But only one Richie Porte up Old Willunga Hill today.

Richie blew the Tour Down Under away, a great ride. And behind him, in the chaos of the hill, Simon Gerrans gapped Cadel Evans in the last km and took enough bonus seconds to regain the Ochre jersey.

Cadel, brave Ulissi and Gerro fought out the Battle of Willunga today. Ulissi took second behind Porte, but Simon Gerrans won the war.

This 2014 Tour Down Under officially wins my prize as the most combative Tour ever.

Here is the 6th episode of the Squeaky Wheel’s special Tour Down Under podcasts … we’re getting longer as the Tour goes on, sorry about that! There was a lot to talk about today!!

Jensie … 10 years ago I would have done it easy with one leg behind my back.

Friend of the Squeaky Wheel Jack Haig is looking very solid in the White Jersey for best young rider.

If Cadel Evans is looking for a lullaby tonight, this would be what I would suggest …

The battle for the Ochre jersey at the 2014 Tour Down Under went into total dogfight mode today. It’s kind of a “clean” way to win the jersey, by dropping everyone on the steepest climb of the whole tour, and holding on to win by 15 seconds. That’s what Cadel did yesterday.

But today, Simon Gerrans and Orica-Green Edge let Cadel know that this did not mean the battle was over. Gerrans clawed back five seconds in two intermediate sprints (first and second places in those sprints), and now trails Cadel by only 7 seconds. There are still two stages to go, with sprints and hill-top finishes and all sorts of opportunity for the fiercest possible bike racing.

Today was a day for the sprinters! Or one particular sprinter, in Andre Greipel. He won so convincingly that his lead-out man Jurgen Roelandts followed him home in second.

Andre Greipel grabs the handlebars after his hands-in-the-air celebration started to go wrong, as he won Stage 4 oh-so-comfortably in the sprint into Victor Harbour.

Our podcast today focusses on the tactical battle, and how Gerrans’ sprinting advantage gives him the means to take back the Ochre jersey. But that doesn’t mean that he will, because Evans is such a competitor as well.

Listen and share, people. Listen and share!

And make sure you listen to the ABC radio version of the Squeaky Wheel at 5 am Saturday (Sunday 2pm on digital), cos it includes some stuff not on the podcast!

Cadel Evans rides away from Richie Porte on the climb of Corkscrew Road, at the end of Stage 3 of the Tour Down Under.

It isn’t widely known that Thursday every year in the Tour Down Under is Ladies Day.

That’s because it’s only a tradition with a group of ladies who I met on the last switchback on Corkscrew Rd. Georgie and Lisa and Narelle get together every year, and have a picnic somewhere on the course on Ladies Day. They have have eskies and picnic tables (with tablecloth, of course), umbrellas, the works. It is fine dining (and wining) in the great outdoors.

Here’s some of the conversation I had with the ladies while we waited for the riders to show up and join the party.

But what a party when the peloton did come along. The Corkscrew climb starts 11km from the finish, and tops out just 7.4 downhill km from the end.

Our episode of the Squeaky Wheel starts with me commenting live on the Corkscrew as the pointy end of the Tour Down Under came past me.

To put this into some perspective … Cadel averaged about 24km/h up the Corkscrew climb, and got into the big ring about 400m from the top. I was on my smallest gear, and probably going about 10 km/h.

Have a listen … I get pretty excited!

Diego Ulissi of Lampre takes Stage 2 of the 2014 Tour Down Under, besting Simon Gerrans in the sprint, and cutting Gerrans’ lead to only 7 seconds.

In the song by Eric Clapton’s 60’s band Cream, brave Ulysses‘ “naked ears were tortured by the sirens sweetly singing.”

Fortunately for you, your ears only have the sweet sounds of Nick O’Donnell and myself chatting enthusiastically about the Tour Down Under, in the third episode of the Squeaky Wheel TDU podcast, featuring the great win by Diego Ulissi, the Italian rider from the Italian team Lampre.

There are no recorded instances of listeners being driven mad by the sound of either Nick’s voice or mine. Added bonus for this episode only: we don’t sing.

So have a listen to our discussion about Stage 2, and our prognostications on the urgent and exciting subject of Stage 3 and The Corkscrew!

Neil van der Ploeg (left, UniSA) and Will Clarke (Drapac) were the two Australians who comprised the breakaway on Stage 1 of the Tour Down Under. They didn’t stay away to the finish, but Clarke did pick up the prize as Most Competitive Rider.

The favourite, Simon Gerrans, is certainly living up to his billing here at Tour Down Under. Stage 1 today was from Nuriootpa (try saying that on a podcast) to Angaston, a distance of 135km.  Gerrans won in an uphill sprint finish from Andre Greipel, neatly destroying the category differences between GC contenders and sprinters.

So Gerrans owns both the ochre jersey as leader and the green jersey as points leader.

Here is the second episode of the Squeaky Wheel’s special Tour Down Under podcast, featuring the wit and wisdom of Nicholas O’Donnell, and little old me.

Have a listen, hope you enjoy it! Thanks for the excellent feedback from friends at home who are listening.