|
|
RACE REPORTS: TOUR DOWN UNDER STAGE 6: GREIPEL CLAIMS OVERALL
Road Bike Action & AFP
January 23, 2010
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
(Yuzuru Sunada)
Germany's Andre Greipel clinched an emphatic second Tour Down Under victory on Sunday, just a year after he spectacularly crashed out of the race. The big HTC-Columbia rider ended the final stage fifth, preserving his overall lead of 11 seconds behind Chris Sutton and Greg Henderson's one-two finish for Team Sky. "I'm really happy, and for the team as well," Greipel said. "The team did a really good job the last week. I'm just really happy." American cycling legend Lance Armstrong, who is building towards this year's Tour de France, started the day 47 seconds adrift and did not finish among the leaders.
Team Sky took over in the final section of Sunday's stage in central Adelaide, with Chris Sutton and Greg Henderson claiming the new outfit's second one-two finish of the week. Henderson placed third overall, putting Sky on the podium in their very first race as they bid to produce Britain's first ever Tour de France champion. Spain's Luis Leon Sanchez took second overall.
Greipel, 27, crashed out of last year's race when as defending champion, he ploughed into a parked police motorbike and spent four months out with shoulder surgery. He has dominated this week, claiming the first two stages with trademark sprint finishes and then eclipsing an Armstrong attack with another powerful dash on day four.
In Sunday's stage six, Australia's Wesley Sulzberger threatened to pull a sensational upset when he opened up a 43-second lead in a three-man break with four laps of the central Adelaide circuit to go. But the runaways were caught with 2.5 kilometers to go and the blue-and-black-clad Sky riders controlled the last section, adding to their first and second places in last Sunday's pre-Tour street race.
The six-stage Tour Down Under, raced over 800 kilometers (500 miles) of road around Adelaide, has grown into one of Australia's biggest sporting events attracting hundreds of thousands of fans.
Tour Down Under: Stage 6, Adelaide 90km
1. Chris Sutton (Aus/Team Sky) 1:53:20
2. Greg Henderson (NZl/Team Sky) @ s.t.
3. Graeme Brown (Aus/Rabobank)
4. Robbie McEwen (Aus/Team Katusha)
5. Andre Greipel (Ger/HTC-Columbia)
6. Allan Davis (Aus/Astana)
7. Matthew Goss (Aus/HTC-Columbia)
8. Yauheni Hutarovich (Blr/Francaise Des Jeux)
9. Gert Steegmans (Bel/RadioShack)
Selected:
18. Cadel Evans (AUS/BMC) s.t.
44. Alejandro Valverde (ESP/Caisse D'Epargne)
47. Luis Leon Sanchez (ESP/Caisse D'Epargne)
77. Lance Armstrong (USA/RadioShack @ .16
Final Overall
1. Andre Greipel (GER/HTC-Columbia) 18:47:05
2. Luis Leon Sanchez (ESP/Caisse D'Epargne)@ .11
3. Greg Henderson (NZL/Sky) @ .15
4. Robbie McEwen (AUS/Katusha) @ .17
5. Luke Roberts (AUS/Milram) s.t.
6. Cadel Evans (AUS/BMC) @ .21
7. Eduard Vorganov (RUS/Katusha) @ .25
8. Jurgen Roelandts (BEL/Omega Pharma-Lotto) @ .26
9. Robbie Hunter (RSA/Garmin-Transitions) s.t.
10. Markus Fothen (GER/Milram) @ .27
Selected:
19. Alejandro Valverde (ESP/Caisse D'Epargne) @ .32
25. Lance Armstrong (USA/RadioShack) @ 1:03 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|