutes.

The race came alive due when Evans decided to ride off the front and Porte was the only one who could go with him. Porte was keeping Evans company and looking strong but wasn't able to match Evans. Gerrans made his way up the road to Porte but instead of catching Evans they were caught by the group behind who lost time trying to organise the chase.

Gerrans was disappointed to lose the jersey but said the race was still wide open. "I don't think we've ever seen the leader, in the last couple of years, who has the leader's jersey early manages to win it. It's not going to be easy for Cadel. We're going to throw everything at him, that's for sure."