October 18, 2008 – Stuart O’Grady made a procession of the final stage to cross the line in Lygon Street, Melbourne, to add his name to the honour roll of Australia’s oldest stage race the Jayco Herald Sun Tour.

South African Daryl Impey won the stage, creating history by becoming the first South African to claim a stage win, but this was of little consequence to O’Grady who crossed the line 30 seconds behind the leader.

O’Grady came into the final stage with a 17 second advantage of his Danish teammate Lars Bak and 19 second clear of Ben Day from Toyota-United.

With little chance of Day being able to take time on O’Grady a breakaway group of three, which included Daryl Impey (Barloworld), Chris Jongewaard (Panasonic) and David Kemp (Virgin Blue Australia) broke clear in the early stages of the 62km criterium.

The main peloton was controlled by CSC Saxo Bank who were content to let the break have the day as none of the three were within striking distance of O’Grady.

As the Toyota-United team began to chase the leading three begun to crumble as Kemp was dropped with less than five laps to go.

Jongewaard and Impey survived and battled out the sprint finish. After having done the majority of the pace making over the final laps Impey collected the first win of his career.

Jongewaard got second and Kemp was swallowed up by the peloton who were led home by CSC’s Matthew Goss who got third on the stage to secure the Budget Forklifts green sprinters jersey.

For O’Grady , at 35 years of age, the overall victory comes after one of the most successful years in his career despite it having been spent at the service of others and he expressed relief when he finally crossed the line.

“It feels bloody fantastic.”

“They put yellow handlebar tape on and I was like “˜woo hey I haven’t won yet’,” O’Grady said.

“You want to cross the finish line and get the job done and in bike racing anything can happen, that’s the beauty of the sport.

“I was expecting a little more attacking but I think the guys have had a pretty tough hard week and everyone had conceded that the placings were done.

“But again the boys just got on the front. I asked Brad for one last big effort and then he’d never have to hurt his legs again.

“I think relief is a pretty good word.”

O’Grady was referring to teammate Brad McGee who hung up the bike after the race — he will remain with CSC as team director in 2009.

O’Grady vowed to return after he rode last year’s event – when he made his comeback to racing after a horrific crash in the 2007 Tour de France and had nothing but praise for the event.

“I came back last year and I was shocked with how good the race was run,” the every green O’Grady said.

“When I went back (after the 2007 edition) I said to the boys man that was a really good race, with good atmosphere, fantastic areas of Australia, which I’d never seen before, five star accommodation in towns I’d never heard of, the whole package is good.

“It’s short sharp racing, it’s entertaining and it’s bloody hard.

“But I also said if I come back with half a bit of form I reckon I can win it and here we are.”

With teammate Brad McGee riding his last race, after a career spanning four Olympic campaigns, O’Grady was positive about the future of Australian cycling.

“Cycling at the moment in Australia has got to be close to as good as it’s ever been for a long time,” the Tour winner said.

“We’ve got Cadel up there going for the win in the Tour de France. We’ve kind of covered all the bases in the Classics. We’ve got Robbie (Robbie McEwen) and Cookie (Baden Cooke) and those guys popping off sprints. In time trials we’ve got Mick Rogers. We’ve just got such a good group of Australian cyclists.

“Hopefully (here) the young guys can learn something off me and it can help them develop.

“I’m not saying they should follow everything I do but if they pick up a few percent then that should be beneficial.”

On the topic of his future O’Grady showed no signs of slowing down with Paris-Roubaix a clear objective.

“The problem is now I’ve won one I want another one,” O’Grady said of Paris-Roubaix.

“Now I’ve got the Roubaix bug so I’m going to have to keep going so I can get another one.”

And the five-time Olympian didn’t rule out London in 2012 saying “I’ll never say never.”

The Make it Happen in Provincial Victoria U23 classification was secured by Wes Sulzberger from Tasmania (SouthAustralia.com-AIS).

CSC Saxo Bank’s Matthew Goss secured the Budget Forklift sprint points classification.

The Cyclismo Bendigo King of the Mountains jersey went to Matt Wilson (Team Type-1).

The “˜Go for your life’ team classification was won by the Barloworld team who also collected two stage wins for the Tour with Impey today and Cooke into Marysville on stage three.

The Volvo most aggressive rider on the final stage was Daryl Impey.

Results

1. Daryl Impey (RSA) Barloworld 1:31.23
2. Chris Jongewaard (Aus) Panasonic 0.04
3. Matthew Goss (Aus) CSC-Saxo Bank 0.30
4. Hilton Clarke (Aus) Toyota-United
5. Gene Bates (Aus) Drapac Porsche
6. Dominique Rollin (Can) Toyota-United
7. Emile Abraham (Tri) Team Type 1
8. Brad Huff (USA) Jelly Belly
9. Stuart O’Grady (Aus) CSC-Saxo Bank
10. Nic Sanderson (Aus) Jelly Belly
11. Will Walker (Aus) Virgin Blue Australia
12. Richard England (Aus) Virgin Blue Australia
13. Lars Bak (Den) CSC-Saxo Bank
14. Taiji Nishitani (Jpn) Aisan
15. Baden Cooke (Aus) Barloworld
16. Christopher Froome (GBr) Barloworld
17. Matt Wilson (Aus) Team Type 1
18. Daniel Braunsteins (Aus) Drapac Porsche 0.34
19. Peter Herzig (Aus) Panasonic
20. Angus Morton (Aus) Drapac Porsche
21. Bernard Van Ulden (USA) Jelly Belly
22. Benjamin Day (Aus) Toyota-United
23. Peter McDonald (Aus) Drapac Porsche
24. Wesley Sulzberger (Aus) SouthAustralia.com-AIS
25. Eric Wohlberg (Can) Bicycle Superstore Canada
26. Masahiro Shinagawa (Jpn) Aisan
27. Marco Corti (Ita) Barloworld
28. Richie Porte (Aus) Praties
29. Jeremy Yates (NZl) Yes Optus Shop New Zealand
30. Shawn Milne (USA) Team Type 1 0.38
31. Will Routley (Can) Bicycle Superstore Canada
32. Glen Chadwick (NZl) Team Type 1 0.39
33. Jason Rigg (Aus) Praties
34. Jonny Clarke (Aus) Toyota-United 0.45
35. Cameron Jennings (Aus) Budget Forklifts 0.53
36. Bradley McGee (Aus) CSC-Saxo Bank 1.00
37. Simon Clarke (Aus) SouthAustralia.com-AIS
38. Daniel Holt (USA) Team Type 1 1.41
39. David Kemp (Aus) Virgin Blue Australia 3.41
40. Cameron Hughes (Aus) Budget Forklifts 5.41
41. Mitchell Docker (Aus) Drapac Porsche
42. Chris Luxton (Aus) Savings & Loans
43. Takumi Beppu (Jpn) Aisan
44. Will Dickeson (Aus) Savings & Loans
45. Jonathon Lovelock (Aus) Virgin Blue Australia
46. Jack Bobridge (Aus) SouthAustralia.com-AIS
47. Hugo Sabido (Por) Barloworld
48. Nicholas Reistad (USA) Jelly Belly
49. Gordon McCauley (NZl) Yes Optus Shop New Zealand 7.41
50. Fabio Calabria (Aus) Team Type 1
51. Kazuhiro Mori (Jpn) Aisan
52. Jack Anderson (Aus) Budget Forklifts
53. Chris Jory (Aus) Panasonic
54. Daniel Furmston (Aus) Praties
55. Tim Guy (Aus) Panasonic
56. Ben Grieve-Johnson (Aus) Praties
57. Peter Ladd (Aus) Budget Forklifts 9.41
58. Bernard Sulzberger (Aus) Panasonic
59. Craig McCartney (Aus) Savings & Loans
60. Ben Mather (Aus) Praties
61. Scott Lyttle (NZl) Yes Optus Shop New Zealand 11.41
DNF Malcolm Rudolph (Aus) Budget Forklifts
DNF Leigh Howard (Aus) Virgin Blue Australia
DNF Patrick Shaw (Aus) Virgin Blue Australia
DNF Cameron Wurf (Aus) Virgin Blue Australia
DNF William Ford (Aus) SouthAustralia.com-AIS
DNF Adam Semple (Aus) SouthAustralia.com-AIS
DNF Lasse Bochman (Den) CSC-Saxo Bank
DNF David Pell (Aus) Savings & Loans
DNF Joel Pearson (Aus) Savings & Loans
DNF Tim Roe (Aus) Savings & Loans
DNF Dylan Newell (Aus) Praties
DNF Stuart Shaw (Aus) Drapac Porsche
DNF Mark O’brien (Aus) Drapac Porsche
DNF Michael England (Aus) Budget Forklifts
DNF Heath Blackgrove (NZl) Toyota-United
DNF Caleb Manion (Aus) Toyota-United
DNF Kenichi Suzuki (Jpn) Aisan
DNF Jason Hegert (Aus) Panasonic
DNF Dale Scarfe (Aus) Panasonic
DNF Andrew Randell (Can) Bicycle Superstore Canada
DNF Rob Britton (Can) Bicycle Superstore Canada
DNF Bruno Langlois (Can) Bicycle Superstore Canada
DNF Jason Allen (NZl) Yes Optus Shop New Zealand
DNF Anthony Chapman (NZl) Yes Optus Shop New Zealand

Final GC after Stage 6

1. Stuart O’Grady (Aus) CSC-Saxo Bank 14:20.49
2. Lars Bak (Den) CSC-Saxo Bank 0.17
3. Benjamin Day (Aus) Toyota-United 0.23
4. Christopher Froome (GBr) Barloworld 0.52
5. Richie Porte (Aus) Praties 0.58
6. Glen Chadwick (NZl) Team Type 1 1.04
7. Jeremy Yates (NZl) Yes Optus Shop New Zealand 1.04
8. Dominique Rollin (Can) Toyota-United 1.18
9. Will Routley (Can) Bicycle Superstore Canada 1.27
10. Will Walker (Aus) Virgin Blue Australia 1.34
11. Matt Wilson (Aus) Team Type 1 1.38
12. Peter McDonald (Aus) Drapac Porsche 1.53
13. Wesley Sulzberger (Aus) SouthAustralia.com-AIS 2.22
14. Bernard Van Ulden (USA) Jelly Belly 2.50
15. Gene Bates (Aus) Drapac Porsche 2.57
16. Marco Corti (Ita) Barloworld 3.35
17. Angus Morton (Aus) Drapac Porsche 5.04
18. Daniel Braunsteins (Aus) Drapac Porsche 5.21
19. Eric Wohlberg (Can) Bicycle Superstore Canada 6.33
20. Hugo Sabido (Por) Barloworld 9.15
21. Daryl Impey (RSA) Barloworld 10.41
22. Taiji Nishitani (Jpn) Aisan 11.21
23. Chris Luxton (Aus) Savings & Loans 11.29
24. Takumi Beppu (Jpn) Aisan 12.07
25. Mitchell Docker (Aus) Drapac Porsche 12.37
26. Simon Clarke (Aus) SouthAustralia.com-AIS 12.41
27. Matthew Goss (Aus) CSC-Saxo Bank 13.36
28. Baden Cooke (Aus) Barloworld 13.45
29. Cameron Jennings (Aus) Budget Forklifts 16.35
30. Chris Jongewaard (Aus) Panasonic 17.57
31. Richard England (Aus) Virgin Blue Australia 20.06
32. Cameron Hughes (Aus) Budget Forklifts 20.15
33. Shawn Milne (USA) Team Type 1 23.11
34. Jack Bobridge (Aus) SouthAustralia.com-AIS 24.28
35. Ben Grieve-Johnson (Aus) Praties 27.38
36. Masahiro Shinagawa (Jpn) Aisan 28.42
37. Craig McCartney (Aus) Savings & Loans 28.48
38. Daniel Holt (USA) Team Type 1 28.53
39. Nic Sanderson (Aus) Jelly Belly 28.53
40. Ben Mather (Aus) Praties 30.38
41. Jonny Clarke (Aus) Toyota-United 30.48
42. Bernard Sulzberger (Aus) Panasonic 31.07
43. Jason Rigg (Aus) Praties 31.29
44. Gordon McCauley (NZl) Yes Optus Shop New Zealand 33.26
45. Brad Huff (USA) Jelly Belly 34.02
46. Kazuhiro Mori (Jpn) Aisan 34.21
47. Peter Herzig (Aus) Panasonic 34.37
48. David Kemp (Aus) Virgin Blue Australia 34.52
49. Emile Abraham (Tri) Team Type 1 35.12
50. Hilton Clarke (Aus) Toyota-United 35.43
51. Jonathon Lovelock (Aus) Virgin Blue Australia 36.05
52. Chris Jory (Aus) Panasonic 36.16
53. Daniel Furmston (Aus) Praties 37.27
54. Scott Lyttle (NZl) Yes Optus Shop New Zealand 39.19
55. Bradley McGee (Aus) CSC-Saxo Bank 45.15
56. Jack Anderson (Aus) Budget Forklifts 48.47
57. Will Dickeson (Aus) Savings & Loans 54.12
58. Tim Guy (Aus) Panasonic 56.56
59. Fabio Calabria (Aus) Team Type 1 58.21
60. Peter Ladd (Aus) Budget Forklifts 58.49
61. Nicholas Reistad (USA) Jelly Belly 1:08.00