Support road.cc

Like this site? Help us to make it better.

news

Tour Down Under Stage 1: Simon Gerrans outrsprints André Greipel to take race lead

Two-time winners go head-to-head in WorldTour season opener in South Australia

Simon Gerrans of Orica-GreenEdge, looking to become a record three-time winner of the Santos Tour Down Under, is the first leader of this year’s 16th edition of the race after beating the only other current rider to have one it twice, Lotto-Belisol’s André Greipel, to take victory in Angaston.

Time bonuses mean that Gerrans has a lead of 5 seconds over Greipel, with Garmin-Sharp’s Steele Von Hoff, who followed the pair across the line, third overall.

"I guess I’ve surprised a few, myself included," reflected Gerrans following the 135km stage from Nuriootpa, which went ahead as planned after the threat to safety from bush fires receded.

"Obviously André (Greipel) is one of the fastest sprinters around.

"It was a tough finale and everyone was tired. I had to sprint really late because of the head wind.

“Looking towards the end of the week, it might have been better if André had the lead but we’ve seen in the past few years that this race is won or lost by seconds, so you have to take every opportunity.

"Every second counts. I hope it’s not too early to hold the jersey but we have a fantastic squad here, so I’m optimistic for keeping the lead till the end," he added.

Two riders broke away early on during the stage, Will Clarke of Drapac and Neil van der Ploeg of the UniSA-Australia team, building a lead of around 3 minutes over the peloton.

They were reeled in ahead of the Category 1 climb of Mengler’s Hill that came towards the end of the stage, with Lotto-Belisol’s Adam Hansen crossing the top it first to become the first leader of the mountains classification in this year’s race.

"Garmin-Sharp and Sky were pulling in the climb but I was in a very good position, so I decided to have a go and see what happened," he said.

"It’s a nice jersey to have but I don’t think I’ll fight to defend it. Our main goal remains to win a stage and I’ll work for that as a priority."

After the summit was crested, Europcar riders rider Yukiya Arashiro and Bjorn Thurau tried to get away, as did Tinkoff-Saxo’s Rory Sutherland, but the group of around 70 riders contesting the finish swallowed them back up as the sprinters prepared for the finish.

While many would have backed Greipel, winner of a record 14 Tour Down Under stages, to prevail, the German said today’s finale didn’t suit him.

"It was a perfect finish for Gerro today. The gearing was just too hard for me,” he explained.

"It wasn't a bunch sprint today, it was very hard today, and I am no climber. I tried to go up as fast as possible, so it's a good sign that the condition is there but the headwind played against us today."

Tomorrow’s Stage 2 covers 150km from Prospect to Stirling via the Adelaide Hills.

Simon joined road.cc as news editor in 2009 and is now the site’s community editor, acting as a link between the team producing the content and our readers. A law and languages graduate, published translator and former retail analyst, he has reported on issues as diverse as cycling-related court cases, anti-doping investigations, the latest developments in the bike industry and the sport’s biggest races. Now back in London full-time after 15 years living in Oxford and Cambridge, he loves cycling along the Thames but misses having his former riding buddy, Elodie the miniature schnauzer, in the basket in front of him.

Add new comment

4 comments

Avatar
cliveswdixon@gm... | 10 years ago
0 likes

 20 43 points for me - total disaster!

Avatar
keith roberts replied to cliveswdixon@gmail.com | 10 years ago
0 likes

bad luck clive...had many stages like yours today, you'll have your day! just keep plugging!  1

Avatar
Simon E | 10 years ago
0 likes

Road.cc is a road-oriented cycling news website.

The TDU is WorldTour (top level) road race, it's newsworthy. Why not visit the site after watching it? Surely can't be that difficult, can it?

Your whinge is akin to turning on the radio, tuning in to 5Live on a Saturday afternoon, then complaining that they've spoilt MOTD so you might as well go up to your bedroom in a huff.

But thanks for the suggestion, I'd not thought to check steephill / cyclingfans for video. Excellent bit of (hopefully sun-filled) entertainment on a cold January evening.

Avatar
massspike | 10 years ago
0 likes

I recorded this and was going to watch it this evening...thanks for the spoiler alert  3

Could you please keep the results off your headline.

Latest Comments