'He's done a lot of his results by himself with brute force, but this was a team effort' – Jayco AlUla take positives from Tour Down Under second-place finish for Mauro Schmid

STIRLING, AUSTRALIA - JANUARY 25: Ben O'Connor of Australia, Luke Durbridge of Australia, Rudy Porter of Australia, Hamish McKenzie of Australia, Kelland O'Brien of Australia, Luke Plapp of Australia, Mauro Schmid of Switzerland and Team Jayco AlUla celebrate at podium as best team prize winners during the 26th Santos Tour Down Under 2026, Stage 5 a 169.8km stage from Stirling to Stirling / #UCIWT / on January 25, 2026 in Stirling, Australia. (Photo by Con Chronis/Getty Images).

When a rider wins the general classification by the second-biggest margin in the race's history, you can't help but be happy with second place, and that was exactly the case for Jayco AlUla as Mauro Schmid confirmed his runner-up spot behind Jay Vine at Sunday's Tour Down Under finale.

The race for the Ochre jersey was all but wrapped up by the end of stage 2, when Vine attacked away and notched up what would become an unassailable lead of more than a minute.