Despite Richie Porte's stage win in Paracom and Trek-Segafredo riders leading the race on Thursday's third stage of the Tour Down Under, Mitchelton Scott had defending champion Daryl Impey and climber Simon Yates, two riders in the top four overall, ready to pounce.

The morning opened with uncertainty for the Australian World Tour. Could Impey hang on to some of the race's best climbers on the steep 2km climb to Paracombe and remain in contention for a third straight Tour Down Under title?

The reply was a strong "yes, yes."

The day could have been better had Mitchelton-Scott finished the day leading either rider, but hopes for an overall Tour Down Under win are still alive and well, as the Australian World Tour team looks for another win on home soil, They will fight until the very end.

The next two stages, Norwood-Murray Bridge on Friday and Glenelg-Victor Harbor, Stage 5 on Saturday, will give Impy a chance to gain bonus seconds in intermediate sprints and sprinters.

And Sunday's final stage, with two climbs up Willunga Hill, gives Yates another chance to challenge Porte.

"I can't say if my knee injury affected me today or not. I just did my best," Yates told reporters at the finish.

"My knee was a little stiff in the morning, so I'm glad I didn't start off like I was running up the highway. But once I started running it just kept getting better and better."

Porte made a decisive attack on the final climb to the Paracombe finish.

"I could see Impey was close by on the climb, so I worked half for him and half for me," Yates said. He finished third in the stage in the same group as Rohan Dennis (Team Ineos) and George Bennett (Jumbo Visma).

"I want to pay tribute to Richie. He was a step above on these short little climbs," Yates added.

"I think a long climb like Willunga suits me better than today and what we do as a team.

"I think it's a big advantage," Yates' teammate Impey said of having two riders in a position to potentially win the race.

"Simon rode incredibly well today after his crash yesterday. For me personally, I think I had a good race. I'm very happy to have finished in the select group at the end, but I'm also very happy to have finished in the top group.

"We battled a little bit on the lower slopes and then settled down a little bit near the top. But I think we are in a great situation. Obviously, I would love to take the leader's jersey, but there are still a lot of bonuses and a lot of opportunities in the race.

"I knew Ritchie would try to win here and he was too good for anyone else. But the gap is small and we'll go back to our usual plan," White said.

He confirmed that Mitchelton Scott's plan A was the tried and true tactic of gaining bonus time on the inpay and hanging on to a player like Porte on the climb.

"Richie is in pole position," White admitted, "but we've been in similar situations before, and Darryl is only six seconds behind.

"There's still a lot to play for, and as I said earlier in the week, there's a lot of wind in the forecast for the next couple of days, so it's going to be pretty tricky."

White said that if Yates did not get the all-clear, the team would naturally put Yates at risk and was not going to let him start on Thursday's stage.

"We weren't going to put him in pain or risk long-term damage. The doctor was happy that Simon could cope with the pain and it was a good result. The fact that the pain was tolerable for him today was a big bonus for us," he explained.

"I think it would have been a little easier for Simon if he had no injuries and two functioning knees, but he was rolled by Robert Power (Sunweb) in the last 30 cm to take second place.

As a result, Yates received only 4 seconds for third place instead of the 6 second bonus given to second place.

"But he is in a good position, and overall, his knee is in better shape than expected.