Enrico Battaglin moved to seventh place overall in the general classification of the Tour Down Under after the second stage Wednesday. After a hectic final to Stirling, he finished tenth behind the day’s winner Jay McCarthy (Tinkoff).

The 132-kilometre stage from Unley to Stirling, which concluded with five laps of 21 kilometres, was a quiet one for the most part. Adam Hansen (Lotto-Soudal) was the only escapee of the day and he gained two and a half minutes. When he was caught, Caleb Ewan, the winner of the first stage, was dropped by the peloton. It was the start of a hectic finish.

“The race was in control until the final eight kilometres,” sports director Frans Maassen said. “We tried to bring George Bennett, Primoz Roglic and Enrico Battaglin to good positions for the final afterwards. Enrico was well placed until a group of riders crashed. Because of that crash, we had to give an extra effort to lead him out perfectly. Had the crash not happened, he could have taken a better result than this 10^th place.”