January 24, 2010 (Adelaide, Australia) – Germany’s Andre Greipel has become the second rider in the 12-year history of the Santos Tour Down Under to twice claim the crown after a phenomenal performance that saw him win three of the event’s six stages and, with the support of his HTC-Columbia team, fend off all challengers.

“The other teams had to do the work today if they wanted to win,” said Greipel. “We just stayed calm and managed our own race. I am very happy to have won this race twice, the team have ridden well all week and we deserve this.”

762,000 people flocked to South Australia to witness a week of cycling action and none were disappointed as the superstars of world cycling put on a spectacular show.

Santos Tour Down Under Stage 6


The final 90 kilometre stage was raced in front of 124,000 fans on the Adelaide City Council Circuit with the peloton setting a cracking pace for the 20 laps of the 4.5 kilometre circuit. Across the finish line Australian fans were thrilled to see Sydney’s Chris ‘CJ’ Sutton of Team Sky, sprint to victory ahead of his team mate Greg Henderson (NZL) with Rabobank’s Graeme Brown (AUS) third.

“I could not believe that sprint, we talked about our team tactics last night and it was all about team work, we took over control (of the peloton) with two kilometres to go and we had the perfect lead out,” said Sutton. “I was the last man to lead out Greg (Henderson). I went as long as I could and thought if ‘Hendy’ could come around me, he would. I held on and got the win and we got one and two, which is incredible!”

Sutton then celebrated by riding another lap of the course so he could hug his family including father Gary, a 1980 track World Champion, who was positioned halfway round the circuit.

Back at the finish line Greipel and his team mates were ecstatic with the result which saw Greipel complete the six stage 794.5 kilometres in a total race time of 18hr47min05sec. Spaniard and 2005 Tour winner, Luis Leon Sanchez (Caisse d’Epargne) was second at 11 seconds and Henderson finished third at 15 seconds. Queensland’s Robbie McEwen was the highest placed Australian edging ahead of Luke Roberts for fourth place with both 17 seconds off Greipel’s time.

The Cycle Instead Best Young Rider U26 was won by Belgian Jurgen Roelandts (Omega Pharma – Lotto). AG2R la Mondiale claimed the SA Brilliant Blend Teams classification. Greipel also took out the Jayco Sprint competition and Milram’s Thomas Rohregger (AUT) won the Skoda King of the Mountain jersey.

Stage Six was full of action with several riders still jostling for positions in the top ten overall making the time bonuses on offer for the two Jayco intermediate sprints very attractive. At the end of eight laps Henderson collected the three seconds ahead of South Africa’s Robbie Hunter (Garmin-Transitions) who claimed two seconds and Victoria’s Baden Cooke (Saxo Bank) picked up a one second bonus for third.

The second sprint saw McEwen fly from the bunch to mow down a lead group and collect three seconds ahead of Hunter with BMC’s George Hincapie (USA) third.

There were also two Skoda King of the Mountain climbs today over Montefiore Hill. The first was contested by a breakaway group with Frenchman Mikael Cherel (Francaise des Jeux) won the first ahead of Astana’s Valeriy Dmitriyev (KAZ) and category leader Rohregger.

On the second climb another group of escapees were clear of the peloton and Liquigas rider Fabio Sabatini (ITA) collected the maximum 16 points ahead of Sulzberger with Australia’s Trent Lowe third across the line. That trio along with Slovenian Marcel Sieberg (Astana) desperately tried to gain more time on the race but they were on a ‘hiding to nothing’ as this final stage of the race has always been decided in a bunch sprint.

Official results are posted on the official website as soon as they are available. Live stage coverage, start lists and race and associated events information will also be available on the official website. www.tourdownunder.com.au.

Results

1. Christopher Sutton (Aus) Team Sky 1:53:20
2. Greg Henderson (NZl) Team Sky
3. Graeme Brown (Aus) Rabobank
4. Robbie McEwen (Aus) Katyusha
5. Andre Greipel (Ger) HTC-Columbia
6. Allan Davis (Aus) Astana
7. Matthew Goss (Aus) HTC-Columbia
8. Yauheni Hutarovich (Blr) Française Des Jeux
9. Gert Steegmans (Bel) Team RadioShack
10. Jose Rojas (Spa) Caisse d’Epargne
11. Peter Sagan (Svk) Liquigas-Doimo
12. Jurgen Roelandts (Bel) Omega Pharma-Lotto
13. Jonathan Cantwell (Aus) Team UniSA-Australia
14. Baden Cooke (Aus) Team Saxo Bank
15. Robert Forster (Ger) Team Milram
16. Danilo Wyss (Swi) BMC Racing Team
17. George Hincapie (USA) BMC Racing Team
18. Cadel Evans (Aus) BMC Racing Team
19. Luke Roberts (Aus) Team Milram
20. Eduard Vorganov (Rus) Katyusha
21. Ben Swift (GBr) Team Sky
22. Denis Galimzyanov (Rus) Katyusha
23. Juan Jose Haedo (Arg) Team Saxo Bank
24. Thomas Leezer (Ned) Rabobank
25. Manuel Cardoso (Por) Footon Servetto
26. Julian Dean (NZl) Garmin-Transitions
27. Andriy Grivko (Ukr) Astana
28. Stijn Vandenbergh (Bel) Katyusha
29. Markus Fothen (Ger) Team Milram
30. Wesley Sulzberger (Aus) Française Des Jeux
31. Martin Elmiger (Swi) Ag2r-La Mondiale
32. Bernhard Eisel (Aut) HTC-Columbia
33. Yuriy Krivtsov (Ukr) Ag2r-La Mondiale
34. Dominik Roels (Ger) Team Milram
35. Simon Clarke (Aus) Team UniSA-Australia
36. Arthur Vichot (Fra) Française Des Jeux
37. Aitor Perez Arrieta (Spa) Footon Servetto
38. Jurgen Van De Walle (Bel) Quick Step
39. Nikolas Maes (Bel) Quick Step
40. Anthony Roux (Fra) Française Des Jeux
41. Mathieu Drujon (Fra) Caisse d’Epargne
42. Sebastien Rosseler (Bel) Team RadioShack
43. Maciej Paterski (Pol) Liquigas-Doimo
44. Alejandro Valverde (Spa) Caisse d’Epargne
45. Jacopo Guarnieri (Ita) Liquigas-Doimo
46. Robbie Hunter (RSA) Garmin-Transitions
47. Luis Leon Sanchez (Spa) Caisse d’Epargne
48. Jose Alberto Benitez Roman (Spa) Footon Servetto
49. Rick Flens (Ned) Rabobank
50. Josep Jufre Pou (Spa) Astana
51. Ivan Velasco (Spa) Euskaltel – Euskadi
52. Fabio Sabatini (Ita) Liquigas-Doimo
53. Mathew Hayman (Aus) Team Sky
54. Ludovic Turpin (Fra) Ag2r-La Mondiale
55. René Mandri (Est) Ag2r-La Mondiale
56. Christian Meier (Can) Garmin-Transitions
57. Michael Matthews (Aus) Team UniSA-Australia
58. Daryl Impey (RSA) Team RadioShack
59. Frank Hoj (Den) Team Saxo Bank
60. Mauro Finetto (Ita) Liquigas-Doimo
61. Michael Rogers (Aus) HTC-Columbia
62. David Vitoria (Swi) Footon Servetto 0:15
63. Mikel Nieve (Spa) Euskaltel – Euskadi 0:16
64. Oscar Pereiro (Spa) Astana
65. Serguei Klimov (Rus) Katyusha
66. Mauro Santambrogio (Ita) BMC Racing Team
67. Cameron Meyer (Aus) Garmin-Transitions
68. Mickael Delage (Fra) Omega Pharma-Lotto
69. Gerben Lowik (Ned) Omega Pharma-Lotto
70. Jesus Hernandez Blazquez (Spa) Astana
71. Cyril Dessel (Fra) Ag2r-La Mondiale
72. Romain Sicard (Fra) Euskaltel – Euskadi
73. Matthew Wilson (Aus) Garmin-Transitions
74. Michele Merlo (Ita) Footon Servetto
75. Alexandr Pliuschin (Mda) Katyusha
76. David Gutierrez (Spa) Footon Servetto
77. Lance Armstrong (USA) Team RadioShack
78. Ivan Gutierrez (Spa) Caisse d’Epargne
79. Gorka Izagirre (Spa) Euskaltel – Euskadi
80. Matthew Lloyd (Aus) Omega Pharma-Lotto
81. Thomas Rohregger (Aut) Team Milram
82. Jonas Ljungblad (Swe) Omega Pharma-Lotto
83. Peter Mcdonald (Aus) Team UniSA-Australia
84. Jason McCartney (USA) Team RadioShack
85. Anders Lund (Den) Team Saxo Bank
86. Karsten Kroon (Ned) BMC Racing Team
87. Thomas Frei (Swi) BMC Racing Team
88. Martin Kohler (Swi) BMC Racing Team
89. Jurgen Van Goolen (Bel) Omega Pharma-Lotto
90. Thibaut Pinot (Fra) Française Des Jeux
91. Hayden Roulston (NZl) HTC-Columbia
92. Olivier Kaisen (Bel) Omega Pharma-Lotto
93. Miguel Minguez (Spa) Euskaltel – Euskadi
94. Jonathan Castroviejo (Spa) Euskaltel – Euskadi
95. Koos Moerenhout (Ned) Rabobank
96. Biel Kadri (Fra) Ag2r-La Mondiale
97. Stuart O’grady (Aus) Team Saxo Bank
98. Kristijan Koren (Slo) Liquigas-Doimo
99. Stef Clement (Ned) Rabobank
100. Gorazd Stangelj (Slo) Astana
101. Valeriy Dmitriyev (Kaz) Astana
102. Kevin Van Impe (Bel) Quick Step 0:26
103. Pierre Cazaux (Fra) Française Des Jeux
104. Juan Ripoll Horrach (Spa) Katyusha
105. Jens Voigt (Ger) Team Saxo Bank
106. Addy Engels (Ned) Quick Step
107. Timothy Roe (Aus) Team UniSA-Australia
108. Martin Pedersen (Den) Footon Servetto
109. Kasper Klostergaard (Den) Team Saxo Bank
110. Bert Grabsch (Ger) HTC-Columbia
111. Marcel Sieberg (Ger) HTC-Columbia
112. Mikael Cherel (Fra) Française Des Jeux
113. Jos Van Emden (Ned) Rabobank
114. Russell Downing (GBr) Team Sky
115. Björn Schroder (Ger) Team Milram
116. Tomas Vaitkus (Ltu) Team RadioShack
117. Jose Garcia (Spa) Caisse d’Epargne
118. Yaroslav Popovych (Ukr) Team RadioShack
119. Davide Vigano (Ita) Team Sky 0:38
120. Perget Mathieu (Fra) Caisse d’Epargne 0:48
121. Mauro Facci (Ita) Quick Step
122. David Kemp (Aus) Team UniSA-Australia
123. Rohan Dennis (Aus) Team UniSA-Australia
124. Jack Bobridge (Aus) Garmin-Transitions 0:54
125. Trent Lowe (Aus) Garmin-Transitions 1:26
126. Christopher Froome (GBr) Team Sky 1:42
127. Daniel Sesma (Spa) Euskaltel – Euskadi 0:14:00
DNF Thomas Vedel Kvist (Den) Quick Step

Final GC

1. Andre Greipel (Ger) HTC-Columbia 18:47:05
2. Luis Leon Sanchez (Spa) Caisse d’Epargne 0:11
3. Greg Henderson (NZl) Team Sky 0:15
4. Robbie McEwen (Aus) Katyusha 0:17
5. Luke Roberts (Aus) Team Milram
6. Cadel Evans (Aus) BMC Racing Team 0:21
7. Eduard Vorganov (Rus) Katyusha 0:25
8. Jurgen Roelandts (Bel) Omega Pharma-Lotto 0:26
9. Robbie Hunter (RSA) Garmin-Transitions
10. Markus Fothen (Ger) Team Milram 0:27
11. Baden Cooke (Aus) Team Saxo Bank 0:29
12. George Hincapie (USA) BMC Racing Team
13. Andriy Grivko (Ukr) Astana
14. Jurgen Van De Walle (Bel) Quick Step 0:30
15. Julian Dean (NZl) Garmin-Transitions
16. Martin Elmiger (Swi) Ag2r-La Mondiale
17. René Mandri (Est) Ag2r-La Mondiale
18. Ivan Velasco (Spa) Euskaltel – Euskadi
19. Alejandro Valverde (Spa) Caisse d’Epargne 0:32
20. Aitor Perez Arrieta (Spa) Footon Servetto 0:39
21. Wesley Sulzberger (Aus) Française Des Jeux
22. Jose Alberto Benitez Roman (Spa) Footon Servetto
23. Jose Rojas (Spa) Caisse d’Epargne 0:46
24. Michael Rogers (Aus) HTC-Columbia 0:58
25. Lance Armstrong (USA) Team RadioShack 1:03
26. Fabio Sabatini (Ita) Liquigas-Doimo 1:24
27. Serguei Klimov (Rus) Katyusha 1:27
28. Gorka Izagirre (Spa) Euskaltel – Euskadi 1:35
29. Peter Sagan (Svk) Liquigas-Doimo 1:38
30. Peter Mcdonald (Aus) Team UniSA-Australia 1:47
31. Daryl Impey (RSA) Team RadioShack 1:49
32. Cameron Meyer (Aus) Garmin-Transitions 2:10
33. Hayden Roulston (NZl) HTC-Columbia 2:11
34. Matthew Lloyd (Aus) Omega Pharma-Lotto 2:29
35. Graeme Brown (Aus) Rabobank 2:34
36. Gert Steegmans (Bel) Team RadioShack 2:36
37. Ivan Gutierrez (Spa) Caisse d’Epargne
38. Stijn Vandenbergh (Bel) Katyusha 2:42
39. Christopher Sutton (Aus) Team Sky 2:48
40. Josep Jufre Pou (Spa) Astana 2:57
41. Jesus Hernandez Blazquez (Spa) Astana 3:05
42. Sebastien Rosseler (Bel) Team RadioShack 3:07
43. Tomas Vaitkus (Ltu) Team RadioShack 3:11
44. Bernhard Eisel (Aut) HTC-Columbia 3:14
45. Gorazd Stangelj (Slo) Astana 3:18
46. Thibaut Pinot (Fra) Française Des Jeux 3:26
47. Mikel Nieve (Spa) Euskaltel – Euskadi 3:33
48. Arthur Vichot (Fra) Française Des Jeux 3:36
49. Yaroslav Popovych (Ukr) Team RadioShack 3:38
50. Thomas Rohregger (Aut) Team Milram 3:48
51. Romain Sicard (Fra) Euskaltel – Euskadi 3:59
52. Thomas Frei (Swi) BMC Racing Team 4:50
53. Koos Moerenhout (Ned) Rabobank 4:53
54. Christian Meier (Can) Garmin-Transitions 4:58
55. Cyril Dessel (Fra) Ag2r-La Mondiale 5:15
56. Juan Ripoll Horrach (Spa) Katyusha 5:24
57. Perget Mathieu (Fra) Caisse d’Epargne 5:30
58. Timothy Roe (Aus) Team UniSA-Australia 5:53
59. Yuriy Krivtsov (Ukr) Ag2r-La Mondiale 6:23
60. Valeriy Dmitriyev (Kaz) Astana 7:03
61. Mathew Hayman (Aus) Team Sky 7:16
62. Ludovic Turpin (Fra) Ag2r-La Mondiale
63. Mauro Santambrogio (Ita) BMC Racing Team 7:32
64. Frank Hoj (Den) Team Saxo Bank 7:36
65. Jos Van Emden (Ned) Rabobank 8:04
66. Mauro Finetto (Ita) Liquigas-Doimo 8:08
67. Rohan Dennis (Aus) Team UniSA-Australia 8:11
68. Biel Kadri (Fra) Ag2r-La Mondiale 8:47
69. Stuart O’grady (Aus) Team Saxo Bank 9:24
70. Anthony Roux (Fra) Française Des Jeux 9:31
71. Davide Vigano (Ita) Team Sky 9:48
72. Oscar Pereiro (Spa) Astana 0:12
73. Danilo Wyss (Swi) BMC Racing Team 0:10:16
74. Matthew Goss (Aus) HTC-Columbia 0:10:53
75. Matthew Wilson (Aus) Garmin-Transitions 0:10:55
76. Christopher Froome (GBr) Team Sky
77. Stef Clement (Ned) Rabobank 0:11:08
78. Trent Lowe (Aus) Garmin-Transitions 0:11:33
79. Jonathan Cantwell (Aus) Team UniSA-Australia 0:11:41
80. David Vitoria (Swi) Footon Servetto 0:11:54
81. Jurgen Van Goolen (Bel) Omega Pharma-Lotto 0:12:09
82. Michael Matthews (Aus) Team UniSA-Australia 0:13:06
83. Marcel Sieberg (Ger) HTC-Columbia 0:13:21
84. Jens Voigt (Ger) Team Saxo Bank 0:13:29
85. Jonas Ljungblad (Swe) Omega Pharma-Lotto 0:13:38
86. Anders Lund (Den) Team Saxo Bank 0:13:57
87. Addy Engels (Ned) Quick Step 0:14:03
88. Allan Davis (Aus) Astana 0:14:42
89. Martin Kohler (Swi) BMC Racing Team 0:14:50
90. Manuel Cardoso (Por) Footon Servetto 0:15:04
91. Nikolas Maes (Bel) Quick Step 0:16:13
92. Thomas Leezer (Ned) Rabobank 0:17:34
93. Mikael Cherel (Fra) Française Des Jeux 0:18:12
94. Mickael Delage (Fra) Omega Pharma-Lotto 0:18:13
95. Alexandr Pliuschin (Mda) Katyusha 0:18:24
96. Russell Downing (GBr) Team Sky 0:18:41
97. Gerben Lowik (Ned) Omega Pharma-Lotto 0:18:45
98. Jack Bobridge (Aus) Garmin-Transitions 0:19:00
99. Mathieu Drujon (Fra) Caisse d’Epargne 0:19:09
100. Ben Swift (GBr) Team Sky 0:19:28
101. Maciej Paterski (Pol) Liquigas-Doimo 0:22
102. Pierre Cazaux (Fra) Française Des Jeux 0:25
103. Martin Pedersen (Den) Footon Servetto 0:20:11
104. Rick Flens (Ned) Rabobank 0:20:16
105. Olivier Kaisen (Bel) Omega Pharma-Lotto 0:21:42
106. Yauheni Hutarovich (Blr) Française Des Jeux 0:22:36
107. Denis Galimzyanov (Rus) Katyusha 0:23:28
108. Kasper Klostergaard (Den) Team Saxo Bank 0:23:35
109. Jacopo Guarnieri (Ita) Liquigas-Doimo 0:24:17
110. Bert Grabsch (Ger) HTC-Columbia 0:25:26
111. Juan Jose Haedo (Arg) Team Saxo Bank 0:25:51
112. Jason McCartney (USA) Team RadioShack 0:25:53
113. Jonathan Castroviejo (Spa) Euskaltel – Euskadi 0:27:12
114. Kevin Van Impe (Bel) Quick Step 0:27:22
115. Simon Clarke (Aus) Team UniSA-Australia 0:27:33
116. Robert Forster (Ger) Team Milram 0:28:02
117. Miguel Minguez (Spa) Euskaltel – Euskadi 0:28:19
118. Kristijan Koren (Slo) Liquigas-Doimo 0:29:05
119. David Gutierrez (Spa) Footon Servetto 0:29:20
120. Karsten Kroon (Ned) BMC Racing Team 0:29:26
121. Michele Merlo (Ita) Footon Servetto 0:29:51
122. Jose Garcia (Spa) Caisse d’Epargne 0:30:47
123. Mauro Facci (Ita) Quick Step 0:31:20
124. Björn Schroder (Ger) Team Milram 0:33:00
125. David Kemp (Aus) Team UniSA-Australia 0:33:10
126. Dominik Roels (Ger) Team Milram 0:36:18
127. Daniel Sesma (Spa) Euskaltel – Euskadi 0:42:47