Greipel blazes to early-season victory in Down Under Classic

Werner surprises to take Rendition Homes-Santos Women’s Cup

Reported earlier in the week as having hit almost 2000 watts in a training sprint, it was clear that Andre Greipel was in scorching form heading towards the Santos Tour Down Under. Overall winner in 2008 and 2010, he underlined that he will be one to watch in that race when he blasted to victory in today’s Down Under Classic.

Benefiting from a strong leadout by his Lotto Belisol team – including former leadout partner Greg Henderson, who is reunited with him after two years at Sky Procycling – Greipel hit the line ahead of Edvald Boasson Hagen (Sky Procycling) and Heinrich Haussler (Garmin-Barracuda). It was his second victory in the race, coming four years after his 2008 win.

“As a team, we didn’t want to race with too much pressure but it worked out well,” said the 29 year old German afterwards. “We practiced the lead out train a lot before this race and it paid off. It’s always good to win and it’s a great way to start a new season.”

He was quick to praise those who supported him in the run up to the sprint. “It wasn’t very difficult for me actually. I only had to follow Greg Henderson who himself followed Jurgen Roelandts. I just needed to stay on their wheel and get out with 200 metres to go.

“The race organisation did a good job in making the final corner a bit wider. It was less dangerous than in the past few years. Today’s win is a good warm up for the Santos Tour Down Under. It puts our team Lotto-Belisol on the right track.”

Taking place in front of an estimated 112, 000 fans in Adelaide’s East End, the race played out over 30 laps of a fast circuit. Frenchman Arnaud Courteille (FDJ-BigMat) was the first to get clear in the 51 kilometre race, surging clear early on and admitting afterwards that it was an impulsive rather than a premeditated move.

“I didn’t intend to attack from the gun but I got thrilled because of the hype,” he said. He was soon joined by nine others, from which the Movistar rider Jose Ivan Gutierrez grabbed the early Skoda sprint. Courteille dropped back soon afterwards, but the others pressed on.

New Garmin-Barracuda signing Nathan Haas was one of those and despite saying in an interview beforehand that he didn’t think his form was very sharp, he was one of the strongest of the riders driving the move onwards. He also picked up the three remaining intermediate gallops, namely the Hindmarsh sprint (lap ten), the Cycle Instead sprint (lap 15) and the Jayco sprint (lap 20).

However despite the break’s best efforts, the peloton dragged them back little by little. Greipel’s Lotto-Belisol, Alessandro Petacchi’s Lampre-ISD and Mark Renshaw’s Rabobank team were driving things onwards for a sprint, although the latter team was derailed close to the line.

“I had a flat rear tyre on the last lap,” Renshaw said afterwards. “The guys did a great job the whole race. Devastated… but I’ll be back.”

Petacchi also missed out, finishing back in tenth in the sprint. He said afterwards that he wasn’t too put out, explaining that it was better that the team was ready to fire later in the week. “Considering that the race was only a kermesse, I focused my attention on setting the harmony with my team mates,” he said. “In the final part of the race, I prefer not to take risks, so I don’t worry too much about the result. The main targets will be the ones in the Tour Down Under”.

Neither he nor Renshaw will have to long to wait for a second chance. The Santos Tour Down Under begins in just two days’ time and while the new summit finish at Old Willunga Hill means that an all rounder could take the overall victory this year, there will be plenty of opportunity for the sprinters on the other stages.

Werner holds on to win round one of Rendition Homes-Santos Women’s Cup:

In place of the Santos Tour Down Under, the Australian women’s scene has the three-round Rendition Homes-Santos Women’s Cup. Day one saw the peloton fight it out at Rymill Park, and there Bec Werner (Specialized Women SA) benefited from some confusion to win ahead of Grace Sulzberger (Jayco-AIS) and Skye-Lee Armstrong (Sutherland Shire CC).

Some in the peloton were confused about whether or not it was the final lap. Werner had intended riding for the team sprinter Chloe Hosking, but realised she was not positioned and put her head down.

Although the win was unexpected, she had already shown strong form in picking up second place in last weekend’s under 23 Mars Cycling Australia road race.

The race was marked by a large number of short-lived attacks; the GreenEdge team did what it could to control things, and latched onto the back of a move containing Werner close to the finish. However she still had a slight advantage and floored it to the line, holding on for the victory.

The next race will take place tomorrow evening in Prospect.

Down Under Classic, Adelaide:

1, Rebecca Werner (Specialized SA)
2, Grace Sulzberger (Jayco AIS)
3, Skye-Lee Armstrong (NSW)
4, Nicole Whitburn (Vic)
5, Jessie MacLean (GreenEdge-AIS)
6, Melissa Hoskins (GreenEdge-AIS)
7, Shara Gillow (GreenEdge-AIS)
8, Chloe Hosking (Specialized Women SA)
9, Jessica Mundy (SA)
10, Judith Arndt (GreenEdge-AIS)
11, Taryn Heather (SA)
12, Amanda Spratt (GreenEdge-AIS)
13, Loren Rowney (Specialized Women SA)
14, Amy Bradley (Vic)
15, Alexis Barnes (QLD)
16, Alexis Rhodes (GreenEdge-AIS)
17, Tanya Matthewson (Vic)
18, Tiffany Cromwell (GreenEdge-AIS)
19, Gracie Elvin (Jayco AIS)
20, Lauretta Hanson (Vic)
21, Chloe McIntosh (Vic)
22, Samantha Fromentin (SA)
23, Loes Gunewijk (GreenEdge-AIS)
24, Stephanie Ives (Vic)
25, Carly Williams (Vic)
26, Elizabeth Phillipou (Specialized SA)
27, Alexandra Carle (Jayco AIS)
28, Rowena Fry (GreenEdge-AIS)
31, Annette Edmondson (SA)
32, Eliza Bergin (Vic)
DNF Carla Franson (SA)
DNF Stacey Riedel (SA)
DNF Madeleine Cardillo (Vic)
DNF Kelly Gray (WA)
DNF Anna Kauffmann (WA)