January 24, 2009 – Even two passes of the notorious Willunga Hill couldn’t come between Allan Davis’ (Quick Step) and his dream of winning his home ProTour race. The Queenslander all but sealed the general classification after sprinting to another stage victory on Stage 5.

“Absolutely unbelievable, I wouldn’t be here without my team,” said Davis. “It’s been another amazing day with the crowds. I just can’t believe how well the event has gone. Thank you.”

The Quick Step rider has simply proven too quick for his rivals in the sprints this week, with today’s victory his third from five stages. Fellow sprinter Graeme Brown (Rabobank) wasn’t able to make the final selection in today’s race, Brown had managed to climb Willunga with his team’s help the first time around but couldn’t hold on during the second pass.

José Joaquin Rojas (Caisse d’Epargne) took second place in the sprint finish from former Tour Down Under winners Martin Elmiger (AG2R La Mondiale) and Stuart O’Grady (Team Saxo Bank). O’Grady holds second place on general classification, 25 seconds behind Davis.

Lance Armstrong (Astana) has his fans world-over in awe as he drove the chase group of 10 riders up Willunga Hill on the second lap. The American rider is making his return to the peloton this week after three and a half years off the bike.

Results

1. Allan Davis (Aus) Quick Step 3:28.33
2. José Joaquin Rojas Gil (Spa) Caisse d’Epargne
3. Martin Elmiger (Swi) AG2R La Mondiale
4. Stuart O’Grady (Aus) Team Saxo Bank
5. Jérémy Roy (Fra) Française Des Jeux
6. Laurent Lefèvre (Fra) Bbox Bouygues Telecom
7. Wesley Sulzberger (Aus) Française Des Jeux
8. Ryder Hesjedal (Can) Garmin-Slipstream
9. Matthew Lloyd (Aus) Silence-Lotto
10. Julien El Farès (Fra) Cofidis
11. Jussi Veikkanen (Fin) Française Des Jeux
12. Luis Leon Sanchez Gil (Spa) Caisse d’Epargne
13. Thomas Rohregger (Aut) Team Milram
14. Vladimir Efimkin (Rus) AG2R La Mondiale
15. Mickaël Chérel (Fra) Française Des Jeux
16. Mauro Santambrogio (Ita) Lampre-N.G.C
17. George Hincapie (USA) Team Columbia-High Road
18. Michael Rogers (Aus) Team Columbia-High Road
19. Mario Aerts (Bel) Silence-Lotto
20. Aleksandr Kuchynski (Blr) Liquigas
21. Matthew Wilson (Aus) UniSA
22. Nicolas Roche (Irl) AG2R La Mondiale
23. Lance Armstrong (USA) Astana
24. Tom Stubbe (Bel) Silence-Lotto
25. Simon Clarke (Aus) UniSA
26. Markel Irizar Aranburu (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi
27. Pablo Lastras Garcia (Spa) Caisse d’Epargne
28. Jens Voigt (Ger) Team Saxo Bank
29. Jesus Hernandez (Spa) Astana
30. Trent Lowe (Aus) Garmin-Slipstream
31. Mathieu Perget (Fra) Caisse d’Epargne
32. Oscar Pereiro Sio (Spa) Caisse d’Epargne
33. Christian Meier (Can) Garmin-Slipstream
34. Javier Megías Leal (Spa) Fuji-Servetto
35. Perrig Quemeneur (Fra) Bbox Bouygues Telecom
36. José Luis Rubiera Vigil (Spa) Astana
37. David Moncoutié (Fra) Cofidis
38. Frederik Willems (Bel) Liquigas
39. Adam Hansen (Aus) Team Columbia-High Road 0.35
40. Matteo Tosatto (Ita) Quick Step 0.39
41. Nicki Sørensen (Den) Team Saxo Bank 0.46
42. Jack Bobridge (Aus) UniSA 1.06
43. Francesco Reda (Ita) Quick Step 1.21
44. Stijn Vandenbergh (Bel) Team Katusha 1.54
45. Stef Clement (Ned) Rabobank
46. Graeme Brown (Aus) Rabobank
47. Mathew Hayman (Aus) Rabobank
48. Christian Knees (Ger) Team Milram
49. René Mandri (Est) AG2R La Mondiale
50. Mickaël Buffaz (Fra) Cofidis
51. Alexandr Pliuschin (Mda) AG2R La Mondiale
52. Glenn d’Hollander (Bel) Silence-Lotto
53. Alexandre Pichot (Fra) Bbox Bouygues Telecom
54. Vincent Jérôme (Fra) Bbox Bouygues Telecom
55. Iñaki Isasi Flores (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi
56. Yoann Offredo (Fra) Française Des Jeux
57. Alexander Efimkin (Rus) AG2R La Mondiale
58. Maxim Iglinsky (Kaz) Astana
59. Sébastien Hinault (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
60. Steve Morabito (Swi) Astana
61. Imanol Erviti Ollo (Spa) Caisse d’Epargne
62. Maciej Bodnar (Pol) Liquigas
63. Kasper Klostergaard Larsen (Den) Team Saxo Bank
64. Serguei Klimov (Rus) Team Katusha 2.02
65. Dries Devenyns (Bel) Quick Step 2.18
66. Davide Malacarne (Ita) Quick Step 3.18
67. Tom Leezer (Ned) Rabobank
68. Cameron Meyer (Aus) Garmin-Slipstream 3.42
69. Martin Müller (Ger) Team Milram 7.00
70. Travis Meyer (Aus) UniSA
71. Anders Lund (Den) Team Saxo Bank
72. Davide Viganò (Ita) Fuji-Servetto 10.11
73. Mathieu Drujon (Fra) Caisse d’Epargne 11.44
74. Robbie McEwen (Aus) Team Katusha
75. Rick Flens (Ned) Rabobank
76. Rein Taaramae (Est) Cofidis
77. Nikolay Trusov (Rus) Team Katusha
78. Jonas Ljungblad (Swe) Silence-Lotto
79. Frank Hoj (Den) Team Saxo Bank
80. Timmy Duggan (USA) Garmin-Slipstream
81. Hilton Clarke (Aus) Fuji-Servetto
82. Willem Stroetinga (Ned) Team Milram
83. Volodymyr Zagorodniy (Ukr) Lampre-N.G.C
84. Matteo Bono (Ita) Lampre-N.G.C
85. David Loosli (Swi) Lampre-N.G.C
86. Emanuele Bindi (Ita) Lampre-N.G.C
87. Matthieu Sprick (Fra) Bbox Bouygues Telecom
88. Francesco Chicchi (Ita) Liquigas 13.10
89. Bernhard Eisel (Aut) Team Columbia-High Road
90. Kurt Hovelijnck (Bel) Quick Step
91. Claudio Corioni (Ita) Liquigas
92. Gianni Da Ros (Ita) Liquigas
93. Andrea Grendene (Ita) Lampre-N.G.C
94. Chris Sutton (Aus) Garmin-Slipstream
95. Guillaume Blot (Fra) Cofidis
96. Luca Barla (Ita) Team Milram
97. Jacopo Guanieri (Ita) Liquigas
98. Matthew Goss (Aus) Team Saxo Bank
99. Ivan Dominquez (Cub) Fuji-Servetto
100. Aaron Kemps (Aus) UniSA
101. Gregory Henderson (NZl) Team Columbia-High Road
102. Rony Martias (Fra) Bbox Bouygues Telecom
103. Mathieu Claude (Fra) Bbox Bouygues Telecom
104. Florent Brard (Fra) Cofidis
105. Alexandre Usov (Blr) Cofidis
106. Sergio De Lis (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi
107. Joan Horrach Rippoll (Spa) Team Katusha
108. Olivier Kaisen (Bel) Silence-Lotto
109. Hubert Schwab (Swi) Quick Step
110. Scott Davis (Aus) UniSA
111. Julian Dean (NZl) Garmin-Slipstream
112. Josu Agirre Aseginolaza (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi
113. Mark Renshaw (Aus) Team Columbia-High Road
114. Andoni Lafuente (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi
115. Pablo Urtasun (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi
116. Ronny Scholz (Ger) Team Milram
117. Kenny De Haes (Bel) Team Katusha
118. Aitor Hernandez Gutierrez (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi
119. Jos Van Emden (Ned) Rabobank
120. Markus Eichler (Ger) Team Milram
121. Assan Bazayev (Kaz) Astana
122. Vitaliy Buts (Ukr) Lampre-N.G.C

GC after Stage 5

1. Allan Davis (Aus) Quick Step 17:44.59
2. Stuart O’Grady (Aus) Team Saxo Bank 0.25
3. José Joaquin Rojas Gil (Spa) Caisse d’Epargne 0.30
4. Martin Elmiger (Swi) AG2R La Mondiale
5. Michael Rogers (Aus) Team Columbia-High Road 0.38
6. Matthew Wilson (Aus) UniSA 0.39
7. Mauro Santambrogio (Ita) Lampre-N.G.C 0.40
8. Jussi Veikkanen (Fin) Française Des Jeux
9. Mickaël Chérel (Fra) Française Des Jeux
10. Ryder Hesjedal (Can) Garmin-Slipstream
11. George Hincapie (USA) Team Columbia-High Road
12. Wesley Sulzberger (Aus) Française Des Jeux
13. Nicolas Roche (Irl) AG2R La Mondiale 0.44
14. Luis Leon Sanchez Gil (Spa) Caisse d’Epargne
15. Mathieu Perget (Fra) Caisse d’Epargne
16. Matthew Lloyd (Aus) Silence-Lotto
17. Markel Irizar Aranburu (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 0.47
18. Jérémy Roy (Fra) Française Des Jeux 0.49
19. Thomas Rohregger (Aut) Team Milram
20. Pablo Lastras Garcia (Spa) Caisse d’Epargne
21. Christian Meier (Can) Garmin-Slipstream
22. Aleksandr Kuchynski (Blr) Liquigas
23. Javier Megías Leal (Spa) Fuji-Servetto
24. Simon Clarke (Aus) UniSA
25. Trent Lowe (Aus) Garmin-Slipstream
26. Oscar Pereiro Sio (Spa) Caisse d’Epargne
27. Jens Voigt (Ger) Team Saxo Bank
28. Jesus Hernandez (Spa) Astana
29. Lance Armstrong (USA) Astana
30. Perrig Quemeneur (Fra) Bbox Bouygues Telecom 1.41
31. Graeme Brown (Aus) Rabobank 2.08
32. David Moncoutié (Fra) Cofidis 2.29
33. Mathew Hayman (Aus) Rabobank 2.34
34. Christian Knees (Ger) Team Milram 2.38
35. Vincent Jérôme (Fra) Bbox Bouygues Telecom
36. Imanol Erviti Ollo (Spa) Caisse d’Epargne 2.39
37. Sébastien Hinault (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 2.43
38. Kasper Klostergaard Larsen (Den) Team Saxo Bank
39. Francesco Reda (Ita) Quick Step 2.46
40. Matteo Tosatto (Ita) Quick Step 3.18
41. Alexandre Pichot (Fra) Bbox Bouygues Telecom 3.23
42. Glenn d’Hollander (Bel) Silence-Lotto 3.29
43. Alexander Efimkin (Rus) AG2R La Mondiale 3.30
44. Steve Morabito (Swi) Astana
45. Adam Hansen (Aus) Team Columbia-High Road 4.15
46. Frederik Willems (Bel) Liquigas 5.35
47. Anders Lund (Den) Team Saxo Bank 7.49
48. Tom Leezer (Ned) Rabobank 11.34
49. Tom Stubbe (Bel) Silence-Lotto 13.11
50. Dries Devenyns (Bel) Quick Step 15.14
51. Mathieu Drujon (Fra) Caisse d’Epargne 19.50
52. Matthew Goss (Aus) Team Saxo Bank 20.55
53. Julien El Farès (Fra) Cofidis 22.38
54. Mario Aerts (Bel) Silence-Lotto
55. Vladimir Efimkin (Rus) AG2R La Mondiale 23.21
56. Laurent Lefèvre (Fra) Bbox Bouygues Telecom 24.00
57. José Luis Rubiera Vigil (Spa) Astana
58. Mickaël Buffaz (Fra) Cofidis 24.23
59. Iñaki Isasi Flores (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 24.27
60. Rick Flens (Ned) Rabobank 24.31
61. Yoann Offredo (Fra) Française Des Jeux 24.32
62. Nicki Sørensen (Den) Team Saxo Bank 24.33
63. Alexandr Pliuschin (Mda) AG2R La Mondiale 24.44
64. Jack Bobridge (Aus) UniSA 24.51
65. René Mandri (Est) AG2R La Mondiale 25.05
66. Matteo Bono (Ita) Lampre-N.G.C 25.13
67. Maciej Bodnar (Pol) Liquigas 25.19
68. Stef Clement (Ned) Rabobank 26.09
69. Serguei Klimov (Rus) Team Katusha 27.00
70. Davide Malacarne (Ita) Quick Step 27.25
71. Cameron Meyer (Aus) Garmin-Slipstream 28.14
72. Stijn Vandenbergh (Bel) Team Katusha 29.27
73. David Loosli (Swi) Lampre-N.G.C 29.32
74. Gregory Henderson (NZl) Team Columbia-High Road 29.57
75. Maxim Iglinsky (Kaz) Astana 30.05
76. Martin Müller (Ger) Team Milram 30.25
77. Jos Van Emden (Ned) Rabobank 31.13
78. Travis Meyer (Aus) UniSA 31.15
79. Davide Viganò (Ita) Fuji-Servetto 32.49
80. Robbie McEwen (Aus) Team Katusha 34.35
81. Hilton Clarke (Aus) Fuji-Servetto 35.33
82. Luca Barla (Ita) Team Milram 36.00
83. Alexandre Usov (Blr) Cofidis 36.35
84. Rony Martias (Fra) Bbox Bouygues Telecom
85. Josu Agirre Aseginolaza (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi
86. Hubert Schwab (Swi) Quick Step 37.10
87. Ronny Scholz (Ger) Team Milram 37.33
88. Kurt Hovelijnck (Bel) Quick Step 37.36
89. Frank Hoj (Den) Team Saxo Bank 38.11
90. Matthieu Sprick (Fra) Bbox Bouygues Telecom 38.28
91. Joan Horrach Rippoll (Spa) Team Katusha 39.02
92. Timmy Duggan (USA) Garmin-Slipstream 39.17
93. Rein Taaramae (Est) Cofidis
94. Nikolay Trusov (Rus) Team Katusha 40.15
95. Vitaliy Buts (Ukr) Lampre-N.G.C 40.41
96. Claudio Corioni (Ita) Liquigas 41.18
97. Gianni Da Ros (Ita) Liquigas 41.21
98. Assan Bazayev (Kaz) Astana 42.32
99. Emanuele Bindi (Ita) Lampre-N.G.C 43.05
100. Jacopo Guanieri (Ita) Liquigas 43.22
101. Volodymyr Zagorodniy (Ukr) Lampre-N.G.C 43.36
102. Mark Renshaw (Aus) Team Columbia-High Road 43.43
103. Andrea Grendene (Ita) Lampre-N.G.C 43.58
104. Olivier Kaisen (Bel) Silence-Lotto 44.25
105. Aitor Hernandez Gutierrez (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 44.31
106. Jonas Ljungblad (Swe) Silence-Lotto 46.37
107. Chris Sutton (Aus) Garmin-Slipstream 48.03
108. Scott Davis (Aus) UniSA 48.04
109. Aaron Kemps (Aus) UniSA 50.13
110. Francesco Chicchi (Ita) Liquigas 53.39
111. Julian Dean (NZl) Garmin-Slipstream
112. Willem Stroetinga (Ned) Team Milram 54.33
113. Kenny De Haes (Bel) Team Katusha 55.01
114. Markus Eichler (Ger) Team Milram 55.59
115. Guillaume Blot (Fra) Cofidis 58.51
116. Florent Brard (Fra) Cofidis 59.20
117. Mathieu Claude (Fra) Bbox Bouygues Telecom 1:01.26
118. Andoni Lafuente (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 1:02.12
119. Bernhard Eisel (Aut) Team Columbia-High Road 1:02.22
120. Sergio De Lis (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi
121. Pablo Urtasun (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi
122. Ivan Dominquez (Cub) Fuji-Servetto 1:23.14

Mountains Classification

1. Andoni Lafuente (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 46 points
2. Markel Irizar Aranburu (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 38
3. Olivier Kaisen (Bel) Silence-Lotto 24
4. Jack Bobridge (Aus) UniSA 22
5. Thomas Rohregger (Aut) Team Milram 20
6. David Moncoutié (Fra) Cofidis 20
7. Matthew Lloyd (Aus) Silence-Lotto 16
8. Vladimir Efimkin (Rus) AG2R La Mondiale 16
9. Cameron Meyer (Aus) Garmin-Slipstream 16
10. Aitor Hernandez Gutierrez (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 14

20. Ryder Hesjedal (Can) Garmin-Slipstream 6

Young Rider Classification

1. José Joaquin Rojas Gil (Spa) Caisse d’Epargne 17:45.29
2. Mickaël Chérel (Fra) Française Des Jeux 0.10
3. Wesley Sulzberger (Aus) Française Des Jeux
4. Christian Meier (Can) Garmin-Slipstream 0.19
5. Simon Clarke (Aus) UniSA
6. Anders Lund (Den) Team Saxo Bank 7.19
7. Tom Leezer (Ned) Rabobank 11.04
8. Matthew Goss (Aus) Team Saxo Bank 20.25
9. Julien El Farès (Fra) Cofidis 22.08
10. Yoann Offredo (Fra) Française Des Jeux 24.02