Elia Viviani won the opening stage of the Tour Down Under in Tanunda on Tuesday as Deceuninck-QuickStep delivered a near-perfect leadout, while Sam Bennett won the opening stage of the Tour Down Under in Tanunda on Tuesday.

Viviani has benefited from Deceuninck-QuickStep leadouts in 2018 and 2019, winning 28 races, including the Tour Down Under opening stage last year. The Italian is racing for Cofidis in 2020 after being hired by the French team to lead the step up to the World Tour.

Viviani moved Simone Consonni and Fabio Sabatini to Cofidis, but they never connected in the Tour Down Under sprint, in contrast to Dečuninck-Quick Step's textbook sprint, Viviani had to settle for a fourth place finish.

"We knew that the Detunink Quickstep would be a huge advantage for Bennett. He is a top sprinter and doesn't make mistakes when he has a chance to win," Viviani told Cycling News after reflecting in the Cofidis team car and removing his race clothes.

"When the sprint started I was only three away from Bennett. The problem was before that, between three kilometers and 250 meters to go. We weren't where we should have been and we got stuck in a scrum. When that happens, you have to hit your fist with one and your shoe with the other. We would hit the gas pedal and loosen up, then hit the gas pedal and loosen up. I did too many sprints before the sprints that really mattered. That was the problem."

Viviani is not angry - it was only his second sprint of the 2020 season - but Cofidis intends to have a detailed debriefing to learn what went wrong.

"It's about learning how to do it right," Viviani said.

"We will debrief to understand where we lost each other. Consonni must stay with Sabatini after him.

Viviani hopes to bounce back in Wednesday's second stage to Stirling, but knows it won't be easy to win.

"I will try. I've finished in the top 10 in Stirling in the past, but sprinting is hard and not all sprinters fight for victory.