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RACE REPORTS: CANCER CLASSIC: MCEWEN WINS, ARMSTRONG IN THE SPOTLIGHT
Road Bike Action & AFP
January 18, 2009
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McEwen takes the victory ahead of Willem Stroetinga and Graeme Brown
(Photo: Yuzuru Sunada)
Australian Robbie McEwen, of the Katusha team, claimed the victory honors in the 51km Cancer Classic criterium, which traditionally precedes the Tour Down Under. But all eyes were on the 37-year-old Texan who famously battled cancer in1997 before going on to win a record seven yellow jerseys at the Tour de France between 1999-2005.
Although Armstrong's official comeback will take place at the race's first stage on Tuesday (the criterium here is not an International Cycling Union (UCI) sanctioned race) Armstrong still courted plenty of attention. An estimated crowd of over 130,000, according to organizers, turned out to watch the proceedings, with crowd favorite McEwen stunning a strong Columbia team with a late surge at the finish line.
By that time Armstrong had dropped into safer realms near the back of the main bunch and afterwards admitted it had been a fun but nervous experience. "I'm glad it's over," said Armstrong, who is far more suited to stage racing than hectic criteriums where the threat of crashes is ever present. "There was a lot of anxiety today but it was good for a first day." Asked how he enjoyed racing back in the bunch, Armstrong added: "Yeah, it's not my style but I enjoyed it. Honestly, I had fun today."
Columbia appeared to be lining up one of their sprinters for a bunch finish to the race, held over 30 laps of a 1.7km circuit, until McEwen spoiled their plans. The Belgium-based sprinter from Brisbane is a three-time winner of the Tour de France green jersey for the sprinter's points competition and produced a cracking finish to score his first, albeit unofficial, victory for his new Russian team.
"This is our very first race together and I've already showed that we're well organized," said McEwen, who beat young Dutchman Wilem Stroetinga into second place at the finish. "It's the start of the season and we're lacking race condition but the guys did a great job keeping me up near the front, out of the wind and then it was just a case of positioning."
Armstrong's team manager at Astana, Johan Bruyneel, admitted it was a relief finally to see the American back racing after a three and a half year break. "It's a special day. There's been all this talk about the comeback and now it's finally a fact," said the Belgian, who said here earlier he was shocked when Armstrong announced his intention to return last September. "This is an important moment. He's finally a bike racer again. I could see he was really enjoying it."
The first stage of the Tour Down Under is Tuesday's 145km ride from Norwood to Mawson Lakes. Armstrong has said, and Bruyneel confirmed Sunday, that he would be keen to test his racing condition on one of more challenging stages, such as stage two or five. "It's definitely not our ambition to win here," added Bruyneel. "But what is sure is that if Lance feels good on a certain stage, he will want to test himself."
Cancer Classic Criterium Adelaide, Australia, 51 km
1. Robbie McEwen (AUS) Katusha 1hr 04min 32sec,
2. Willem Stroetinga (NED) same time,
3. Graeme Brown (AUS) s.t.,
4. Andre Greipel (GER) s.t.,
5. Jose-Joaquim Rojas (ESP) s.t.,
6. Allan Davis (AUS) s.t.,
7. Baden Cooke (AUS) s.t.,
8. Francesco Chicchi (ITA) s.t.
9. Hilton Clarke (AUS) at 1sec,
10.Chris Sutton (AUS) s.t.
64. Lance Armstrong (USA)
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