I had the train perfect, but Sutton died at the end of his lead out too soon, and Henderson had too far to sprint. My perfect timing for sprinting is 0.8-1km with my final guy, but Henderson did from 1.4. And against Farrar and Steegmans, it really counts. I think the Mountain Sprint 27km before the finish took it out of my lead out as well, as all of my startlist are sprint based. only froome is able to climb with some competence. Or am I just making excuses now? haha
20th January 2010 - Santos Tour Down Under Stage 2 (Gawler-Hahndorf)
Stage 2 goes from Gawler to Hahndorf and is another flat stage. Certainly a stage for the sprinters, but no doubt a breakaway will form and fancy its chances of staying away.
Riders to watch: G. Steegmans, T. Farrar, G. Henderson, A. Greipel My tip for the stage: G. Steegmans. After a stage victory on stage 1, I expect Steegmans to make it victory number 2.
20th January 2010 - Santos Tour Down Under Stage 2 (Gawler-Hahndorf)
Stage 2 goes from Gawler to Hahndorf and is another flat stage. Certainly a stage for the sprinters, but no doubt a breakaway will form and fancy its chances of staying away.
Riders to watch: G. Steegmans, T. Farrar, G. Henderson, A. Greipel My tip for the stage: G. Steegmans. After a stage victory on stage 1, I expect Steegmans to make it victory number 2.
-- Stage 2 Report and Results to Follow --
You make many updates: D Good work and i hope you winEdited by Jona8366 on 27-09-2010 07:17
20th January 2010 - Santos Tour Down Under Stage 2 (Gawler-Hahndorf)
Stage 2 goes from Gawler to Hahndorf and is another flat stage. Certainly a stage for the sprinters, but no doubt a breakaway will form and fancy its chances of staying away.
Riders to watch: G. Steegmans, T. Farrar, G. Henderson, A. Greipel My tip for the stage: G. Steegmans. After a stage victory on stage 1, I expect Steegmans to make it victory number 2.
Yeah, Steegmans is great, but today, Henderson will get the win
20th January 2010 - Santos Tour Down Under Stage 2 (Gawler-Hahndorf)
Henderson sprints to victory
Team sky got their first ProTour victory today, as Greg Henderson took full advantage of a superb lead-out by his team. The victory also means Henderson takes over the Orche Leader's Jersey, with yesterday's winner, Gert Steegmans, only managing 4th place, behind Tyler Farrar and Robbie McKwen.
The stage started with the usual breakaway, with 7 riders getting away from the peleton at the 15km mark. The break took up all the points available at the sprints on the stage, but there were no changes to the jersey standings. The break got a maximum of 6'48" gap on the main group, before RadioShack, Quickstep and HTC-Columbia upped the pace.
The breakaway was finally caught at the 4.8km mark, and the finish was set for a mass sprint finish. Team Sky hit the front before the sprint started, with Russell Downing risking it all on a small decent to keep the pace high. As the sprint began, Chris Sutton put Henderson into a great position, and the Kiwi sprinter completed the perfect lead-out by Team Sky with victory.
21st January 2010 - Santos Tour Down Under Stage 3 (Unley-Stirling)
Stage 3 of the Santos Tour Down Under has the riders cycling from Unley to Stirling. A stage for someone who favours the hills, it would be very surprising if this ends in a mass sprint. The terrain is up and down all day, particularly in Stirling, where the stage ends with an undulating 2 lap circuit.
Riders to watch: A. Schleck, J.J. Cobo, R Hesjedal, Y. Popovych My tip for the stage: V. Kiryienka. The Belorussian Caisse d'Epargne rider has shown in the past he has the legs on this sort of the stage, and I expect him to be contenting at the finish for the victory.
21st January 2010 - Santos Tour Down Under Stage 3 (Unley-Stirling)
Luxembourger Schleck wins with solo victory in Stirling
Andy Schleck took over the overall lead in the Santos Down Under today with a solo victory in Stirling, coming in 22" ahead of the peleton.
The stage began with the flurry of attacks from the peleton, and a group of 10 riders got away. The break was a strong group, with riders from Team Sky, HTC-Columbia, Katusha and Française des Jeux all present.
On the first mountain climb of the day, Sky's Matthew Hayman was dropped from the breakaway, but made his way back into the group as they decended down the other side. The peleton pace was being set by Quick-Step, but this was soon to change when Velo suffered a puncture at the 73km mark, and his team had to pace him back to the peleton.
The breakaway gained a maximum of 6'10" over the chasing peleton, before they were started to be reeled in. As the riders entered Stirling, they had only 4'40", and gap continued to close. With 15km to go, it was just 1'00" between the day's break and the chasing pack, and despite final attacks to stay away, the peleton was back together with 9km left.
With the stage looking towards a surprise bunch sprint, Andy Schleck made his move with 7km to go. He attacked from the bunch with only Tom Boonen and Chris Froome being able to counter. But soon he was riding on his own, and as his gap extended, the victory looked more and more inevitable.
22nd January 2010 - Santos Tour Down Under Stage 4 (Norwood-Goolwa)
A day for the sprinters as the Santos Tour Down under goes from Norwood to Goolwa for stage 4. The stage begins with climbing, but after the 26km Mountain Sprint point, the course heads back downwards before going completely flat for the second half of the stage.
Riders to watch: G. Steegmans, T. Farrar, G. Henderson, R. McEwen My tip for the stage: T. Farrar. With two 2nd position finishes in the sprints so far, and I expect the Garmin rider to go one better today.
Too bad But Henderson still 2nd in the overall, if he can survive stage 5, he should able to stay in the Top 10.
I think Henderson will take his second stage win
An early attack by 5 riders created the usual breakway on a stage, and a Saxo-Bank lead peleton kept them at a reasonable gap. The break had a maximum of 4'48" over the peleton, but with plenty of the stage to run, it was not looking like it would succeed. All but one of the break was caught at the 20km mark, and the final rider of the break, HTC's Mark Renshaw, was back in the pack with 16km til the finish.
janne_837 wrote:
Too bad But Henderson still 2nd in the overall, if he can survive stage 5, he should able to stay in the Top 10.
I think Henderson will take his second stage win
sadly only 2nd... I thought I had this, but I left him with too much to do. I hope he can get over Willunga in the peleton and not too many riders go for a solo victory.
23rd January 2010 - Santos Tour Down Under Stage 5 (Snapper Point-Willunga)
Stage 5 consists of two circuit loops, firstly 2 laps around Snapper Point, and then 2 laps around Willunga. Deemed the most difficult stage of the Tour so far, the peleton will hope to get over the gruelling Willunga Hill, not only once but twice. This is a stage that will decide the Overall Classification, with Stage 6 being a flat Criterium around Adelaide.
Riders to watch: A. Schleck, J.J. Cobo, K. Kroon, Y. Popovych My tip for the stage: A. Schleck. The Saxo-Bank rider took the stage on Stage 3 into Stirling, and I expect him to secure both the stage victory and Overall Classification today.
23rd January 2010 - Santos Tour Down Under Stage 5 (Snapper Point-Willunga)
Boonen strongest after Willunga Hill climb
Tom Boonen came away with the victory on the Tour's toughest day, sprinting ahead of BMC's Karsten Kroon and Sky's Russell Downing in Willunga.
The stage started at a fast pace, with only a breakaway being able to form once the peleton had settled down. The 10 man break was only given a short leash by the peleton, which was again controlled by Saxo-Bank. The break gainied as maximum of 5'48" on the peleton, before being caught just after the first ascent of Willunga Hill.
As the second ascent started, the Overall Classification leader, Andy Schleck, attacked, taking with him Karsten Kroon of BMC and AG2R's Christophe Riblon. But it was to no avail, as the peleton caught them back up on the decent back out of Willunga.
With 5km to go, Belgian National Champion Tom Boonen attacked, and after being joined by Kroon and Team Sky's Russell Downing, the attack looked to be decisive.
Entering the final kilometre, it was down to one of these three riders to take the win, with Boonen showing to have the better legs. Orche Jersey leader, Andy Schleck came in 4th, and now holds a 22" lead over Tom Boonen in 2nd place.
Boonen had better strength in the legs in the sprint
good update. 
keep my readers up-to-date
But Henderson still 2nd in the overall, if he can survive stage 5, he should able to stay in the Top 10.
He is not that bad on the hills...
