January 19, 2012 (Victoria Harbour, Australia) – The Santos Tour Down Under thundered into Victor Harbor today with German sprint sensation Andre Greipel leading home a bunch gallop to win the third stage and reclaim the overall lead.

The Lotto-Belisol rider, who won both the curtain raiser Down Under Classic race on Sunday night and the first stage of the Tour into Clare on Tuesday, was just too fast for his rivals edging out FDJ – BigMat rider Yauheni Hutarovich (BLR) by half a wheel with Norwegian Evald Boasson Hagen (Sky) third across the line.

“This victory is for Jurgen Roelandts who unfortunately supports us from the hospital,” said Greipel of his team mate who was injured in the crash at the end of the stage into Clare. “We’re nearly three riders down but the rest of the team that is not injured has been awesome today.

The win puts Greipel back into the ochre leader’s jersey with an eight second margin over Swiss rider Martin Kohler (BMC). Australian Michael Matthews (Rabobank) finished with the bunch and remains in third place overall at 12 seconds.

“I’m happy to get back into the lead but the time bonus (10 seconds for the stage win) I got again isn’t important in my mind,” said Greipel who has twice won overall honours but concedes he is unlikely to win a third. ” The Willunga stage (Saturday) is too hard for me to win GC this year. With two stage wins, we’ve already reached our goal. We can’t have everything and we just take it day by day.”

The stage today departed from the cosmopolitan shopping hub of Unley for a 134.5km route that took in the breath taking countryside of both the McLaren Vale and the picturesque coastal scenes of the Fleurieu Peninsula.

A group of three went down the road in the first five kilometres made up of Russian Eduard Vorganov (Katusha) and Belgians Jan Bakelants (RadioShack-Nissan-Trek) and Thomas De Gendt (Vaconsoleil-DCM). They were soon joined by Ireland’s Matthew Brammeier (Omega Pharma – Quickstep).

De Gendt was the only rider in the quartet already on the board in the SKODA King of the Mountain competition so, not surprisingly, he hit out up Sellicks Hill Category 2 climb to claim the maximum ten points ahead of Brammeier, Bakelants and Vorganov. That puts De Gendt in the polka dot jersey with a two point lead over yesterday’s stage winner Tasmanian Will Clarke (UniSA-Australia).

The break stretched to a lead of around five minutes but the peloton, after failing to catch Clarke yesterday, judged today’s chase to perfection.

The two Jayco intermediate sprints were hotly contested by the top three placed riders with a maximum of six bonus seconds up for grabs and all within 12 seconds of the race lead. De Gendt proved the swiftest of the trio battling for the points and won the dash for the line at both Mt Compass (65km) and Goolwa (89.4km). By then the margin had shrunk to less than two minutes.

“Three of the four riders (in the break) had the same goal and that was to take the second sprint and then after that we just wanted to go back to the peloton,” said De Gendt.

After the sprint at Goolwa Brammeier tried a solo attack off the front as the peloton reeled in his there fellow escapees and although he held on for a few more kilometres it wasn’t too be his day for victory. Ten kilometres from home the pace was frenetic as the sprinter’s jostled for position.

“It was our intention to keep the breakaway in sight with a good gap. The crosswinds have made the race faster. The one kilometre to go mark was the most important point of today’s stage,” said Greipel. “I told my team-mates ‘I need to be in fifth or sixth position at that point’.They did a great job to put me there and I finished it off.”

De Gendt’s efforts along the road moved him up to fourth overall, 14 seconds off Greipel’s lead.

“The legs are not so good but I will try to attack. I think tomorrow is the best for me just to stay in the peloton and then Old Willunga Hill is going to be so hard but I am going to try and be in the front.”

Matthews still leads the Cycle Intead Best Young Rider under 26 classification but was a little disapointed with today’s finish.

“The boys had a really good lead out for me and I just couldn’t really hold the wheel in the last couple of kilometres,” said Matthews. “It just got a bit messy and Mark Renshaw [Rabobank team mate] held the lead out but I just wasn’t there to finish it.”

Tomorrow’s BUPA Stage 4 travels 130km from Norwood in Adelaide’s eastern suburb’s to Tanunda in the Barossa wine growing region. Stage 4 also hosts the Bupa Challenge Tour with more than seven thousand cycling enthusiasts hopping on their bikes to ride the race route. Joining them on the family friendly Tanunda loop will be cycling legend, Eddy Merckx.

Results
1. André Greipel (Ger) Lotto-Belisol 3:21:55
2. Yauheni Hutarovich (Blr) FDJ – BigMat
3. Edvald Boasson Hagen (Nor) Sky Procycling
4. Mark Renshaw (Aus) Rabobank
5. Robbie Mcewen (Aus) GreenEDGE
6. Jacopo Guarnieri (Ita) Astana
7. Heinrich Haussler (Aus) Garmin-Barracuda
8. Daniele Bennati (Ita) RadioShack-Nissan
9. Manuel Belletti (Ita) AG2R La Mondiale
10. Christopher Sutton (Aus) Sky Procycling
11. Matteo Trentin (Ita) Omega Pharma-QuickStep
12. Michael Matthews (Aus) Rabobank
13. Romain Feillu (Fra) Vacansoleil -DCM
14. Jonathan Cantwell (Aus) Team Saxo Bank
15. Gerald Ciolek (Ger) Omega Pharma-QuickStep
16. Steele Von Hoff (Aus) UNI SA – Australia
17. Jose Joaquin Rojas (Esp) Movistar
18. Xavier Florencio Cabrè (Esp) Katusha
19. William Bonnet (Fra) FDJ – BigMat
20. Simon Gerrans (Aus) GreenEDGE
21. Julien Vermote (Bel) Omega Pharma-QuickStep
22. Kristof Goddaert (Bel) AG2R La Mondiale
23. Geraint Thomas (GBR) Sky Procycling
24. Michael Rogers (Aus) Sky Procycling
25. Tom Palmer (Aus) UNI SA – Australia
26. Linus Gerdemann (Ger) RadioShack-Nissan
27. Luke Roberts (Aus) Team Saxo Bank
28. Jan Bakelants (Bel) RadioShack-Nissan
29. Jack Bauer (NZL) Garmin-Barracuda
30. Wouter Mol (Ned) Vacansoleil -DCM
31. Martijn Maaskant (Ned) Garmin-Barracuda
32. Danilo Hondo (Ger) Lampre – ISD
33. Hayden Roulston (NZL) RadioShack-Nissan
34. Mirko Selvaggi (Ita) Vacansoleil -DCM
35. Sergey Lagutin (Uzb) Vacansoleil -DCM
36. Kristijan Koren (Svk) Liquigas – Cannondale
37. Serge Pauwels (Bel) Omega Pharma-QuickStep
38. Bernard Sulzberger (Aus) UNI SA – Australia
39. Ryder Hesjedal (Can) Garmin-Barracuda
40. Blel Kadri (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
41. Eduard Vorganov (Rus) Katusha (Rus) Katusha
42. Adam Hansen (Aus) Lotto-Belisol
43. Fabio Sabatini (Ita) Liquigas – Cannondale
44. Kenny Van Hummel (Ned) Vacansoleil -DCM
45. Davide Cimolai (Ita) Lampre – ISD
46. Alessandro Ballan (Ita) BMC
47. Marcel Sieberg (Ger) Lotto-Belisol
48. Ruben Perez Moreno (Esp) Euskaltel-Euskadi
49. Oscar Freire (Esp) Katusha
50. Mathew Hayman (Aus) Sky Procycling
51. Tom Leezer (Ned) Rabobank
52. Mauro Da Dalto (Ita) Liquigas – Cannondale
53. Alan Marangoni (Ita) Liquigas – Cannondale
54. Alejandro Valverde (Esp) Movistar
55. José Ivan Gutierrez (Esp) Movistar
56. Romain Sicard (Fra) Euskaltel-Euskadi
57. Giampaolo Caruso (Ita) Katusha (Ita) Katusha
58. Matt Goss (Aus) GreenEDGE
59. Luis Leon Sanchez (Esp) Rabobank
60. Andrew Fenn (GBR) Omega Pharma-QuickStep
61. Angel Madrazo (Esp) Movistar
62. Jaroslaw Marycz (Pol) Team Saxo Bank
63. Gert Steegmans (Bel) Omega Pharma-QuickStep
64. Romain Lemarchand (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
65. Maxim Belkov (Rus) Katusha (Rus) Katusha
66. Greg Henderson (NZL) Lotto-Belisol
67. Massimo Graziato (Ita) Lampre – ISD
68. Martin Kohler (Sui) BMC
69. Luca Paolini (Ita) Katusha (Ita) Katusha
70. Rohan Dennis (Aus) UNI SA – Australia
71. Vincente Reynes Mimo (Esp) Lotto-Belisol
72. Leigh Howard (Aus) GreenEDGE
73. Greg Van Avermaet (Bel) BMC
74. Jonas Jörgensen (Den) Team Saxo Bank
75. Jérémy Roy (Fra) FDJ – BigMat
76. Federico Canuti (Ita) Liquigas – Cannondale
77. Tiago Machado (Por) RadioShack-Nissan
78. Jussi Veikkanen (Fin) FDJ – BigMat
79. Alessandro Petacchi (Ita) Lampre – ISD
80. Cameron Meyer (Aus) GreenEDGE
81. Takashi Miyazawa (Jpn) Team Saxo Bank
82. Sandy Casar (Fra) FDJ – BigMat
83. Sérgio Paulinho (Por) Team Saxo Bank
84. Jens Voigt (Ger) RadioShack-Nissan
85. Jesse Sergent (NZL) RadioShack-Nissan
86. Alex Dowsett (GBR) Sky Procycling
87. Gatis Smukulis (Lat) Katusha
88. Martin Elmiger (Sui) AG2R La Mondiale
89. Ricardo Garcia Ambroa (Esp) Euskaltel-Euskadi
90. Thomas De Gendt (Bel) Vacansoleil -DCM
91. Jay Mccarthy (Aus) UNI SA – Australia
92. Boris Shpilevsky (Rus) AG2R La Mondiale
93. Adam Blythe (GBR) BMC
94. Imanol Erviti (Esp) Movistar
95. Andreas Klier (Ger) Garmin-Barracuda
96. Javier Moreno (Esp) Movistar
97. Marcello Pavarin (Ita) Vacansoleil -DCM
98. Pablo Urtasun Perez (Esp) Euskaltel-Euskadi
99. Anders Lund (Den) Team Saxo Bank
100. Matthew Lloyd (Aus) Lampre – ISD
101. Valentin Iglinskiy (Kaz) Astana
102. Wilco Kelderman (Ned) Rabobank
103. Robbie Hunter (SAf) Garmin-Barracuda
104. David Lopez (Esp) Movistar
105. Nathan Haas (Aus) Garmin-Barracuda
106. Stefano Agostini (Ita) Liquigas – Cannondale
107. Mattéo Montaguti (Ita) AG2R La Mondiale
108. Grega Bole (Svk) Lampre – ISD
109. Davide Vigano (Ita) Lampre – ISD
110. Mathias Frank (Sui) BMC
111. Dmitriy Gruzdev (Kaz) Astana
112. Francesco Masciarelli (Ita) Astana
113. Daniele Ratto (Ita) Liquigas – Cannondale
114. Adrián Saez (Esp) Euskaltel-Euskadi
115. Borut Bozic (Svk) Astana (Svk) Astana
116. Lachlan Norris (Aus) UNI SA – Australia
117. William Clarke (Aus) UNI SA – Australia
118. Arnaud Courteille (Fra) FDJ – BigMat
119. Danny Pate (USA) Sky Procycling
120. Graeme Brown (Aus) Rabobank
121. Marcus Burghardt (Ger) BMC
122. Manuel Quinziato (Ita) BMC 0:37
123. Dmitri Muravyev (Kaz) Astana
124. Assan Bazayev (Kaz) Astana 0:54
125. Victor Cabedo (Esp) Euskaltel-Euskadi 1:02
126. Matthew Brammeier (Ire) Omega Pharma-QuickStep
127. Olivier Kaisen (Bel) Lotto-Belisol 1:54
128. Gorka Izagirre Inausti (Esp) Euskaltel-Euskadi
129. Stuart O’Grady (Aus) GreenEDGE 3:00
130. Luke Durbridge (Aus) GreenEDGE
131. Jos Van Emden (Ned) Rabobank

GC after Stage 3
1. André Greipel (Ger) Lotto-Belisol 11:54:52
2. Martin Kohler (Sui) BMC 0:08
3. Michael Matthews (Aus) Rabobank 0:12
4. Thomas De Gendt (Bel) Vacansoleil -DCM 0:14
5. Simon Gerrans (Aus) GreenEDGE 0:16
6. Jan Bakelants (Bel) RadioShack-Nissan
7. Edvald Boasson Hagen (Nor) Sky Procycling
8. Eduard Vorganov (Rus) Katusha (Rus) Katusha
9. Rohan Dennis (Aus) UNI SA – Australia 0:17
10. Xavier Florencio Cabrè (Esp) Katusha 0:20
11. Jonathan Cantwell (Aus) Team Saxo Bank
12. Luke Roberts (Aus) Team Saxo Bank
13. Christopher Sutton (Aus) Sky Procycling
14. William Bonnet (Fra) FDJ – BigMat
15. Daniele Bennati (Ita) RadioShack-Nissan
16. Romain Feillu (Fra) Vacansoleil -DCM
17. Sergey Lagutin (Uzb) Vacansoleil -DCM
18. Blel Kadri (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
19. Michael Rogers (Aus) Sky Procycling
20. Fabio Sabatini (Ita) Liquigas – Cannondale
21. Danilo Hondo (Ger) Lampre – ISD
22. Alessandro Ballan (Ita) BMC
23. Kristijan Koren (Svk) Liquigas – Cannondale
24. Linus Gerdemann (Ger) RadioShack-Nissan
25. Romain Lemarchand (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
26. Giampaolo Caruso (Ita) Katusha (Ita) Katusha
27. Adam Hansen (Aus) Lotto-Belisol
28. Oscar Freire (Esp) Katusha
29. Alejandro Valverde (Esp) Movistar
30. Serge Pauwels (Bel) Omega Pharma-QuickStep
31. Ruben Perez Moreno (Esp) Euskaltel-Euskadi
32. Mathew Hayman (Aus) Sky Procycling
33. Ryder Hesjedal (Can) Garmin-Barracuda
34. Julien Vermote (Bel) Omega Pharma-QuickStep
35. Bernard Sulzberger (Aus) UNI SA – Australia
36. Romain Sicard (Fra) Euskaltel-Euskadi
37. Gerald Ciolek (Ger) Omega Pharma-QuickStep
38. Heinrich Haussler (Aus) Garmin-Barracuda
39. José Ivan Gutierrez (Esp) Movistar
40. Luis Leon Sanchez (Esp) Rabobank
41. Jose Joaquin Rojas (Esp) Movistar
42. Jack Bauer (NZL) Garmin-Barracuda
43. Mirko Selvaggi (Ita) Vacansoleil -DCM
44. Greg Van Avermaet (Bel) BMC
45. Tiago Machado (Por) RadioShack-Nissan
46. Vincente Reynes Mimo (Esp) Lotto-Belisol
47. Gorka Izagirre Inausti (Esp) Euskaltel-Euskadi
48. Sandy Casar (Fra) FDJ – BigMat
49. Jussi Veikkanen (Fin) FDJ – BigMat
50. Federico Canuti (Ita) Liquigas – Cannondale
51. Angel Madrazo (Esp) Movistar
52. Cameron Meyer (Aus) GreenEDGE
53. Sérgio Paulinho (Por) Team Saxo Bank
54. Martin Elmiger (Sui) AG2R La Mondiale
55. Jens Voigt (Ger) RadioShack-Nissan
56. Steele Von Hoff (Aus) UNI SA – Australia
57. Matthew Lloyd (Aus) Lampre – ISD
58. Javier Moreno (Esp) Movistar
59. Jay Mccarthy (Aus) UNI SA – Australia
60. Luca Paolini (Ita) Katusha (Ita) Katusha
61. Wilco Kelderman (Ned) Rabobank
62. Jérémy Roy (Fra) FDJ – BigMat
63. Grega Bole (Svk) Lampre – ISD
64. Robbie Hunter (SAf) Garmin-Barracuda
65. Daniele Ratto (Ita) Liquigas – Cannondale 0:38
66. William Clarke (Aus) UNI SA – Australia 0:44
67. Francesco Masciarelli (Ita) Astana 0:46
68. Gatis Smukulis (Lat) Katusha 0:53
69. Maxim Belkov (Rus) Katusha (Rus) Katusha
70. Wouter Mol (Ned) Vacansoleil -DCM 0:57
71. Mathias Frank (Sui) BMC 1:10
72. Gert Steegmans (Bel) Omega Pharma-QuickStep 1:16
73. Marcel Sieberg (Ger) Lotto-Belisol 1:24
74. Matthew Brammeier (Ire) Omega Pharma-QuickStep 1:27
75. Matteo Trentin (Ita) Omega Pharma-QuickStep 1:51
76. Davide Vigano (Ita) Lampre – ISD 2:02
77. Marcello Pavarin (Ita) Vacansoleil -DCM 3:12
78. Alan Marangoni (Ita) Liquigas – Cannondale 3:13
79. Jacopo Guarnieri (Ita) Astana
80. Stefano Agostini (Ita) Liquigas – Cannondale
81. Jonas Jörgensen (Den) Team Saxo Bank
82. Nathan Haas (Aus) Garmin-Barracuda 3:14
83. Davide Cimolai (Ita) Lampre – ISD 3:16
84. Dmitriy Gruzdev (Kaz) Astana 3:47
85. Adrián Saez (Esp) Euskaltel-Euskadi 4:01
86. Mark Renshaw (Aus) Rabobank 5:46
87. Tom Leezer (Ned) Rabobank
88. Geraint Thomas (GBR) Sky Procycling 6:00
89. Matt Goss (Aus) GreenEDGE
90. Massimo Graziato (Ita) Lampre – ISD 6:31
91. Andrew Fenn (GBR) Omega Pharma-QuickStep 7:08
92. David Lopez (Esp) Movistar 7:27
93. Olivier Kaisen (Bel) Lotto-Belisol 10:23
94. Yauheni Hutarovich (Blr) FDJ – BigMat 12:35
95. Alessandro Petacchi (Ita) Lampre – ISD 12:39
96. Manuel Belletti (Ita) AG2R La Mondiale 12:45
97. Tom Palmer (Aus) UNI SA – Australia
98. Hayden Roulston (NZL) RadioShack-Nissan
99. Kristof Goddaert (Bel) AG2R La Mondiale
100. Robbie Mcewen (Aus) GreenEDGE
101. Mauro Da Dalto (Ita) Liquigas – Cannondale
102. Jesse Sergent (NZL) RadioShack-Nissan
103. Ricardo Garcia Ambroa (Esp) Euskaltel-Euskadi
104. Imanol Erviti (Esp) Movistar
105. Graeme Brown (Aus) Rabobank
106. Jaroslaw Marycz (Pol) Team Saxo Bank
107. Leigh Howard (Aus) GreenEDGE
108. Marcus Burghardt (Ger) BMC
109. Anders Lund (Den) Team Saxo Bank
110. Lachlan Norris (Aus) UNI SA – Australia
111. Arnaud Courteille (Fra) FDJ – BigMat
112. Takashi Miyazawa (Jpn) Team Saxo Bank
113. Adam Blythe (GBR) BMC
114. Borut Bozic (Svk) Astana (Svk) Astana
115. Danny Pate (USA) Sky Procycling
116. Mattéo Montaguti (Ita) AG2R La Mondiale
117. Manuel Quinziato (Ita) BMC 13:22
118. Dmitri Muravyev (Kaz) Astana
119. Martijn Maaskant (Ned) Garmin-Barracuda 15:05
120. Alex Dowsett (GBR) Sky Procycling 15:35
121. Andreas Klier (Ger) Garmin-Barracuda
122. Pablo Urtasun Perez (Esp) Euskaltel-Euskadi
123. Kenny Van Hummel (Ned) Vacansoleil -DCM
124. Valentin Iglinskiy (Kaz) Astana
125. Greg Henderson (NZL) Lotto-Belisol
126. Stuart O’Grady (Aus) GreenEDGE 15:45
127. Luke Durbridge (Aus) GreenEDGE
128. Assan Bazayev (Kaz) Astana 16:29
129. Victor Cabedo (Esp) Euskaltel-Euskadi 16:37
130. Jos Van Emden (Ned) Rabobank 20:53
131. Boris Shpilevsky (Rus) AG2R La Mondiale 23:08