First up, the Australian National Time Trial. Matthew Goss and Stuart O'Grady will be competing for Saxo Bank. Cadel Evans, Adam Hansen, and Michael Rogers are the favorites.
Matthew Goss was disappointing today, finishing in 19th.
Stuart O'Grady finishing strong. Despite his last push, he only managed 6th overall.
Brett Lancaster (Cervelo Test Team) was impressive, finishing in 3rd.
Michael Rogers (Team Columbia) riding well. He was slow in the end, costing him the victory.
Pre-race favorite Cadel Evans (Silence-Lotto) cruised the victory with a time of 57'09.
Results:
1. Cadel Evans Silence - Lotto 57'09
2. Michael Rogers Team Columbia - Highroad + 1
3. Brett Lancaster Cervelo Test Team + 54
4. Adam Hansen: Team Columbia - Highroad + 1'04
5. Cameron Meyer Garmin - Slipstream + 1'06 6. Stuart O'Grady Team Saxo Bank + 1'19
7. Luke Roberts Team Kuota - Indeland + 1'20
8. Zak Dempster Cycling Club Bourgas + 1'26
9. Mark Jamieson Cinelli Down Under + 1'27
10. Rory Sutherland OUCH presented by Maxxis +1'40
19. Matthew Goss Team Saxo Bank + 2'05
Again, Matthew Goss and Stuart O'Grady will be the only Saxo Bank riders taking place in the next race, the Australian National Championship Road Race. Pre-race favorites include Cadel Evans and Stuart O'Grady.
The race would be run under the warm summer sun. A hilly circuit, the course was 168km long.
An image of the peloton as it heads up the hill for the first time.
With 152km to go, the first attack was launched by Stuart Shaw (Drapac Porsche). There was no reaction from the field as he was not viewed as a threat. 20km later, a group of 6 riders, including sprinter Robbie McEwen (Team Katusha) joined up with Shaw to form a breakaway.
The breakaway of 7 riders.
After several more laps, Simon Gerrans (Cervelo Test Team), Trent Lowe (Garmin - Slipstream), and Rory Sutherland (OUCH) attempted to bridge the gap. At this point, the breakaway had a lead of around 4 minutes. However, their action spurred the peloton to wake up. Lead by Mark Renshaw and Adam Hansen of Team Columbia, the lead began to shrink. With 40km left, only Sutherland remained ahead of the main field. His lead was 1 minute.
However, with 20km left, he too was reeled in. On the downhill of the second to last lap, Stuart O'Grady attacked. He was followed by Cadel Evans and Michael Rogers.
Cadel Evans, Stuart O'Grady, and Michael Rogers on the last climb.
Feeling exceptionally good, Stuart O'Grady used his gel and attacked again, this time 7km from the finish, near the top of the climb. Cadel Evans and Michael Rogers were to slow to react, and had no chance to catch O'Grady.
Stuart O'Grady cruising to the victory.
Unfortunately, Matthew Goss was involved in a crash with Brett Lancaster and finished in 39th.
Matthew Goss was unhurt in this crash, but lost any chance at a top ten finish.
Results: 1. Stuart O'Grady Team Saxo Bank 4h39'10"
2. Cadel Evans Silence - Lotto + 43
3. Michael Rogers Team Columbia - Highroad + 1'12
4. Allan Davis Quick-Step + 2'09
5. Rory Sutherland OUCH presented by Maxxis s.t.
6. Tommy Nankervis Cinelli Down Under s.t.
7. Simon Gerrans - Cervelo Test Team s.t.
8. Matthew Lloyd Silence - Lotto s.t.
9. Baden Cooke - Vaconsoleil Pro Cycling Team s.t.
10. Trent Lowe Garmin - Slipstream s.t.
In the beginning of the race, the riders were relatively calm. Stuart O'Grady would be Team Saxo Bank's leader for the first race of the year. He was one of the pre-stage favorites along with Mark Cavendish.
Stuart O'Grady in his new Australian National Champions jersey, under protection from Anders Lund.
Eventually, spearheaded by Sergey Renev of Astana, a break away started to form.
Sergey Renev attacks up an incline as the fans cheer him on.
A total of 14 riders managed to get into the breakaway, although none were considered dangerous. However this fact lulled the peloton to sleep, as the margin continued to grow unchecked. With the gap continuing to grow, Team Saxo Bank sent Nicki Sorensen and Kasper Klostergaard to the front to speed up the chase.
Sorensen and Klostergaard spearhead the chase.
However, these efforts, along with work by Liquigas and Quick-Step, appeared to be in vein. With around 20km to go, the break still had around a two minute time gap. If the break worked together, they were certain to make it to the finish line. Just as the peloton appeared to be conceding the stage, an attack within the breakaway group gave them the opportunity to capitalize.
Rein Taaramäe and Rubens Bertogliati attacking with around 10km left.
The confusion created from the attacks caused the breakaway group to lose momentum and break up. With this opportunity, Jens Voigt helped lead Stuart O'Grady across the gap. There was only 30 seconds to the remaining breakaway group. However, ultimately, Taaramäe's late move was too much.
Taaramäe celebrating his win.
Luckily, there were no time gaps recorded. Thanks to Voigt's hard work, O'Grady managed to place 4th.
12 Jens Voigt Team Saxo Bank s.t.
53 Matthew Goss Team Saxo Bank s.t.
89 Anders Lund Team Saxo Bank s.t.
126 Nicki Sørensen Team Saxo Bank s.t.
128 Frank Høj Team Saxo Bank s.t.
145 Kasper Klostergaard Team Saxo Bank s.t.
Today's stage would not start so slowly, with 3 riders attacking near the beginning of the race. The brave soles who left the peloton were Nicolas Roche, Arnaud Coyot, and Chris Sutton.
Roche, Coyot, and Sutton attempting to make a break.
Eventually, 4 other riders joined the break. The break of 7 was given a large cushion, building up a gap of as much as 6.5 minutes. Team Saxo Bank was content to sit back and let other teams to do the work. Cofidis, attempting to protect Taaramäe's yellow jersey, were doing most of the work to reel in the break. They were aided by several Liquigas riders.
As the break was about to be caught with 28km left, Nicolas Roche and Evgeny Sokolov attacked again. However, this last ditch move did not succeed as they were caught only a couple kilometers down the road.
At this moment, most of the Team Saxo Bank riders were too tired to work for their leader Stuart O'Grady. However, the ever reliable Jens Voigt summoned to strength to lead O'Grady up the final climb, positioning his leader well.
The sprint train headed by Voigt.
However, the presence of Juan Antonio Flecha and Murilo Fischer on the wheel of O'Grady were worrying. But those two were not strong enough to hang with O'Grady, who has shown impressive form in the early season.
O'Grady leading the field around the final turn.
O'Grady crossed the finish line to give Team Saxo Bank its first victory of the year. Additionally, the fast pace laid down by Voigt created a time gap, giving O'Grady the yellow jersey.
58 Matthew Goss Team Saxo Bank + 36
84 Anders Lund Team Saxo Bank s.t.
93 Nicki Sørensen Team Saxo Bank s.t.
152 Frank Høj Team Saxo Bank + 6'47
155 Kasper Klostergaard Team Saxo Bank + 11'58
Bosskardo: His risks paid off and I got lazy and didn't wind down the gap far enough.
Batista15: Thanks. I plan on riding A. Schleck as leader in the TDF. Not sure what I'm going to do for leadership in the Giro.
Stage 3: Unley - Victory Harbor: 136 km
With the yellow jersey in our possession, our riders would have to be on their guard against attacks. The stage was relatively flat which suited our aims for the race.
From the start, many riders attacked. None could have seriously had allusions of winning, but a total of 18 riders got on the break. Team Saxo Bank, led by Kasper Klostergaard and Anders Lund moved to the front of the peloton to ensure the break did not gain too much of a gap. They seemed content to let the gap sit at around 3 minutes for most of the race.
With 50km left, the peloton sped up and began to reel in the break. As the peloton closed in, four riders, Brett Lancaster, Servais Knaven, Laurent Jalabert, and Jonas Ljungblad, attacked within the group.
The four riders attempting to distance themselves.
However, with this action, Team Saxo Bank went to work. With 10km left, they had reeled in all the escapees. At this point, the team began focusing on setting up its sprint train. Jens Voigt led out, followed by Matthew Goss, and leader Stuart O'Grady. Mark Cavendish and Allan Davis both made their presences known as their respective teams were working hard.
But Jens Voigt made the difference. While Cavendish and Davis fell back, Goss and O'Grady were shot forward. Ultimately, O'Grady took his second victory of the Tour Down Under, with Goss finishing second. A 1-2 for Australia.
The close finish with Saxo Bank getting 1st, 2nd, and 4th.
94 Anders Lund Team Saxo Bank s.t.
123 Nicki Sørensen Team Saxo Bank s.t.
137 Frank Høj Team Saxo Bank s.t.
153 Kasper Klostergaard Team Saxo Bank s.t.
KOM:
1 Davide Viganò Fuji - Servetto 0 4
2 Nicolas Roche AG2R La Mondiale 0 2
3 Gatis Smukulis AG2R La Mondiale 2 2
4 Jonas Ljungblad Silence - Lotto 2 2
5 Christopher Sutton Garmin - Slipstream 0 1
Points: 1 Stuart O'Grady Team Saxo Bank 25 68
2 Jens Voigt Team Saxo Bank 18 43
3 Murilo Fischer Liquigas 8 33
4 Rubens Bertogliati Serramenti PVC Diquigiovanni - Androni Giocattoli 0 29
5 Allan Davis Quick·Step 14 28
8 Matthew Goss Team Saxo Bank 22 22
11 Matthew Goss Team Saxo Bank + 38
81 Anders Lund Team Saxo Bank + 42
96 Nicki Sørensen Team Saxo Bank s.t.
149 Frank Høj Team Saxo Bank + 6'53
154 Kasper Klostergaard Team Saxo Bank + 12'04
chrica04: Yeah, I am probably going to turn the difficulty up to hard after the TDU.
viking90: I was thinking about leading with Larsson. Fuglsang was going to be in support. Not sure beyond that.
JDC: Thanks.
Stage 4: Burnside Village - Angaston: 143 km
With an 8 second lead in the overall GC, and a relatively flat stage, O'Grady's yellow jersey should be safe. However, Team Saxo Bank would have to be on guard against any attacks from the contenders. It was the goal of the team to keep possession of the yellow at the same time as save energy for tomorrow's stage.
Geoffroy Leuqatre on the break.
A total of 10 riders got out on the break, but the peloton never extended them much of a lead. Surprisingly, Team Saxo Bank did not need to do much work, as Liquigas took charge in the chase. Liquigas has been very active so far, with Murilo Fischer holding second place in the overall GC.
Desperation for some riders as the peloton catches the break.
With the break caught, Team Saxo Bank again could start to focus on starting a sprint train for leader Stuart O'Grady. However, an incredibly fast pace caused confusion, and an effective lead-out never materialized.
O'Grady in yellow, unable to find a wheel.
This created an opening for another Aussie. Sprinter Allan Davis from Quick Step took home his first victory of the early season. One which has seen excellent results for Australia.
Points: 1 Stuart O'Grady Team Saxo Bank 7 75
2 Murilo Fischer Liquigas 22 55
3 Allan Davis Quick·Step 25 53 4 Jens Voigt Team Saxo Bank 0 43
5 Juan Antonio Flecha Rabobank 20 40
11 Matthew Goss Team Saxo Bank + 38
74 Anders Lund Team Saxo Bank + 42
94 Nicki Sørensen Team Saxo Bank s.t.
147 Frank Høj Team Saxo Bank + 6'53
153 Kasper Klostergaard Team Saxo Bank + 12'04
Certainly, today's stage would determine the outcome of the 2009 Tour Down Under. A relatively flat stage, the final two mountains towards the end of the stage would certainly see Stuart O'Grady's yellow jersey attacked by the contenders. Murilo Fischer and Juan Antonia Flecha would have to be watched.
The beautiful starting line.
Team Saxo Bank decided to send a rider with the breakaways today, but not ride with them. It was their hope that this would disrupt their progress. No risks were to be taken today. Nicki Sørensen was picked for this task, and carried it out admirably.
Sørensen foiling the plans of the breakaway group.
As the stage progressed, and the two big hills approached. Stuart O'Grady and Jen Voigt, who was hoping to gain a podium spot, moved towards the front of the peloton, bracing themselves for attacks. And then, Maxime Monfort made his move on the first uphill. However, he was followed by Flecha and Fischer. O'Grady and Voigt had to follow.
The Danish flag cheers the Saxo Bank riders up the hill.
Only a few riders were able to maintain this pace, and a total of 14 riders formed the yellow jersey group. This group of 14 maintained their lead, but remained calm. Just before the second, and final downhill, Flecha attacked again. O'Grady, Voigt, and Fischer followed. Only Danny Pate kept up.
The remaining group of 5. 10km from the finish.
This group of 5 had not made enough of a gap, and on the final flat, the group of 14 reformed. Noticeably stronger than the rest of the field, O'Grady attacked, going for the win.
O'Grady attacking with Flecha attempting to follow.
No one could keep up with O'Grady. His final attack was perfectly timed and he cruised to a win. This stage victory should just about wrap up a Tour Down Under victory.
Stuart O'Grady has been in impressive form in January.
Points: 1 Stuart O'Grady Team Saxo Bank 25 100
2 Murilo Fischer Liquigas 13 68 3 Jens Voigt Team Saxo Bank 20 63
4 Allan Davis Quick·Step 5 58
5 Juan Antonio Flecha Rabobank 18 58
17 Matthew Goss Team Saxo Bank 0 22
72 Nicki Sørensen Team Saxo Bank 1 1
The final stage of the Tour Down Under shouldn't see any dramatic changes to the overall standings. With a lead of 25 seconds, it seems inconceivable of Stuart O'Grady losing his lead. Right? A flat, short stage, the field would get to see plenty of the Australian city of Adelaide.
Stuart O'Grady, leading the field for a brief moment in his yellow jersey.
All seemed to be going to plan, when with 45km left, Stuart O'Grady fell! Astutely, the Team Saxo Bank riders reacted. Jens Voigt, Nicki Sørensen, Anders Lund, and Frank Høj all fell back from the peloton. When the got to O'Grady, who was just getting back on his bike, they were 2 minutes back from the peloton. O'Grady's dreams of victory were fading fast.
O'Grady on the ground as the field moves away.
Thankfully, the rest of the field failed to capitalize on O'Grady's fall, and the peloton did not move quickly. This, coupled with his team's support, allowed O'Grady to rejoin the peloton once again. Unfortunately, Nicki Sørensen fell on the way back. Saxo Bank simply did not have resources to bring him back to the main field.
Team Saxo Bank was unable to launch an effective sprint train due to the heavy riding the team had to do to ensure Stuart O'Grady's victory. Koldo Fernández de Larrea won the stage, but O'Grady took home to overall general classifications.
Koldo Fernández de Larrea taking the final stage of the TDU.
Points: 1 Stuart O'Grady Team Saxo Bank 7 107
2 Murilo Fischer Liquigas 12 80
3 Allan Davis Quick·Step 18 76 4 Jens Voigt Team Saxo Bank 0 63
5 Juan Antonio Flecha Rabobank 0 58
22 Matthew Goss Team Saxo Bank 0 22
73 Nicki Sørensen Team Saxo Bank 0 1
Overall, a very successful first race of the season. Disappointed I couldn't get Jens Voigt on the podium, but the work he had to do to get O'Grady back after his fall eliminated any chance of that.
Adria Mobil
191. M.Gnezda
192. B.Jarc
193. M.Kump
194. A.Signego
Stage 1: Sacramento: 5.4 km
A flat, short prologue, the first stage of the Tour of California was an individual time trial through the streets of the state capital, Sacramento. The short length of the course meant that not that much time could be gained, or lost. Nevertheless, Team Saxo Bank was hoping for good performances out of time trial aces Fabian Cancellara and Gustav Larsson.
In his comeback, Lance Armstrong was disappointing, finishing 11 seconds of the lead.
However, American David Zabriskie rode well, finishing 3rd, 4 seconds back.
Gustav Larsson waiting in the starting block. He finished in second.
As if there was any doubt, Fabian Cancellara looked strong racing to the stage victory.
Stage Results: 1 Fabian Cancellara Team Saxo Bank 4'29
2 Gustav Larsson Team Saxo Bank + 2
3 David Zabriskie Garmin - Slipstream + 4
4 Stijn Devolder Quick·Step + 7
5 Thomas Dekker Silence - Lotto s.t.
6 Michael Rogers Team Columbia - High Road + 8
7 Michael Schär Astana Cycling Team s.t.
8 Kim Kirchen Team Columbia - High Road s.t.
9 Casper Jørgensen Team Capinordic s.t.
10 Eloy Teruel Contentpolis - Ampo s.t.
The second stage of the Amgen Tour of California would be one for the sprinters. Team Saxo Bank would be hoping to keep the yellow jersey on the back of Fabian Cancellara. As long as they were on their guard, they should be able to accomplish this goal.
An initial breakaway of 16 formed, but never gained much of a lead and was caught early on. Two riders, Jan Kuyckx and Gorik Gardeyn made a serious attempt halfway through the race.
Kuyckx and Gardeyn working hard to maintain their lead.
However, the peloton, and especially Team Saxo Bank worked hard to reel in the escapees. A true sprint never formalized, as the peloton almost broke up at the end of the stage. Anthony Geslin won the stage rather easily.
Thanks to the time bonus, Geslin is now in podium position.
KOM:
1 Philippe Gilbert Silence - Lotto 14 14
2 Michael Albasini Team Columbia - High Road 10 10
3 Jan Kuyckx Verandas Willems 10 10
4 David Zabriskie Garmin - Slipstream 6 6
5 Sylvain Chavanel Quick·Step 4 4
Points: 1 Fabian Cancellara Team Saxo Bank 7 32
2 Anthony Geslin Française des Jeux 25 25
3 Thomas Dekker Silence - Lotto 9 21 4 Gustav Larsson Team Saxo Bank 0 20
5 Tom Boonen Quick·Step 20 20
14 Stuart O'Grady Team Saxo Bank 10 10
16 Jens Voigt Team Saxo Bank 8 8
25 Andy Schleck Team Saxo Bank 3 3
hehe but go with g.larsson as leader in the giro with fuglsang or sörensen´s (chris-anker or nicki) 
