ADELAIDE, Australia -- Italy's Elia Viviani slipped through a tiny gap near the finish line to win the first stage of the Tour Down Under on Tuesday as riders faced the dual challenge of extreme heat and strong winds.
Viviani was tucked back in the peloton, behind triple world champion Peter Sagan, as riders raced toward the finish of the 129-kilometer stage at Port Adelaide.
First Danny van Poppel of the Netherlands, then Germany's Maximilian Richard Walscheid hit the front in the straight sprint to the finish, and Walscheid looked to have made the winning burst.
But Viviani, who fell during the 50-kilometer tour prelude on Sunday, showed fearlessness as he threaded his way along the crowd barriers to dash past Walscheid for the stage victory.
Riders had to contend with temperatures in the high 30s Celsius (about 100 degrees Fahrenheit) as they raced through the Adelaide Hills. Then they contended with heat and crosswinds on the long ride along a broad and exposed motorway to the finish.
Organizers intended to finish with a 3.4-km circuit, but after concerns about the heat, winds and possible traffic problems, they opted for a straight run to the finish.
"Today the plan was to wait a little bit and put me in the best position," Viviani said. "Also the lead out guys had to bring some wind in the face from five kilometers to one kilometer out. Sometimes the danger is you don't have the space to go through, but I found a little space on the left on the barriers."
Viviani claimed the win for his Deceuninck-Quick Step team ahead of Walscheid. Italy's Jakub Mareczko was third. Sagan finished in eighth place with the same time as the winner.