Santos Tour Down Under: Evans returns to top form with dominant display on Corkscrew Hill

BMC Racing Team rider roars into race lead after solo victory

Cadel Evans gave a clear reminder of the ability which earned him a world championship jersey plus the 2011 Tour de France title when he roared to a super solo victory on today’s third stage of the Santos Tour Down Under.

The Australian showed well on the first two stages but still found himself thirteen seconds behind day one winner Simon Gerrans (Orica GreeneEdge). However the BMC Racing team rider was far stronger than his younger compatriot on today’s climb of Corkscrew Hill, jumping hard off an effort by Richie Porte (Sky) and going over the summit approximately seventeen seconds clear.

Gerrans caught Porte before the top and led the two man chase, but Evans was too strong and held them off on the 7.5 kilometre run in to the line. They were picked up by the chasing group and Nathan Haas (Garmin Sharp) led in the chasing group fifteen seconds back, with Diego Ulissi (Lampre-Merida), Adam Hansen (Lotto Belisol) and Gerrans third, fourth and fifth.

“I had an idea of the opportunity I could get on Corkscrew climb and I knew what to do,” said a focussed Evans. “My team did a fantastic job to position me where I had to be. I had been training well but winning is what we are here for.

“It’s amazing to be back racing in Australia and win. A stage race is all about the leader’s jersey and time bonus is the key to win this race overall.”

The ten second time bonus plus the time gained saw him finish the day a solid twelve seconds ahead of Gerrans. Diego Ulissi (Lampre-Merida) is a further three seconds back, while Nathan Haas (Garmin Sharp) is 27 seconds behind in fourth.

Robert Gesink (Belkin-Pro Cycling Team) and last year’s third-placed finisher Geraint Thomas (Team Sky) are also within thirty seconds, and so must be watched on the remaining three days.

“We’ll see how it goes in the next stages,” said Evans, refusing to take anything for granted. “I haven’t won the GC yet.”

Gerrans won the race in 2012 and is hoping to do so again. He accepted that today was a setback for him. “It won’t be easy to get back [the time], but it’s not impossible,” he said. “It’s not going to be easy for Cadel. We’re going to throw everything at him, that’s for sure.

“I’m disappointed to lose the ochre jersey but it’s not over.”

The action was quickly underway after the start in Norwood, with the Australian rider Travis Meyer (Drapac Pro Cycling) attacking very soon after the drop of the flag. He was joined by Jérôme Cousin (Europcar) and then Astana’s Andriy Grivko. Last to get across was Trek Factory Racing’s Jens Voigt, who made it four out front.

The quartet worked hard but were unable to push their lead out past three minutes. The bunch was reluctant to give them too much leeway and so Gerran’s Orica GreenEdge team tapped along, keeping the pace relatively high behind.

At the sprint at Kersbrook (km 39), Meier jumped first and finished well clear of Grivko. The next gallop went to Grivko, who was unopposed when he led Meier, Cousin and Voigt over the prime line in Williamstown (km 53).

Cousin was under pressure and slipped back to the peloton shortly after the halfway mark. Meier also faded, while the other two were caught on the climb of Corkscrew Hill.

Lotto Belisol and then the BMC Racing Team pushed the pace on the climb and after Richie Porte tried to get a gap, Evans matched and then passed him, kicking hard to shed the Sky leader. Race leader Gerrans couldn’t match them at first, but gradually reeled in Porte and chased hard.

Evans went over the top approximately seventeen seconds ahead of Gerrans and Porte. The group behind caught the two chasers on the run-in to the finish, but Evans had enough of a gap to hit the line well ahead.

Gerrans said that the climb played a crucial part in the outcome. “The Corkscrew is one of the toughest climbs, especially when it comes at such a crucial part of the stage,” he said. “Everyone is going 100 percent and that was their opportunity to make their mark on the race.

“Cadel and Richie jumped on the steep section. I sort of bided my time, and then accelerated over toward them. I got to Richie, but Cadel slipped away. Then he managed to pull away on the downhill. The difficult part of that downhill is that you only need five seconds, and you’re out of sight. I didn’t spot him again until we got near the bottom.”

Porte had also hoped to win the race, but saw today that he appears to be lacking a little form relative to the new race leader. “Cadel was absolutely flying. I tried to go with him in those hairpins, I couldn’t stay with him, and he got away,” he said. “It’s a little disappointing, but Saturday is another hilltop finish, I am quite hopeful we have the team to at least get up there on the podium.

“Yesterday, they were saying the same thing about Simon [that the race is over]. I guess Saturday will decide it all.”

The Santos Tour Down Under continues tomorrow with a lumpy 148.5 kilometre stage from Unley to Victor Harbor.

Santos Tour Down Under, Australia (WorldTour)

Stage 3, Norwood to Campbelltown:

1, Cadel Evans (BMC Racing Team) 10 hours at 46 mins 39 secs
2, Simon Gerrans (Orica Greenedge) at 12 secs
3, Diego Ulissi (Lampre-Merida) at 15 secs
4, Nathan Haas (Garmin Sharp) at 27 secs
5, Robert Gesink (Belkin-Pro Cycling Team) at 29 secs
6, Geraint Thomas (Team Sky)
7, Daryl Impey (Orica Greenedge) at 33 secs
8, Brent Bookwalter (BMC Racing Team)
9, Rory Sutherland (Tinkoff Saxo)
10, Ben Hermans (BMC Racing Team)
11, Richie Porte (Team Sky)
12, Egor Silin (Team Katusha)
13, Adam Hansen (Lotto Belisol)
14, Laurent Didier (Trek Factory Racing) at 1 min 1 secs
15, Anthony Roux (FDJ.fr)
16, Simon Clarke (Orica Greenedge)
17, Jan Bakelants (Omega Pharma – Quick-Step Cycling Team)
18, Kenny Elissonde (FDJ.fr)
19, Simon Geschke (Team Giant-Shimano) at 1 min 13 secs
20, Maxime Bouet (AG2R La Mondiale) at 1 min 14 secs
21, Ruben Plaza Molina (Movistar Team) at 1 min 18 secs
22, Frank Schleck (Trek Factory Racing)
23, Luca Wackermann (Lampre-Merida)
24, Caleb Fairly (Garmin Sharp)
25, Eduard Vorganov (Team Katusha)
26, George Bennett (Cannondale)
27, Robbie Hucker (Drapac Professional Cycling)
28, Axel Domont (AG2R La Mondiale)
29, Jack Haig (UniSA)
30, Darren Lapthorne (Drapac Professional Cycling) at 1 min 52 secs
31, Bernard Sulzberger (Drapac Professional Cycling)
32, Stig Broeckx (Lotto Belisol)
33, Cameron Wurf (Cannondale)
34, Javier Moreno Bazan (Movistar Team)
35, Anthony Giacoppo (UniSA)
36, Mark O’Brien (UniSA)
37, Yukiya Arashiro (Team Europcar)
38, Francesco Gavazzi (Astana Pro Team) at 2 mins 33 secs
39, Carlos Verona Quintanilla (Omega Pharma – Quick-Step Cycling Team) at 2 mins 37 secs
40, Steve Morabito (BMC Racing Team)
41, Angelo Tulik (Team Europcar)
42, Philip Deignan (Team Sky)
43, Serge Pauwels (Omega Pharma – Quick-Step Cycling Team)
44, Valerio Agnoli (Astana Pro Team)
45, Christopher Juul Jensen (Tinkoff Saxo)
46, Bjorn Thurau (Team Europcar)
47, Nathan Earle (Team Sky)
48, Geoffrey Soupe (FDJ.fr) at 3 mins 35 secs
49, Jurgen Roelandts (Lotto Belisol)
50, Jack Bauer (Garmin Sharp)
51, Steele Von Hoff (Garmin Sharp) at 4 mins 27 secs
52, Danilo Wyss (BMC Racing Team) at 4 mins 35 secs
53, Danny Van Poppel (Trek Factory Racing)
54, Rohan Dennis (Garmin Sharp)
55, Amaël Moinard (BMC Racing Team)
56, Julien Berard (AG2R La Mondiale) at 5 mins 46 secs
57, Thierry Hupond (Team Giant-Shimano) at 5 mins 52 secs
58, Manuele Mori (Lampre-Merida) at 6 mins 0 secs
59, Lieuwe Westra (Astana Pro Team) at 6 mins 2 secs
60, Rick Zabel (BMC Racing Team)
61, Stef Clement (Belkin-Pro Cycling Team) at 6 mins 30 secs
62, Bram Tankink (Belkin-Pro Cycling Team)
63, Enrico Gasparotto (Astana Pro Team)
64, Wesley Sulzberger (Drapac Professional Cycling) at 6 mins 40 secs
65, Julian Alaphilippe (Omega Pharma – Quick-Step Cycling Team)
66, Jonathan Cantwell (Drapac Professional Cycling) at 6 hours 52 mins 0 secs
67, Pavel Kochetkov (Team Katusha)
68, Ian Stannard (Team Sky)
69, André Greipel (Lotto Belisol) at 7 mins 3 secs
70, Perrig Quemeneur (Team Europcar) at 7 mins 13 secs
71, Jens Debusschere (Lotto Belisol)
72, Marcel Sieberg (Lotto Belisol)
73, Calvin Watson (Trek Factory Racing) at 7 mins 36 secs
74, Bradley Linfield (UniSA)
75, Matej Mohoric (Cannondale) at 8 mins 19 secs
76, William Bonnet (FDJ.fr)
77, Guillaume Boivin (Cannondale)
78, Arnaud Courteille (FDJ.fr)
79, Fabio Felline (Trek Factory Racing) at 8 mins 24 secs
80, Koen De Kort (Team Giant-Shimano)
81, José Ivan Gutierrez Palacios (Movistar Team) at 8 mins 28 secs
82, Imanol Erviti Ollo (Movistar Team)
83, Lachlan David Morton (Garmin Sharp) at 8 mins 35 secs
84, Mark Renshaw (Omega Pharma – Quick-Step Cycling Team) at 8 mins 57 secs
85, Jussi Veikkanen (FDJ.fr)
86, Andriy Grivko (Astana Pro Team) at 9 mins 7 secs
87, Nikias Arndt (Team Giant-Shimano) at 9 mins 30 secs
88, Caleb Ewan (UniSA)
89, Evan Huffman (Astana Pro Team) at 9 mins 55 secs
90, Jack Bobridge (Belkin-Pro Cycling Team)
91, Michael Valgren Andersen (Tinkoff Saxo) at 10 mins 5 secs
92, Michal Kolár (Tinkoff Saxo) at 11 mins 2 secs
93, Johannes Fröhlinger (Team Giant-Shimano) at 11 mins 6 secs
94, Kévin Reza (Team Europcar) at 11 mins 39 secs
95, Pierre-Henri Lecuisinier (FDJ.fr) at 12 mins 2 secs
96, Michael Matthews (Orica Greenedge)
97, Mathew Hayman (Orica Greenedge) at 12 mins 39 secs
98, Elia Viviani (Cannondale) at 12 mins 46 secs
99, Jens Voigt (Trek Factory Racing) at 13 mins 7 secs
100, Matthias Krizek (Cannondale) at 13 mins 51 secs
101, Juan Jose Lobato Del Valle (Movistar Team) at 14 mins 4 secs
102, Travis Meyer (Drapac Professional Cycling) at 14 mins 5 secs
103, Matteo Trentin (Omega Pharma – Quick-Step Cycling Team) at 14 mins 19 secs
104, Guillaume Bonnafond (AG2R La Mondiale)
105, Mikhail Ignatyev (Team Katusha) at 14 mins 22 secs
106, Nicki Sörensen (Tinkoff Saxo) at 14 mins 24 secs
107, Boy Van Poppel (Trek Factory Racing) at 14 mins 35 secs
108, Alexander Porsev (Team Katusha) at 15 mins 13 secs
109, Alberto Bettiol (Cannondale) at 15 mins 17 secs
110, Luke Rowe (Team Sky)
111, Maxim Belkov (Team Katusha) at 15 mins 24 secs
112, Jay Mccarthy (Tinkoff Saxo) at 15 mins 35 secs
113, Marco Haller (Team Katusha) at 15 mins 55 secs
114, Nikolay Trusov (Tinkoff Saxo) at 15 mins 56 secs
115, Thomas Dekker (Garmin Sharp) at 16 mins 2 secs
116, Sébastien Turgot (AG2R La Mondiale) at 17 mins 26 secs
117, Andrew Fenn (Omega Pharma – Quick-Step Cycling Team) at 18 mins 40 secs
118, Bernhard Eisel (Team Sky) at 20 mins 11 secs
119, Thomas Peterson (Team Giant-Shimano)
120, Damien Gaudin (AG2R La Mondiale) at 20 mins 19 secs
121, Luke Durbridge (Orica Greenedge) at 20 mins 27 secs
122, Marcel Kittel (Team Giant-Shimano) at 21 mins 11 secs
123, Rick Flens (Belkin-Pro Cycling Team)
124, Roberto Ferrari (Lampre-Merida) at 22 mins 22 secs
125, Matteo Bono (Lampre-Merida)
126, Jacopo Guarnieri (Astana Pro Team) at 23 mins 45 secs
127, Jerome Cousin (Team Europcar) at 24 mins 54 secs
128, William Clarke (Drapac Professional Cycling) at 26 mins 4 secs
129, Davide Cimolai (Lampre-Merida) at 26 mins 21 secs
130, Matthew Harley Goss (Orica Greenedge) at 27 mins 54 secs
131, Olivier Kaisen (Lotto Belisol) at 29 mins 53 secs
132, Neil Van Der Ploeg (UniSA) at 34 mins 47 secs
133, Graeme Brown (Belkin-Pro Cycling Team) at 34 mins 52 secs
134, Maxime Daniel (AG2R La Mondiale) at 37 mins 59 secs
135 Campbell Flakemore (UniSA) at 39 mins 38 secs

1, BMC Racing Team, 30 hours 2 hours 21 mins 17 secs
2, Orica GreenEDGE, at 43 secs
3, Garmin-Sharp, at 1 min 45 secs
4, FDJ.fr, at 2 mins
5, Team Sky, at 2 mins 19 secs
6, Drapac Cycling, at 3 mins 42 secs
7, UniSA-Australia,
8, Lampre-Merida, at 4 mins 6 secs
9, Lotto-Belisol Team, at 4 mins 36 secs
10, Trek Factory Racing, at 4 mins 42 secs
11, Omega Pharma-QuickStep, at 4 mins 55 secs
12, Tinkoff Saxo, at 5 mins 25 secs
13, Team Europcar, at 5 mins 46 secs
14, Movistar Team, at 6 mins 25 secs
15, Astana Pro Team, at 6 mins 27 secs
16, AG2R La Mondiale, at 6 mins 58 secs
17, Katusha Team, at 7 mins 23 secs
18, Belkin Pro Cycling Team, at 8 mins 16 secs
19, Cannondale, at 10 mins 9 secs
20, Team Giant-Shimano, at 12 mins 38 secs