It looked odds on for another Mitchelton-Scott sprint victory on a scorcher of day in Adelaide – right up until it wasn’t.

Stage 3: Glenelg to Victor Harbor, 120.5km

Elia Viviani exhibited all his track skills to give his new team Quick-Step Floors their first win of the season. The Italian burst through late and fast to catch Caleb Ewan (Mitchelton-Scott) on the hop. Sunweb’s Phil Bauhaus nipped through to grab second place from the Aussie speedster. Ewan still holds the leaders jersey by 10secs from teammate Daryl Impey. #YoungDude Nickolas Dlamini (Dimension Data) gained maximum points in the mountain competition and sits pretty in polkas.

Video…

Let’s look at that finish in detail, Viviani’s acceleration is so impressive, and Bauhaus shows great sprint craft.

Round of applause to the Wolfpack’s social media for this

The heat is on…

Race organisers shortened the stage by 26km due to the extreme heat. This was absolutely the right decision. However, when the thermometer hits marks close to 50°C you have to ask if they should have been racing at all.

Some riders have more adjustments to make than others

With furnace like temperatures to be endured, the riders took every opportunity to cool off post race..

A welcome cooling breeze

A dip in the sea

Dreams of colder climes

All Aussie GC scrap…

There’s a fascinating Aussie tussle between Katusha Alpecin’s Nathan Haas and Jay McCarthy (BORA-hansgrohe) for every bonus second they can get their hands on. If they’re not dueling each other, their teammates mop up the bonuses. So far 4th placed McCarthy is holding a 3sec advantage in GC on Mr Haas in 5th. With the serious climbs looming, this scrap is only going to get fiercer.  Love the handshake in this clip.

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Header image: Elia Viviani  © Kei Tsuji/Tim De Waele via Getty Images