Santos Tour Down Under - Stage 1


Profile



The first stage of Tour Down Under welcomes us with beautiful, sunny weather. 154 riders will compete during 6 stages in Australia.



First riders are trying to breakaway in the very beginning of the stage.



After 20 kilometers the breakaway has formed. There are 6 riders: Biondo (Liquigas), Dockx (Omega), Castroviejo (Euskaltel), Bowden (Type 1), Colli (Geox) and Hunter (Pepsi).



Back in the peleton we can see Saxo Bank, Sky and Astana chasing the first group. It doesn't look good for the break.



30 kms to go, we've got another atack from the peleton. This time it's Vigano from Leopard.



Few second later next attack from the peleton. It's another Leopard cyclist, the australian champion, Stuart O'Grady.



2 kilometers later, Lars Bak (HTC) is trying to join Leopard riders.



20 kms to go, it look's like the end of today's breakaway. Sky and FDJ did the awesome work to chase them.



10 kms to go and still Sky in the front. It seems Boasson Hagen is in perfect condition and he wants to win the stage.



In the final meters it's the battle between Bennati (Leopard) and Hagen (Sky). Unlucky our riders, Matthews and Bos, were blocked around 10th position.



Edvald Boasson Hagen is today's winner! The whole team worked just perfect and he did what he had to. Matthews was 7th and Bos 13th. Hope they can do better on next stages.



Results:

Santos Tour Down Under - Stage 2


Profile



Stage 2 is the first hilly stage of the race. We should see rather puncheurs than sprinters in the front, but hills in the end aren't so big.



We had many attacks during first kilometers, the same as today. Finally there were 13 riders in front. Does 13 means that the breakaway will fail?



Kump (Geox) is first on KoM finish. Other riders in the break are: Grabsch (HTC), Davis (Astana), Cardoso (Pepsi), Pedersen (Leopard), Keukeleire (Cofidis), Bozic (Vacansoleil), Kritskiy (Katusha), Gutierrez (Movistar), Willems (Omega), Wilson (Garmin), Phinney (Type 1) and Dugan (Type 1).



60 kms to go, the break is 7 minutes in front of the peleton. It's looking dangerous for Hagen.



The breakaway is crossing the finish line for the first time, they still have a big advantage.



Sky is working hard, but no one help them and they don't look so strong, as they were yesterday.



One lap to go and the breakaway still holds 2'30'' lead! The winner of the stage and the new leader is in this group of 13 riders.



Sky is doing their best and they are trying to reduce the gap, but it doesn't look good for them.



On the final climb Grabsch attacks, but the others don't want to give up.



There is a group attacking from the peleton too, but they aren't working together.



1 km to go. It looks very interesting. All riders are going next to each other. Who will be today's winner?



It's Borut Bozic from Vacansoleil! The second place goes to Allan Davis (Astana) and the third is Ivan Gutierrez (Movistar).



Bosisio (Liquigas) brings the peleton to the finish line. They are 1'36'' behind. Hagen doesn't look happy.



Results:

Santos Tour Down Under - Stage 3


Profile



Stage 3 is 134 kilometers long. It's flat from the beginning to the end with a small hills in the middle. The weather is great again. We have 5 riders in front: Robert (Quickstep), Zabriskie, Cooke (Saxo Bank), Wurf (Liquigas) and Mouris (Vacansoleil).



Wurf and Mouris are fighting for KoM points. Robert is trying to get as many points as possible too. Saxo Bank riders aren't interested in fighting yet. Does it mean they want to surprise them in the end, having more energy to attack?



In the peleton we can see Sky working again. Today Lampre is in the front too.



40 kms to go the break has 4 minute lead, but the peleton is working really hard.



We also send our riders to chase the break. Vacansoleil is very careful and they don't want to loose the orange jersey.



15 kms to go four riders are attacking from the peleton. Kroon (BMC), Hoste (Katusha), De Kort (Skil) and Sijmens (Cofidis) quickly joined the leading riders and they are fresh enough to attack again.



5 kms to go, the peleton is together again. We're going to see the mass sprint finish!



It's not the surprise to see Sky in the front. Bos and Matthews are in the front too. Will Hagen take the second stage win?



Yes, he will! Bennati is second, but the biggest surprise is Matthews on the third place! Great sprint by him. Bos is 9th.



Results:

Santos Tour Down Under - Stage 4


Profile



Here we come with the next hilly stage in this race. It's not so difficult, but it's going to be really interesting. There are 8 riders in today's breakaway: Florencio (Geox), Saramotins (Cofidis), Rodriguez (Garmin), Callegarin (Type 1), Paolini (Katusha), Tanner (Saxo Bank), O'Grady (Leopard) and our rider, Van Emden.



The peleton doesn't seem worried about the breakaway. Sky and Vacansoleil set the high pace and the break should be caught in the right moment.



Some riders are trying solo attacks 40 kilometers before the finish line. One of them is Kroon (BMC).



30kms to go, the break is closing to the last hill, but they are only 2 minutes ahead the peleton.



Kroon attacks again, but this time he's got Flecha on his back, which means he won't go anywhere.



On the final climb the peleton split into 2 groups. In the first one there are only 17 riders, but there is the leader (Bozic), Hagen (Sky) and also Matthews. He looks a bit tired, but Ten Dam is helping him and Van Emden also waited for this group and is working in the front.



10kms to go, Boasson Hagen attacks. He is a minute behind Bozic in GC, so he needs to gain some time here.



However there are two other Vacansoleil riders helping their leaders and also Van Emden is helping them.



5kms to go, the leader's group caught the breakaway and they are still 1 minute in front of the peleton.



Hagen is the first to sprint, but it's a bit too optimistic and he isn't as strong as he was earlier.



The winner is Luca Paolini (Katusha)! The second place goes to Australian champion O'Grady (Leopard) and the third one is Saramotins (Cofidis).



The peleton lost 1'01'' to the winner. The first in the peleton was Rojas (FDJ).



Results: