January 25, 2016 (Adelaide, Australia) – Australian Simon Gerrans has been crowned Santos Tour Down Under champion for a record fourth time with Orica GreenEdge celebrating double success after Caleb Ewan sprinted home to win the final stage.

“It’s certainly a dream result and we couldn’t have asked for more,” said Gerrans, 35, who also won two individual stages and the iiNet sprint title.

Gerrans was overjoyed to reclaim the crown he also won in 2006, 2012 and 2014. He had a horror run of injury in 2015 but arrived in Adelaide in top form and ready to race.

“We are so lucky to have this race here in Australia,” said Gerrans who claimed his victory in front of 97 thousand fans. “It’s fantastic to race the Santos Tour Down Under with Orica-Greenedge, an Aussie team winning a WorldTour race in Australia, it’s just awesome.

“The boys did a sensational job today, they kept me at the front, out of trouble and delivered Caleb (Ewan) as close to the line as possible,” said Gerrans. “What a fantastic week it’s been for us.”

His young teammate Ewan, 21, reinforced his sprinting credentials and repaid his team’s backing to win today’s stage by more than a bike length from Mark Renshaw (Dimension Data) with Giacomo Nizzoli (Trek Segafredo) third.

“Obviously it wasn’t just a great week for me, the team showed that this week they are by far the strongest,” said Ewan.

“It was always going to be hard to come to this race and chase both stages (wins) and overall victory,” said Ewan who, although he also won the opening stage, knew the team’s priority was for Gerrans to win the title. “I’m so happy that we came away with four stages and the overall.

“I actually got caught behind on the way down to the finish line (today) and I was way back in the bunch and I had go back to the front,” he explained. “Luckily my team-mates brought me up to where I wanted to be for sprinting and it all went well.”

Orica GreenEdge team director, Matt White, had nothing but praise for his team.

“It’s been a huge week for our team, to win the overall and book-end with Caleb, this was confirmation for Caleb, he clearly was the fastest rider here all week,” said White. “And for Gerro (Gerrans) to come back, everyone saw how hard he worked. This will set the tone for rest of the year.”

Gerrans ended the 781 kilometre six stage event on a total time of 19h, 11m, 33s, nine seconds ahead of fellow Australian Richie Porte (BMC Racing) with Colombian Sergio Luis Henao (Team SKY) third at eleven seconds.

The Subaru King of the Mountain classification was won by Henao who amassed 38 points, ten ahead of Porte with Michael Woods (Cannondale) third on 20 points.

Tinkoff’s Jay McCarthy was fourth overall which gave him the Europcar Young Rider title as the top ranked rider under the age of 25.

“I’m definitely very happy with how it’s gone this week,” said McCarthy who wore the Santos Ochre Leader’s jersey for a day after winning the second stage. “To finish fourth brings me the confidence I needed and I hope to deliver some more good results, I want to deliver more for the team.

“I love the crowd and the atmosphere here,” said the young Australian who raced on front of a total of 731 thousand fans this week. “I had a lot of my family (from Queensland) here to watch me. Every time I’ve done the Tour Down Under, they’ve come to Adelaide as well.

“To be up on the podium for them and my team has been super exciting,” he said.

Cannondale Pro Cycling, who finished with two riders in the top ten, goes home with the Wilson Parking Winning Team trophy which they won by a narrow nine second margin over Movistar. Etixx Quickstep was third ranked at 1min 12sec.

“Winning the teams classification here is a really good start for Cannondale,” said Simon Clarke who joined the team this year. ”We are on a mission this year to take the team to another level and unity is the key to getting results.

“This classification shows our unity,” he said. “The focus this week was to ride together… and to get to the podium with the whole team.”

Today’s Be Safe Be Seen MAC Stage 6 was no place for the faint hearted with an average speed of 47 kilometres an hour for the 90 kilometre, 20 lap, race on the Adelaide street circuit.

If anyone had expected an easy day in the saddle they were in for a shock as the pace over the first 20 kilometres was relentless.

An attack went on the first lap that saw five riders breakaway and by the end of the first lap they were 30 seconds down the road.

But the quintet included two riders who posed a threat in George Bennett (Lotto NL Jumbo) and Carlos Verona (Etixx QuickStep), both sitting less than 1min20sec off the race lead.

That forced Orica GreenEdge to the front immediately in pursuit of the escapees but it took them close to 20 kilometres to get the job done.

Almost immediately another Lotto NL Jumbo rider, Maarten Tjallingi, launched a counter attack. Joining him soon after was another Dutchman, Thomas De Gendt from Lotto Soudal.

With both sitting more than 20 minutes out of contention they obviously hoped that would be allowed to sneak away but they struggled to increase their lead above 30 seconds.

Tjallingi was first under the arch at the end of lap eight (36km) for the first of two iiNet intermediate sprints. De Gendt was second and twenty seconds later Orica GreenEdge’s Daryl Impey stymied Tinkoff’s efforts to set Jay McCarthy up for the minor points.

Two Subaru King of the Mountain climbs featured in today’s stage but the overnight leader, Henao had no cause for concern as he started the day with an unassailable lead.

The first time up Montefiore Hill, De Gendt crossed the line ahead of Tjallingii, as the pair churned through the kilometres setting an average pace of close to 47 kilometres an hour. Colombian Jarlinson Pantano (IAM Cycling) was third.

The second iiNet sprint was contested at the end of lap twelve (54 km) and De Gendt rode through with Tjallingii on his wheel. Not far behind Frenchman Johan Le Bon (FDJ) was alone in third place.

The peloton was matching the pace of the leaders and holding the break to 30 seconds, nowhere near enough to secure a shot at the stage win.

As the race headed into the final 30 kilometres the margin to the lead pair was down to 18 seconds.

The second Subaru King of the Mountain climb was won by Tjallingii ahead of De Gendt with the bunch led over the line 23 seconds late by Pantano.

Astana launched it’s own pursuit with Laurens De Vreese and Lieuwe Westra which triggered a surge of pace from 38 year old Tjallingii. De Gendt threw in the towel and dropped back to the peloton.

Four laps to go (18km) Tjallingii was joined by Westra while De Vreese returned to the bunch but the peloton wanted a sprint finish and they would not be denied, snaring the breakaway ahead of the final, frenetic lap.

Tjallingii might not have stayed clear to contest the stage but his efforts in front of the race earned him the Alpecin Most Competitive rider of the day award.

“You never know what is going to happen at the end so you can only try to anticipate a bunch sprint,” he said. “I had in mind that the bunch could break up in the last lap and let me alone away for the stage victory and I wanted to see if there was any possibility to win.

“It’s been a great week of racing,” said Tjallingii. “It’s great to begin the season here with a lot of spectators around, South Australians are very supportive of the cyclists.”

Results
1. Caleb Ewan (Aus) Orica–GreenEdge 1:55:02
2. Mark Renshaw (Aus) Team Dimension Data
3. Giacomo Nizzolo (Ita) Trek–Segafredo
4. Adam Blythe (Gbr) Tinkoff
5. Alexey Tsatevitch (Rus) Team Katusha
6. Ben Swift (Gbr) Team Sky
7. Marko Kump (Slo) Lampre–Merida
8. Davide Martinelli (Ita) Etixx–Quick-Step
9. Leigh Howard (Aus) IAM Cycling
10. Wouter Wippert (Ned) Cannondale
11. Simon Gerrans (Aus) Orica–GreenEdge
12. Domenico Pozzovivo (Ita) AG2R La Mondiale
13. Steele von Hoff (Aus) UniSA-Australia
14. Greg Henderson (Nzl) Lotto Soudal
15. Juan José Lobato Del Valle (Esp) Team Movistar
16. Floris Gerts (Ned) BMC Racing Team
17. Koen De Kort (Ned) Giant–Alpecin
18. Georg Preidler (Aut) Giant–Alpecin
19. Anthony Roux (Fra) FDJ
20. Gediminas Bagdonas (Ltu) AG2R La Mondiale
21. José Joaquin Rojas (Esp) Team Movistar
22. Luka Pibernik (Slo) Lampre–Merida
23. Jay McCarthy (Aus) Tinkoff
24. Sergio Henao (Col) Team Sky
25. Rafael Valls Ferri (Esp) Lotto Soudal
26. Pim Ligthart (Ned) Lotto Soudal
27. Enrico Battaglin (Ita) LottoNL–Jumbo
28. Patrick Bevin (Nzl) Cannondale
29. Danilo Wyss (Sui) BMC Racing Team
30. Cameron Meyer (Aus) Team Dimension Data
31. Richie Porte (Aus) BMC Racing Team
32. Tobias Ludvigsson (Swe) Giant–Alpecin
33. Simon Clarke (Aus) Cannondale
34. Ruben Fernandez Andujar (Esp) Team Movistar
35. Michael Woods (Can) Cannondale
36. Jascha Sütterlin (Ger) Team Movistar
37. Dmitriy Gruzdev (Kaz) Astana
38. Anthony Giacoppo (Aus) UniSA-Australia
39. Steve Morabito (Sui) FDJ
40. Yoann Offredo (Fra) FDJ
41. David De La Cruz (Esp) Etixx–Quick-Step
42. Diego Ulissi (Ita) Lampre–Merida
43. Davide Malacarne (Ita) Astana
44. Daryl Impey (Rsa) Orica–GreenEdge
45. Gert Dockx (Bel) Lotto Soudal
46. Boy Van Poppel (Ned) Trek–Segafredo
47. Arman Kamyshev (Kaz) Astana
48. Peter Velits (Svk) BMC Racing Team
49. Matteo Montaguti (Ita) AG2R La Mondiale
50. Jesús Herrada (Esp) Team Movistar
51. Petr Vakoc (Cze) Etixx–Quick-Step
52. Carlos Verona (Esp) Etixx–Quick-Step
53. Alessandro De Marchi (Ita) BMC Racing Team
54. Louis Meintjes (Rsa) Lampre–Merida
55. Egor Silin (Rus) Team Katusha
56. Tiago Machado (Por) Team Katusha
57. Chris Hamilton (Aus) UniSA-Australia
58. Pieter Serry (Bel) Etixx–Quick-Step
59. Roger Kluge (Ger) IAM Cycling
60. Manuele Mori (Ita) Lampre–Merida
61. Lachlan Norris (Aus) Drapac Pro Cycling
62. Federico Zurlo (Ita) Lampre–Merida
63. Nathan Haas (Aus) Team Dimension Data
64. Jarlinson Pantano (Col) IAM Cycling
65. Jesse Sergent (Nzl) AG2R La Mondiale
66. Rein Taaramäe (Est) Team Katusha
67. Nelson Oliveira (Por) Team Movistar
68. Alberto Bettiol (Ita) Cannondale
69. Johan Le Bon (Fra) FDJ
70. Ruben Zepuntke (Ger) Cannondale
71. Julian Arredondo (Col) Trek–Segafredo
72. Kiel Reijnen (USA) Trek–Segafredo
73. Michael Albasini (Sui) Orica–GreenEdge
74. George Bennett (Nzl) LottoNL–Jumbo
75. Tsgabu Gebremaryam Grmay (Eth) Lampre–Merida
76. Marcel Aregger (Sui) IAM Cycling
77. Adam Phelan (Aus) Drapac Pro Cycling 0:00:12
78. Lars Ytting Bak (Den) Lotto Soudal 0:00:14
79. Luke Rowe (Gbr) Team Sky
80. Bert De Backer (Bel) Giant–Alpecin
81. Martin Velits (Svk) Etixx–Quick-Step
82. Nathan Earle (Aus) Drapac Pro Cycling
83. Michael Valgren Andersen (Den) Tinkoff
84. Sergey Lagutin (Rus) Team Katusha
85. Graeme Brown (Aus) Drapac Pro Cycling
86. Mathew Hayman (Aus) Orica–GreenEdge 0:00:19
87. Jack Bobridge (Aus) Trek–Segafredo
88. Lucas Hamilton (Aus) UniSA-Australia
89. Guillaume Van Keirsbulck (Bel) Etixx–Quick-Step
90. Rohan Dennis (Aus) BMC Racing Team
91. Peter Stetina (USA) Trek–Segafredo
92. Christophe Riblon (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
93. Cyril Gautier (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
94. Maxim Belkov (Rus) Team Katusha
95. Gavin Mannion (USA) Drapac Pro Cycling
96. Maarten Tjallingii (Ned) LottoNL–Jumbo
97. Sean Lake (Aus) UniSA-Australia
98. Patrick Lane (Aus) UniSA-Australia
99. Aleksejs Saramotins (Lat) IAM Cycling 0:00:25
100. Murilo Fischer (Bra) FDJ 0:00:26
101. Adam Hansen (Aus) Lotto Soudal
102. Samuel Spokes (Aus) Drapac Pro Cycling
103. Simon Geschke (Ger) Giant–Alpecin
104. Manuele Boaro (Ita) Tinkoff
105. Carter Jones (USA) Giant–Alpecin
106. Alexis Gougeard (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
107. Moreno Moser (Ita) Cannondale
108. Geraint Thomas (Gbr) Team Sky
109. Cheng Ji (Chn) Giant–Alpecin
110. Martijn Keizer (Ned) LottoNL–Jumbo 0:00:42
111. Bert-Jan Lindeman (Ned) LottoNL–Jumbo
112. Rory Sutherland (Aus) Team Movistar
113. Vladimir Isaychev (Rus) Team Katusha
114. David Tanner (Aus) IAM Cycling 0:00:44
115. Jaco Venter (Rsa) Team Dimension Data 0:00:52
116. Ryder Hesjedal (Can) Trek–Segafredo 0:00:54
117. Michael Hepburn (Aus) Orica–GreenEdge 0:01:14
118. Luke Durbridge (Aus) Orica–GreenEdge
119. Ivan Rovny (Rus) Tinkoff
120. Luis Leon Sanchez Gil (Esp) Astana
121. Thomas De Gendt (Bel) Lotto Soudal 0:01:19
122. Laurens De Vreese (Bel) Astana
123. Laurent Pichon (Fra) FDJ 0:01:22
124. Lars Boom (Ned) Astana 0:01:23
125. Songezo Jim (Rsa) Team Dimension Data 0:01:27
126. Tyler Farrar (USA) Team Dimension Data 0:01:29
127. Benoit Vaugrenard (Fra) FDJ 0:01:31
128. Michael Gogl (Aut) Tinkoff
129. Lieuwe Westra (Ned) Astana
130. Peter Kennaugh (Gbr) Team Sky 0:01:48
131. Ian Stannard (Gbr) Team Sky
132. Patrick Shaw (Aus) UniSA-Australia 0:02:04
133. Reinardt Janse Van Rensburg (Rsa) 0:02:06
134. Oscar Gatto (Ita) Tinkoff
DNF Bram Tankink (Ned) LottoNL–Jumbo

Final GC
1. Simon Gerrans (Aus) Orica–GreenEdge 19:11:33
2. Richie Porte (Aus) BMC Racing Team 0:00:09
3. Sergio Henao (Col) Team Sky 0:00:11
4. Jay McCarthy (Aus) Tinkoff 0:00:20
5. Michael Woods (Can) Cannondale
6. Ruben Fernandez Andujar (Esp) Team Movistar 0:00:28
7. Domenico Pozzovivo (Ita) AG2R La Mondiale
8. Rafael Valls Ferri (Esp) Lotto Soudal 0:00:36
9. Steve Morabito (Sui) FDJ 0:00:49
10. Patrick Bevin (Nzl) Cannondale 0:00:50
11. Diego Ulissi (Ita) Lampre–Merida 0:00:52
12. Cameron Meyer (Aus) Team Dimension Data 0:00:56
13. Jesús Herrada (Esp) Team Movistar 0:00:58
14. Chris Hamilton (Aus) UniSA-Australia
15. Luis Leon Sanchez Gil (Esp) Astana 0:01:02
16. Louis Meintjes (Rsa) Lampre–Merida 0:01:04
17. Egor Silin (Rus) Team Katusha 0:01:11
18. Tiago Machado (Por) Team Katusha
19. George Bennett (Nzl) LottoNL–Jumbo 0:01:15
20. Simon Clarke (Aus) Cannondale 0:01:18
21. David De La Cruz (Esp) Etixx–Quick-Step
22. Carlos Verona (Esp) Etixx–Quick-Step 0:01:19
23. Rohan Dennis (Aus) BMC Racing Team 0:01:22
24. Anthony Roux (Fra) FDJ 0:01:27
25. Tobias Ludvigsson (Swe) Giant–Alpecin
26. José Joaquin Rojas (Esp) Team Movistar
27. Petr Vakoc (Cze) Etixx–Quick-Step
28. Lachlan Norris (Aus) Drapac Pro Cycling 0:01:35
29. Georg Preidler (Aut) Giant–Alpecin 0:01:38
30. Jarlinson Pantano (Col) IAM Cycling 0:01:44
31. Pieter Serry (Bel) Etixx–Quick-Step 0:01:46
32. Davide Malacarne (Ita) Astana 0:01:54
33. Jack Bobridge (Aus) Trek–Segafredo 0:01:59
34. Nathan Earle (Aus) Drapac Pro Cycling 0:02:10
35. Peter Stetina (USA) Trek–Segafredo 0:02:13
36. Lars Ytting Bak (Den) Lotto Soudal 0:02:22
37. Rein Taaramäe (Est) Team Katusha 0:03:00
38. Cyril Gautier (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
39. Geraint Thomas (Gbr) Team Sky 0:03:06
40. Jascha Sütterlin (Ger) Team Movistar 0:03:15
41. Nathan Haas (Aus) Team Dimension Data 0:03:20
42. Matteo Montaguti (Ita) AG2R La Mondiale 0:03:50
43. Adam Phelan (Aus) Drapac Pro Cycling 0:03:51
44. Daryl Impey (Rsa) Orica–GreenEdge 0:04:04
45. Martin Velits (Svk) Etixx–Quick-Step 0:04:54
46. Enrico Battaglin (Ita) LottoNL–Jumbo 0:05:32
47. Lucas Hamilton (Aus) UniSA-Australia 0:05:46
48. Lieuwe Westra (Ned) Astana 0:05:57
49. Alexey Tsatevitch (Rus) Team Katusha 0:06:15
50. Sergey Lagutin (Rus) Team Katusha 0:06:23
51. Peter Kennaugh (Gbr) Team Sky 0:07:32
52. Pim Ligthart (Ned) Lotto Soudal 0:09:04
53. Carter Jones (USA) Giant–Alpecin 0:09:33
54. Tsgabu Gebremaryam Grmay (Eth) Lampre–Merida 0:10:00
55. Patrick Lane (Aus) UniSA-Australia 0:10:05
56. Anthony Giacoppo (Aus) UniSA-Australia 0:11:00
57. Nelson Oliveira (Por) Team Movistar 0:11:35
58. Adam Hansen (Aus) Lotto Soudal 0:11:54
59. Luka Pibernik (Slo) Lampre–Merida 0:11:58
60. Gavin Mannion (USA) Drapac Pro Cycling 0:12:17
61. Johan Le Bon (Fra) FDJ 0:12:24
62. Manuele Boaro (Ita) Tinkoff 0:12:25
63. Samuel Spokes (Aus) Drapac Pro Cycling 0:12:30
64. Jaco Venter (Rsa) Team Dimension Data 0:12:48
65. Reinardt Janse Van Rensburg (Rsa) 0:12:51
66. Gert Dockx (Bel) Lotto Soudal 0:13:12
67. Ryder Hesjedal (Can) Trek–Segafredo 0:13:39
68. Danilo Wyss (Sui) BMC Racing Team 0:13:54
69. David Tanner (Aus) IAM Cycling 0:15:35
70. Yoann Offredo (Fra) FDJ 0:16:04
71. Jesse Sergent (Nzl) AG2R La Mondiale 0:17:01
72. Peter Velits (Svk) BMC Racing Team 0:17:33
73. Federico Zurlo (Ita) Lampre–Merida 0:17:43
74. Alberto Bettiol (Ita) Cannondale 0:18:15
75. Laurens De Vreese (Bel) Astana 0:18:32
76. Michael Albasini (Sui) Orica–GreenEdge 0:18:46
77. Rory Sutherland (Aus) Team Movistar 0:19:11
78. Manuele Mori (Ita) Lampre–Merida 0:19:31
79. Ian Stannard (Gbr) Team Sky 0:19:47
80. Julian Arredondo (Col) Trek–Segafredo 0:21:15
81. Steele von Hoff (Aus) UniSA-Australia 0:21:21
82. Lars Boom (Ned) Astana 0:21:24
83. Songezo Jim (Rsa) Team Dimension Data 0:21:33
84. Mathew Hayman (Aus) Orica–GreenEdge 0:21:56
85. Dmitriy Gruzdev (Kaz) Astana 0:22:04
86. Michael Valgren Andersen (Den) Tinkoff 0:22:16
87. Michael Gogl (Aut) Tinkoff 0:22:30
88. Luke Durbridge (Aus) Orica–GreenEdge 0:23:01
89. Patrick Shaw (Aus) UniSA-Australia 0:23:14
90. Ruben Zepuntke (Ger) Cannondale 0:23:20
91. Simon Geschke (Ger) Giant–Alpecin 0:23:36
92. Luke Rowe (Gbr) Team Sky 0:23:40
93. Leigh Howard (Aus) IAM Cycling 0:24:18
94. Alessandro De Marchi (Ita) BMC Racing Team 0:24:53
95. Floris Gerts (Ned) BMC Racing Team 0:25:09
96. Thomas De Gendt (Bel) Lotto Soudal 0:25:33
97. Boy Van Poppel (Ned) Trek–Segafredo 0:25:44
98. Maxim Belkov (Rus) Team Katusha 0:25:58
99. Juan José Lobato Del Valle (Esp) Team Movistar 0:26:16
100. Arman Kamyshev (Kaz) Astana 0:26:20
101. Bert-Jan Lindeman (Ned) LottoNL–Jumbo 0:26:41
102. Greg Henderson (Nzl) Lotto Soudal 0:26:49
103. Ivan Rovny (Rus) Tinkoff 0:26:53
104. Maarten Tjallingii (Ned) LottoNL–Jumbo 0:27:35
105. Gediminas Bagdonas (Ltu) AG2R La Mondiale 0:28:33
106. Guillaume Van Keirsbulck (Bel) Etixx–Quick-Step 0:31:11
107. Ben Swift (Gbr) Team Sky 0:31:36
108. Sean Lake (Aus) UniSA-Australia 0:32:24
109. Moreno Moser (Ita) Cannondale 0:32:44
110. Aleksejs Saramotins (Lat) IAM Cycling 0:33:37
111. Giacomo Nizzolo (Ita) Trek–Segafredo 0:33:38
112. Laurent Pichon (Fra) FDJ 0:34:21
113. Graeme Brown (Aus) Drapac Pro Cycling 0:34:24
114. Martijn Keizer (Ned) LottoNL–Jumbo 0:34:47
115. Marcel Aregger (Sui) IAM Cycling 0:35:35
116. Adam Blythe (Gbr) Tinkoff 0:36:34
117. Murilo Fischer (Bra) FDJ 0:36:50
118. Koen De Kort (Ned) Giant–Alpecin 0:36:56
119. Mark Renshaw (Aus) Team Dimension Data 0:37:24
120. Davide Martinelli (Ita) Etixx–Quick-Step 0:37:44
121. Christophe Riblon (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 0:37:56
122. Kiel Reijnen (USA) Trek–Segafredo 0:38:45
123. Oscar Gatto (Ita) Tinkoff 0:39:05
124. Caleb Ewan (Aus) Orica–GreenEdge 0:39:24
125. Alexis Gougeard (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 0:40:41
126. Bert De Backer (Bel) Giant–Alpecin 0:40:45
127. Benoit Vaugrenard (Fra) FDJ 0:44:06
128. Wouter Wippert (Ned) Cannondale 0:44:12
129. Roger Kluge (Ger) IAM Cycling 0:44:36
130. Cheng Ji (Chn) Giant–Alpecin 0:48:16
131. Tyler Farrar (USA) Team Dimension Data 0:49:11
132. Marko Kump (Slo) Lampre–Merida 0:50:12
133. Vladimir Isaychev (Rus) Team Katusha 0:52:11