Tour Down Under | Stage 3
The uphill sprint finish into Stirling was brilliantly won by U23 World Champion, Michael Matthews (Rabobank).
The uphill sprint finish into Stirling was brilliantly won by U23 World Champion, Michael Matthews (Rabobank).
The big German triumphed once again on the 149.5km 4th stage from Norwood to Goolwa to further cement his lead on the overall.
Tomorrow will be a different day altogether, with two Australian directeurs sportif (Matty White for Garmin-Transitions and Neil Stephens for Caisse d’Epargne) trying to outwit another Australian DS (Allan Peiper for HTC-Columbia). Expect aggressive riding from Garmin and Caisse d’Epargne as the field tackles Old Willunga Hill twice in the closing stages, as they attempt to blow race leader Greipel out the back door. They’ll get plenty of support from Radioshack and Team BMC as well. Should be a cracking day’s racing.
In one of the most exciting days racing in the Tour Down Under’s recent history, some of the sport’s biggest names came out to play on the 132.5km stage from Unley to Stirling.
The stage got off to a typical start - aggressive riding from Team UniSA, this time it was Peter McDonald involved in the break; and in an indication of their intent on the undulating parcours, he was joined by riders from Caisse d’Epargne and Team Radioshack. At the base of the KOM, Thomas Rohregger (Team Milram) and Luke Roberts (Team Milram) surged past leading group, with Rohregger picking up maximum points and snatching the KOM jersey from Tim Roe.
Ivan Gutierrez (Caisse d’Epargne) and Cameron Meyer (Garmin Transitions) set off after the two riders from Milram in a move that was enough to bring the field back together. The next break was formed by Simon Clarke (Team UniSA) and Karsten Kroon (BMC Racing Team) and they were joined by Jack (the new Jensie) Bobridge (Garmin-Transitions), Maciej Paterski (Liquigas-Doimo), and to the delight of cycling fans across the globe, a rejuvenated Jens Voigt (Team Saxo Bank).
Back in the peloton, Caisse d’Epargne were turning the screws. Inexplicably, Matthew Lloyd (Omega Pharama – Lotto) somehow managed to escape their clutches and set off in pursuit of the break, in a ride reminiscent of his national championship victory in 2008. The heat and the undulating terrain was taking its toll up front as first the Europeans and then Bobridge were dropped. While back in the peloton Caisse d’Epargne worked hard to pull the field back together and set the finish up for Valverde.
In the final 500m Radioshack and Caisse d’Epargne were in control while the teams of the sprinters and the fast men themselves quickly found themselves out of their depth. The finish seemed tailor made for Valverde but it was the national Champ of Portugal, Manuel Cardoso (Footon Servetto) who jumped first, hotly pursued by World Champion Evans and then Valverde. But Cardoso was not to be headed - a terrific victory on a great day of racing.
In a seriously awesome display of sprinting power on a slightly uphill finish into Hahndorf, André Greipel (HTC-Columbia) claimed his second victory from as many stages at this year’s Tour Down Under. Greipel was forced to come from well back as the leadout trains of Radioshack, Rabobank, Team Sky and HTC-Columbia lost control of the run-in in the last 500 metres - and all the big names were forced to duke-it-out on their own from the 300 metre mark. Greipel was too strong and once again claimed victory by two bike lengths.
Just who can beat the mighty German this year? Probably only a boxing kangaroo in the world champ jersey. Or McEwen. Don’t count out the pocket rocket just yet.
A expected, the #1 lead-out train in the business, HTC-Columbia, got its ducks in a row on Stage 1 and avenged their surprise loss to Team Sky on Sunday. Andre Greipel dusted all-comers in a show of strength we’ve come to expect from the immensely talented German sprinter.
Today’s 141 km stage stuck fairly predictably to the script. A plucky breakaway, a few fireworks on Mengler’s Hill - the solitary climb for the day - and then the bulk of the field barreled into Tanunda for the sprint finish.
At the 17km mark, Tim Roe (UniSA), Martin Kohler (BMC Racing) and Biel Kadri (AG2R-La Mondiale) skipped away from the peloton, working diligently to build up a lead just shy of 10 minutes at 50km. It was then that HTC-Columbia sent their men forward to begin chipping away at the margin of the three escapees.
Ahead of the main field, Kohler collected maximum points on the two intermediate sprints. As the breakaway approached the KOM, the gap to the hard chasing peloton was down to 2:33 and UniSA youngster Roe took this as his cue to kick away from his two companions.
With the KOM points and jersey in the bag, Roe worked valiantly to keep the peloton at bay. But the teams of the sprinters were chasing hard now, hard enough to shed some 50 riders including defending champ, Allan Davis (Astana) as it powered over Mengler’s.
Inside the last 10kms, first Matt Wilson and then Jack Bobridge (Garmin-Transitions) attacked the main bunch but their forays were short-lived. HTC-Columbia, Rabobank, Milram, Radioshack and Team Sky were massed at the front and the sprint trains were being assembled. And this time the winningest team of 2009 would not make the same mistake as Sunday - Greipel took the win by two bike-lengths.
After dominating many of the off-season headlines for the wrong reasons with the soap opera that was the signing of Wiggins, Team Sky more than lived up to the hype yesterday with an emphatic victory over last year’s sprint champs. What was particularly pleasing about the win was that it came as a result of some disciplined, ballsy riding by hard-headed pros Matty Hayman, Russel Downing, CJ Sutton and Greg Henderson - rather than by one of their more high profile signings.
I’m really excited about what this means for big sprint finishes this year. I expect Columbia to bounce back (as quickly as Tuesday) but it’s now obvious they won’t have it all their own way in 2010. I’m pumped!
