October 15, 2008 – After playing second fiddle on two occasions in sprint finishes former Tour de France sprint champion Baden Cooke finally took the honours on stage three of the Jayco Herald Sun Tour.

Cooke, riding for Barloworld, had been edged out by early Tour leader Matt Goss (CSC Saxo Bank) on the opening two days, but atoned in a desperate scramble to the line in Marysville.

It was Cooke’s second victory in the Victorian ski village, having won the same stage on his birthday in 2005.

In a dramatic finish, Cooke had to survive protests from second place finisher Dominique Rollin (Toyota-United), Jeremy Yates (Yes Optus Shop — New Zealand), who was fourth, and sixth placed William Walker (Virgin Blue Australia) before officially being declared the winner.

Overnight leader Stuart O’Grady finished fifth on the stage to extend his overall lead to 16 seconds as his CSC Saxo Bank teammate Brad McGee had to receive specially dispensation from the commissaries after finishing outside the time limit.

McGee, who is riding the last race of a decorated career will be allowed to start tomorrow, but faces a big battle up Mt Buller if he is to extend his racing days to the weekend.

Cooke put the confusion in the finish down to his previous experience in Marysville saying when he has come into Marysville before it was from a different direction.

“I spun around the corner at 200m to go in perfect position and then went to turn up the hill. I went to go left and then saw the finish line on the right so I had to cut back.

“My first thoughts were that I was going to crash. I didn’t think I was going to make it back on the right side of the barrier and then when I actually saw that I had enough left to win I was very happy.”

The former green jersey winner from the Tour de France said he had doubts about his form coming into the race but that racing on home soil always spurs him on.

“I came into this a bit unsure of my form because I’ve only done two races since the Tour de France through sickness and injury,” the 30-year-old Cooke said.

“I wouldn’t have been surprised if I was completely useless here so it’s amazing what your mind can do when you’re on your home territory because you’ve got a bit of determination.”

After his couple of near misses in previous stages Cooke enjoyed the more difficult terrain saying “I knew that if I was going to win it was going to be a harder stage.”

“I’m not a super high end quick sprinter I’m a strong sprinter, so it’s the tough races that I win.”

The 137km stage, from Warragul to Marysville, saw the peloton tackle the first major climb of the race with the 29km category one climb to Camberville followed by the descent to the finish with speed approaching 100kph.

“Both wheels were skipping around a few corners so it was pretty fast,” Stuart O’Grady said of the final descent.

O’Grady’s CSC Saxo Bank teammates were forced to chase the early breakaway of the day containing Jonny Clarke (Toyota-United) and Gordon McCauley (Yes Optus Shop — New Zealand) who had a lead of one minute and 20 seconds at the bottom of the final climb.

The reaction in the peloton came from William Ford (SouthAustralia.com-AIS) who rode across to the front. He quickly dropped Clarke and McCauley before being joined by Jeremy Yates.

With the help of his team O’Grady closed down the gaps to defend his overall race lead and finished fifth on the stage but didn’t have it all his own way.

“I was in a spot of bother on that last climb and Matty (Matt Goss) came through with some great work,” O’Grady said.

“The whole team did a fantastic effort. There’s only five of us here so everyone has got to pull out 100 per cent.

“The guys wanted to put on a pretty good pace to try and put us under as much pressure as possible to then attack us in the last 10km of the climb.

“I was pretty happy to let them go and do my own rhythm. I know my maximum level and I just got to that and held it and then got back on just over the top. Then the last 10km down to here was pretty mad.”

In what was the most dramatic day of racing so far in this year’s race the career of Brad McGee (CSC Saxo Bank) almost came to a premature end.

McGee, who is retiring at the end of the race, was in difficulty on the climb suffering from a sore knee and stomach problems.

The 32-year-old crossed the line 22 minutes 36 seconds behind the stage winner which was two minutes outside the elimination time.

Following a visit to the race doctor, the chief commissaire agreed that McGee could continue for tomorrow’s gut-busting climb to the summit of Mt Buller.

In the battle for the overall leader’s yellow jersey O’Grady extended his advantage to 16 seconds with Will Routley (Bicycle Superstore Canada) climbing into second place.

Matt Goss (CSC Saxo Bank) moved back into the lead of the Budget Forklift sprint points classification.

The Cyclismo Bendigo King of the Mountains jersey moved across to Matt Wilson (Team Type-1), who won the 2007 Jayco Herald Sun Tour.

The Make it Happen in Provincial Victoria U23 category leader’s jersey stays with Simon Clarke (South-Australia.com-AIS) who has also moved into third in the general classification.

Gordon McCauley (Yes Optus Shop — New Zealand was awarded the Volvo most aggressive rider on the stage.

Results

1. Baden Cooke (Aus) Barloworld 3:27.42
2. Dominique Rollin (Can) Toyota-United
3. Simon Clarke (Aus) SouthAustralia.com-AIS
4. Jeremy Yates (NZl) Yes Optus Shop New Zealand
5. Stuart O’Grady (Aus) CSC-Saxo Bank
6. Will Walker (Aus) Virgin Blue Australia
7. Matt Wilson (Aus) Team Type 1
8. Wesley Sulzberger (Aus) SouthAustralia.com-AIS
9. Gene Bates (Aus) Drapac Porsche
10. Christopher Froome (GBr) Barloworld
11. Lars Bak (Den) CSC-Saxo Bank
12. Marco Corti (Ita) Barloworld
13. Will Routley (Can) Bicycle Superstore Canada
14. Benjamin Day (Aus) Toyota-United
15. Andrew Randell (Can) Bicycle Superstore Canada
16. Glen Chadwick (NZl) Team Type 1
17. Peter McDonald (Aus) Drapac Porsche 0.04
18. Tim Roe (Aus) Savings & Loans 0.06
19. Richie Porte (Aus) Praties 0.21
20. William Ford (Aus) SouthAustralia.com-AIS
21. David Pell (Aus) Savings & Loans 0.54
22. Mitchell Docker (Aus) Drapac Porsche
23. Adam Semple (Aus) SouthAustralia.com-AIS
24. Hugo Sabido (Por) Barloworld
25. Taiji Nishitani (Jpn) Aisan
26. Eric Wohlberg (Can) Bicycle Superstore Canada
27. Daryl Impey (RSA) Barloworld
28. Ben Grieve-Johnson (Aus) Praties
29. Daniel Braunsteins (Aus) Drapac Porsche
30. Rob Britton (Can) Bicycle Superstore Canada 1.09
31. Chris Luxton (Aus) Savings & Loans 1.24
32. Kenichi Suzuki (Jpn) Aisan 1.26
33. Mark O’brien (Aus) Drapac Porsche 1.30
34. Bernard Van Ulden (USA) Jelly Belly 1.41
35. Cameron Wurf (Aus) Virgin Blue Australia
36. Angus Morton (Aus) Drapac Porsche
37. Takumi Beppu (Jpn) Aisan 1.57
38. Chris Jory (Aus) Panasonic 5.33
39. Cameron Jennings (Aus) Budget Forklifts
40. Bernard Sulzberger (Aus) Panasonic
41. Matthew Goss (Aus) CSC-Saxo Bank
42. Lasse Bochman (Den) CSC-Saxo Bank 5.36
43. Cameron Hughes (Aus) Budget Forklifts 7.17
44. Richard England (Aus) Virgin Blue Australia 8.03
45. Gordon McCauley (NZl) Yes Optus Shop New Zealand
46. Shawn Milne (USA) Team Type 1 10.48
47. Patrick Shaw (Aus) Virgin Blue Australia 11.05
48. Ben King (Aus) SouthAustralia.com-AIS
49. Peter Herzig (Aus) Panasonic 12.18
50. Nic Sanderson (Aus) Jelly Belly 13.11
51. Stuart Shaw (Aus) Drapac Porsche
52. Jason Hegert (Aus) Panasonic
53. Michael England (Aus) Budget Forklifts
54. Ben Mather (Aus) Praties
55. Jack Anderson (Aus) Budget Forklifts
56. Jack Bobridge (Aus) SouthAustralia.com-AIS
57. Jason Rigg (Aus) Praties
58. Daniel Holt (USA) Team Type 1
59. Anthony Chapman (NZl) Yes Optus Shop New Zealand
60. Masahiro Shinagawa (Jpn) Aisan
61. Jonathon Lovelock (Aus) Virgin Blue Australia
62. Scott Lyttle (NZl) Yes Optus Shop New Zealand
63. Dale Scarfe (Aus) Panasonic
64. Kazuhiro Mori (Jpn) Aisan
65. Tim Guy (Aus) Panasonic
66. Dylan Newell (Aus) Praties
67. Leigh Howard (Aus) Virgin Blue Australia 13.20
68. Craig McCartney (Aus) Savings & Loans 13.26
69. Peter Ladd (Aus) Budget Forklifts 18.31
70. Emile Abraham (Tri) Team Type 1 18.35
71. Brad Huff (USA) Jelly Belly
72. David Kemp (Aus) Virgin Blue Australia
73. Nicholas Reistad (USA) Jelly Belly
74. Malcolm Rudolph (Aus) Budget Forklifts
75. Fabio Calabria (Aus) Team Type 1
76. Joel Pearson (Aus) Savings & Loans
77. Jason Allen (NZl) Yes Optus Shop New Zealand
78. Heath Blackgrove (NZl) Toyota-United
79. Caleb Manion (Aus) Toyota-United
80. Hilton Clarke (Aus) Toyota-United
81. Eric Boily (Can) Bicycle Superstore Canada
82. Chris Jongeward (Aus) Panasonic
83. Daniel Furmston (Aus) Praties
84. Bruno Langlois (Can) Bicycle Superstore Canada
85. Will Dickeson (Aus) Savings & Loans
86. Jonny Clarke (Aus) Toyota-United
87. Bradley McGee (Aus) CSC-Saxo Bank 22.36

GC after Stage 3

1. Stuart O’Grady (Aus) CSC-Saxo Bank 9.19.52
2. Will Routley (Can) Bicycle Superstore Canada 0.16
3. Simon Clarke (Aus) SouthAustralia.com-AIS
4. Lars Bak (Den) CSC-Saxo Bank 0.20
5. Benjamin Day (Aus) Toyota-United
6. Baden Cooke (Aus) Barloworld 0.34
7. Glen Chadwick (NZl) Team Type 1 0.35
8. Dominique Rollin (Can) Toyota-United 0.37
9. Richie Porte (Aus) Praties 0.46
10. Will Walker (Aus) Virgin Blue Australia 0.49
11. Gene Bates (Aus) Drapac Porsche 0.50
12. Jeremy Yates (NZl) Yes Optus Shop New Zealand
13. Matt Wilson (Aus) Team Type 1
14. Marco Corti (Ita) Barloworld
15. Wesley Sulzberger (Aus) SouthAustralia.com-AIS
16. Andrew Randell (Can) Bicycle Superstore Canada
17. Christopher Froome (GBr) Barloworld
18. Peter McDonald (Aus) Drapac Porsche 0.54
19. Hugo Sabido (Por) Barloworld 1.14
20. Mitchell Docker (Aus) Drapac Porsche 1.44
21. David Pell (Aus) Savings & Loans
22. Daryl Impey (RSA) Barloworld
23. Taiji Nishitani (Jpn) Aisan
24. Daniel Braunsteins (Aus) Drapac Porsche
25. Eric Wohlberg (Can) Bicycle Superstore Canada
26. Adam Semple (Aus) SouthAustralia.com-AIS 2.04
27. Chris Luxton (Aus) Savings & Loans 2.14
28. Rob Britton (Can) Bicycle Superstore Canada 2.19
29. Mark O’brien (Aus) Drapac Porsche 2.20
30. Cameron Wurf (Aus) Virgin Blue Australia 2.31
31. Bernard Van Ulden (USA) Jelly Belly
32. Angus Morton (Aus) Drapac Porsche
33. Takumi Beppu (Jpn) Aisan 2.47
34. Matthew Goss (Aus) CSC-Saxo Bank 6.07
35. Bernard Sulzberger (Aus) Panasonic 6.23
36. Cameron Jennings (Aus) Budget Forklifts
37. Lasse Bochman (Den) CSC-Saxo Bank 6.26
38. Cameron Hughes (Aus) Budget Forklifts 8.07
39. Gordon McCauley (NZl) Yes Optus Shop New Zealand 8.48
40. Richard England (Aus) Virgin Blue Australia 8.53
41. Patrick Shaw (Aus) Virgin Blue Australia 11.38
42. Shawn Milne (USA) Team Type 1
43. Ben King (Aus) SouthAustralia.com-AIS 11.55
44. Kazuhiro Mori (Jpn) Aisan 13.25
45. Stuart Shaw (Aus) Drapac Porsche 13.31
46. Craig McCartney (Aus) Savings & Loans 13.59
47. Michael England (Aus) Budget Forklifts 14.01
48. Nic Sanderson (Aus) Jelly Belly
49. Ben Mather (Aus) Praties
50. Masahiro Shinagawa (Jpn) Aisan
51. Scott Lyttle (NZl) Yes Optus Shop New Zealand
52. Jason Rigg (Aus) Praties
53. Dale Scarfe (Aus) Panasonic
54. Daniel Holt (USA) Team Type 1
55. Anthony Chapman (NZl) Yes Optus Shop New Zealand
56. Dylan Newell (Aus) Praties
57. Jason Hegert (Aus) Panasonic
58. Leigh Howard (Aus) Virgin Blue Australia 14.03
59. Tim Roe (Aus) Savings & Loans 16.28
60. William Ford (Aus) SouthAustralia.com-AIS 16.43
61. Jonathon Lovelock (Aus) Virgin Blue Australia 17.07
62. Ben Grieve-Johnson (Aus) Praties 17.16
63. Kenichi Suzuki (Jpn) Aisan 17.48
64. Jack Bobridge (Aus) SouthAustralia.com-AIS 18.08
65. Chris Jongeward (Aus) Panasonic 18.55
66. Brad Huff (USA) Jelly Belly 19.19
67. Jonny Clarke (Aus) Toyota-United 19.23
68. Joel Pearson (Aus) Savings & Loans 19.25
69. Emile Abraham (Tri) Team Type 1
70. Hilton Clarke (Aus) Toyota-United
71. Daniel Furmston (Aus) Praties
72. Caleb Manion (Aus) Toyota-United
73. Bruno Langlois (Can) Bicycle Superstore Canada
74. Heath Blackgrove (NZl) Toyota-United
75. David Kemp (Aus) Virgin Blue Australia 21.19
76. Chris Jory (Aus) Panasonic 21.55
77. Jack Anderson (Aus) Budget Forklifts 27.38
78. Peter Herzig (Aus) Panasonic 29.00
79. Malcolm Rudolph (Aus) Budget Forklifts 33.02
80. Jason Allen (NZl) Yes Optus Shop New Zealand 33.22
81. Peter Ladd (Aus) Budget Forklifts 34.53
82. Fabio Calabria (Aus) Team Type 1 34.57
83. Will Dickeson (Aus) Savings & Loans
84. Eric Boily (Can) Bicycle Superstore Canada 42.26
85. Tim Guy (Aus) Panasonic 44.58
86. Nicholas Reistad (USA) Jelly Belly 48.34