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RACE REPORTS: TOUR DOWN UNDER STAGE 3: VALVERDE AND EVANS STRIKE
Road Bike Action & AFP
January 20, 2010
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(Photo: Yuzuru Sunada)
World champion Cadel Evans shook up the Tour Down Under with a blistering ride in the race's third stage. The home favorite appeared unfazed by the 42 degree Celsius (108 Fahrenheit) heat on the stage from Unley to Stirling to finish third behind Portugal's Manuel Cardoso and Alejandro Valverde.
Germany's Andre Greipel crossed 23rd to retain the leader's jersey and a 14-second advantage over Team Sky's Greg Henderson, who also finished in the leading group. Evans, who has stood by as seven-time Tour de France Armstrong attracts huge media and public interest, said he had surprised even his own BMC team over the 133 kilometer (83 miles) stage with the lung-busting finish.
 Cardoso took the stage ahead of Valverde and Evans (Photo: Yuzuru Sunada)
"Coming in the last kilometer, it was like riding in slow-motion almost, everyone was so exhausted," said Evans. "It was a tough little race, early in the season, that changes everything around. My team are all a bit disappointed: I told them not to ride for me today, and then I came third!"
Armstrong, who came out of retirement last year and is targeting an eighth Tour de France win this year, overcame an early puncture but was clearly unsettled by the heat and "relentless" course. "It was hot, definitely hot. It takes a toll on everybody. You see guys suffering a bit. You see the salt on everybody's jersey and you know it's a tough day," he said. "This is the day that's never flat and also windy. Tough, tough stage... In the sprint the top guys were spread across the road, and everybody looked round and said, 'I can't go, I'm dead'."
Several riders went down in an early crash, and then a five-man break was snuffed out with 20 kilometers to go during the punishing final loop around Stirling. Greipel's HTC-Columbia and Armstrong's Team RadioShack lined up for the sprint but were unable to deliver as Footon-Servetto-Fuji's Cardoso came through for a surprise stage win in his first professional race.
"I don't think I have a chance to win overall, I have had a lot of hard days over the first couple of days of this race and I'm probably too far behind," Cardoso said. "But it was really important for me, it is my first pro race, first pro team, first ProTour victory for me, so it is a very important win."
Henderson was happy just to have kept up the pressure on Greipel after an arduous day in the saddle. "It was just a scorcher out there. Everybody was just melting," he said. "I held on there for as long as I could. I couldn't sprint, I couldn't go for the win but I still made it in first in the group so I'm pretty happy with that. I couldn't do anything else, I was absolutely on the limit."
The Tour Down Under, the southern hemisphere's biggest race, is held over 800 kilometers (500 miles) around Adelaide with the final stage on Sunday.
Tour Down Under: Stage 3 Unley - Stirling 132.5km
1. Manuel Cardoso (POR) Footon-Servetto-Fuji) 3:14:38
2. Alejandro Valverde (ESP/Caisse D'Epargne) @ .01
3. Cadel Evans (AUS/BMC) @ s.t
4. Peter Sagan (SVK/Liquigas Doimo)
5. Mauro Finetto (ITA/Liquigas Doimo)
6. Michael Rogers (AUS/HTC-Columbia)
7. Luke Roberts (AUS/Milram)
8. Markus Fothen (GER/Milram)
9. Anthony Roux (FRA/Francaise des Jeux)
10. Eduard Vorganov (RUS/Katusha)
Selected:
30. Lance Armstrong (USA/Team RadioShack)
31. GregHenderson (NZL/Sky)
Overall
1. Andre Greipel (GER/HTC-Columbia) 9:53:38
2. Greg Henderson (NZL/Sky) @ .14
3. Gert Steegmans (BEL/RadioShack) s.t.
4. Alejandro Valverde (ESP/Caisse D'Epargne)
5. Robbie McEwen (AUS/Katusha) @ .16
6. Jurgen Roelandts (BEL/Omega Pharma-Lotto) s.t.
7. Cadel Evans (AUS/BMC)
8. Andriy Grivko (UKR/Astana) @ .19
9. Graeme Brown (AUS/Rabobank @ .20
10. Robbie Hunter (RSA/Garmin-Transitions) s.t.
Selected:
26. Lance Armstrong (USA/RadioShack) s.t.
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