(23/01) Tour Down Under - Stage 2: Stirling > Hahndorf
Stuart O'Grady sneaks it away on the tables; Brown remains on the lead
A heat wave, which is making his way through the South Australia region during the start of the summer at the Southern hemisphere, might seem to be affecting Graeme Brown's sense. The leading sprinter of the Rabobank squad thought he had won the second stage into the little village of Hahndorf, but, surprisingly, national champion Stuart O'Grady took it from his hands to grant his first victory in yellow-green colours for the 2008 season. Brown will remain on the first place in the 2008 Tour Down Under though.
Graeme's lose against his countryman might perfectly seem a lack of attention towards the contest on the sprint. The Aussie rider from Rabobank did not think so; "I was being clearly the strongest and, when I saw the 300-meter barrier at the side of the road and none trying to overcome from any sides, I thought it was done. I simply didn't expect that last strike from Stuart [O'Grady]", Brown told to the media while waiting for his turn on the podium ceremony to come.
Previously, the peloton showed no interesting for any fight before the sprint, probably because of the hot temperatures reigning over South Oz all over the day. An early break featuring leader's teammate Gerben Löwik (Rabobank), local star Chris Sutton (Slipstream - Chipotle) and Martin Müller (Team Milram) gained some gap over the peloton, mainly controlled by the Lampre and Quick·Step squads. Saronni's riders appeared to be working for Alessandro Ballan, even though last year's winner of the Ronde van Vlaanderen wasn't a real sprinter.
After a late attempt by Dutch youngster Thomas Dekker (Rabobank), cracked down shortly after the attack at the 10km mark, the peloton messed up in order to guarantee a confusing sprint, with several rush slipstreams going over the final straight at Hahndorf. Tom Leezer did again a great job for his leader, but Brown could not succeed on the way he did the day before. Another chance will come for everyone tomorrow, on a new opportunity for the fastest men.
Wait, because you celebrated, O'Grady didn't celebrate?
If that does happen on purpose , it's pretty cool
The preceding post is ISSO 9001 certified
"I love him, I think he's great. He's transformed the sport in so many ways. Every person in cycling has benefitted from Lance Armstrong, perhaps not financially but in some sense" - Bradley Wiggins on Lance Armstrong
Just wondering how far out you can sprint from on the new pcm as it looks like it is 1.5-2km out tat makes it alot closer unlike 3km out where you cannot overtake the computer on hard unless you have alot better sprinter or similar stats.
Smitho wrote:
Just wondering how far out you can sprint from on the new pcm as it looks like it is 1.5-2km out tat makes it alot closer unlike 3km out where you cannot overtake the computer on hard unless you have alot better sprinter or similar stats.
it's just like the previous PCM: you can sprint from any place, but if you "just go", you're out in the wind and probably won't win
The preceding post is ISSO 9001 certified
"I love him, I think he's great. He's transformed the sport in so many ways. Every person in cycling has benefitted from Lance Armstrong, perhaps not financially but in some sense" - Bradley Wiggins on Lance Armstrong
(24/01) Tour Down Under - Stage 3: Unley > Victor Harbor
Nervousness shakes the peloton; Rabobank wins again
A last bump of wind made Dutch neo-pro Tom Leezer reach his first win as a ProTour rider as he took the victory on a thrilling stage, the third on the 2008 Tour Down Under. The 23-year sprinter came through a bunch of Milram riders, led by former Alessandro Petacchi's launcher Marco Velo, to triumph on the flat portion between Unley and Victor Harbor. Graeme Brown came into the 40-man group on the lead to keep the yellow jersey. No time gaps were taken into account for a second, 60-man group, a minute behind the leaders at the finish, and thus the general classification may not vary apart from the bonification seconds.
Leezer explained, in perfect English-speaking, how much the wind did affect on the stage's outcome: "At the start of the stage, Sánchez told us to mind the gaps on the group and not to leave any of our teammates to get stucked on the back, since the wind was being really gusty from the start. After Hammond was finally chased, I could see, just a couple of meters behind me, how [David] Millar and [Domi]Nique Rollin were falling and making a second group to get formed. Fortunately, we missed that crash and I could lead Graeme to sprint, he somehow could not follow me though, so I went for myself and got the win after the Milrams had to go to the right side when the wind hitted us," Leezer said.
very good style dankan, very original, i dont like it, but kudos to you for coming up with a new and innovative style, good work on the TDU and do my team proud!!!!
I am liking the way you presented this it looks cool. Keep it up menchov for the tour??? are you going to do like in real life and not put dekker in the tdf?
(25/01) Tour Down Under - Stage 4: Mannum - Strathalbyn
First win since long ago for Erik Zabel to snatch the yellow
Germany's Erik Zabel made their native fans cheer out ot joy, as well as the ones at the other side of the world, after he came across the line on top for the first time since his strange win at a stage of the Vuelta a España finishing in Zaragoza. Former Petacchi's teammate, who took the win from Stuart O'Grady (Team CSC) and Alessandro Ballan (Lampre), also claimed the lead on the 2008 Tour Down Under - just because of his best ranks all over the entire race, with the same time as local hero O'Grady and the previous leader Graeme Brown (Rabobank), who came in 9th position today.
The close sprint on today's fourth stage came after a big breakway took the main role on the afternoon's play. A 15-man group ahead of the peloton, including the white jersey's wearer (Marcel Sieberg from High Road), big Caisse's domestique Chente GarcÃa Acosta and Latvian TT champion Eaivis Belohvosciks, took a 5-minute gap before their last remaining units (already mentioned Chente, as well as France's Christophe Mengin from Française des Jeux) were chased before the 5km-mark.
The Milram squad did a tremendous job for their leader, causing the sprint to appear to be a duo battle between Zabel and Lampre's Alessandro Ballan. However, Australian champion Stuart O'Grady (CSC) came from the center of the group to fight for the win, which almost went to the tricolor ridersearching for his second win on this stagerace. It's been a perfectly spread round, with four different riders (Brown, O'Grady, Leezer and Zabel) taking the stages, but the GC contenders are not aiming for these close calls - thir momento will come on tomorrow's route towards the Willunga Hill!
