January 21, 2009 (Stirling, Australia) – Queensland’s Allan Davis (Quickstep) has taken over the lead in the 2009 Tour Down Under after winning the 145km second stage from Hahndorf through the Adelaide Hills to Stirling. Davis is riding in his eleventh Tour Down Under the only rider to have contested the event every year since its inception.

“It’s very special,” said Davis. “You know we came here with an objective of winning a stage and we’ve done that on the second stage so we’re very happy as a team.

“You know the jersey is a bonus on top of that and it’s the first time for me in eleven years to have the jersey so it’s very special,” said Davis. “I’d just like to thank my team Quickstep because they’ve put a lot of respect and trust in me and it’s good to give them something back with a win.”

“The final three laps were tough but a finish like that suits me a little better compared to the other bigger sprinters, so it’s ‘get one up on them’ for a change,” said Davis. “I had a quick look around about 250 to go, and there was a gap.

“The whole race I was thinking, “˜leave it to the last 100m, leave it to the last 100m’ … and then I looked around 250 to go and there was a big lap … out the window now, I’ve got to go,” Davis explained. “So I put the head down and looked up at the line, and hopefully, there was no one else there.”

Davis crossed the line in a time of 3hr46min25sec to hold off Sydney’s Graeme Brown (Rabobank) with Switzerland’s Martin Elmiger (AG2R – Mondiale) the 2007 Tour Down Under Champion, claiming third place, two seconds behind Davis.

Davis took over the race lead from last year’s Tour winner, Andre Greipel (Columbia-High Road), who now sits in second place overall at three seconds with Brown sitting third, four seconds off the leading time of Davis.

Greipel was very happy with the teams performance but disappointed to be out of the ochre leader’s jersey.

“We tried to lead out the sprint, there were two in front of me, one rider lost the wheel and I had a little gap,” said Greipel. “I tried to close the gap, I hoped to get the same time as Allan but I think not.

The stage began much the same as yesterday, albeit with cooler temperatures for the early kilometres before the mercury rose over the 30 degrees mark. Three riders, Australian Aaron Kemps (UniSA-Australia), Frenchman Guillaume Blot (Cofidis) and Spaniard Markel Irizar formed the early break and received rousing support from the estimated 90,000 fans who set themselves up in viewing points from start to finish and most places in between.

At the first SA Lotteries sprint prime of the day in Charleston (16.7km) Kemps claimed the points ahead of his breakaway companions Blot and Irizar. At the only Skoda King of the Mountain contested today on Fox Creek Road at 34.5km Irizar took the points to protect the lead of his team mate Andoni Lafuente in the climber’s classification with Blot again second and Kemps third over the summit.

At the second SA Lotteries Sprint at Balhannah (54.8km) Kemps again grabbed the points from Blot and Irizar.

New Zealand’s Julian Dean (Garmin-Slipstream) decided to try his luck and bridged the gap to the leaders but even with him on board the chances were slim of the lead group staying clear to the finish.

Meantime Bernard Eisel (Columbia-High Road) was a constant presence on the front doing the work for his team leader Andre Greipel to keep the time gap within reason.

On the second of four laps through Stirling the race came back together before the attacks began including one from local boy Jack Bobridge. Seven time Tour de France champion, Lance Armstrong headed to the front of the bunch to test his legs and several others tried and failed to ride clear.

At the end of the stage Allan Davis (Quickstep) wears the Tour Down Under leader’s ochre jersey, Andoni Lafuente (Euskaltel Euskadi) leads the Skoda King of the Mountain classification, the leader of the SA Lotteries Sprint classification is Belgian Olivier Kaisen (Silence-Lotto). Spaniard Jose Rojas (Caisse d’Epargne). The leader of the the Quit Smoking Teams Classification is Rabobank and Aaron Kemps was today named the Hindmarsh Most Aggressive Driver.

Tomorrow the race heads from the Adelaide suburb of Unley out along the Fleurieu Peninsula to Victor Harbor a distance of 136km.

Results

1. Allan Davis (Aus) Quick Step 3:46.25 (38.424 km/h)
2. Graeme Brown (Aus) Rabobank
3. Martin Elmiger (Swi) AG2R La Mondiale 0.02
4. Stuart O’Grady (Aus) Team Saxo Bank
5. George Hincapie (USA) Team Columbia-High Road 0.04
6. José Joaquin Rojas Gil (Spa) Caisse D’Epargne
7. Mauro Santambrogio (Ita) Lampre-N.G.C
8. Tom Leezer (Ned) Rabobank
9. Mickaël Buffaz (Fra) Cofidis
10. André Greipel (Ger) Team Columbia-High Road
11. Ryder Hesjedal (Can) Garmin-Slipstream
12. Baden Cooke (Aus) UniSA
13. Jussi Veikkanen (Fin) Française Des Jeux
14. Wesley Sulzberger (Aus) Française Des Jeux
15. Mickaël Chérel (Fra) Française Des Jeux
16. Mathew Hayman (Aus) Rabobank
17. Rémy Di Grégorio (Fra) Française Des Jeux
18. Michael Rogers (Aus) Team Columbia-High Road
19. Nicolas Roche (Irl) AG2R La Mondiale 0.08
20. Luis Leon Sanchez Gil (Spa) Caisse D’Epargne
21. Mathieu Perget (Fra) Caisse D’Epargne
22. Matthew Lloyd (Aus) Silence-Lotto
23. Christian Knees (Ger) Team Milram
24. Iñaki Isasi Flores (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi
25. Matthew Wilson (Aus) UniSA
26. Vincent Jérôme (Fra) Bbox Bouygues Telecom
27. Hubert Schwab (Swi) Quick Step 0.13
28. Pieter Jacobs (Bel) Silence-Lotto
29. Simon Clarke (Aus) UniSA
30. Sébastien Hinault (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
31. Oscar Pereiro Sio (Spa) Caisse D’Epargne
32. Anders Lund (Den) Team Saxo Bank
33. Javier Megías Leal (Spa) Fuji-Servetto
34. Markel Irizar Aranburu (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi
35. William Walker (Aus) Fuji-Servetto
36. Christian Meier (Can) Garmin-Slipstream
37. Vladimir Efimkin (Rus) AG2R La Mondiale
38. Hilton Clarke (Aus) Fuji-Servetto
39. Thomas Rohregger (Aut) Team Milram
40. Trent Lowe (Aus) Garmin-Slipstream
41. Alexandre Usov (Blr) Cofidis
42. Julien El Farès (Fra) Cofidis
43. René Mandri (Est) AG2R La Mondiale
44. Rony Martias (Fra) Bbox Bouygues Telecom
45. Lance Armstrong (USA) Astana
46. Pablo Lastras Garcia (Spa) Caisse D’Epargne
47. Aleksandr Kuchynski (Blr) Liquigas
48. Aitor Hernandez Gutierrez (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi
49. Kasper Klostergaard Larsen (Den) Team Saxo Bank
50. Emanuele Bindi (Ita) Lampre-N.G.C
51. Maciej Bodnar (Pol) Liquigas
52. Jens Voigt (Ger) Team Saxo Bank
53. Martin Müller (Ger) Team Milram
54. Jérémy Roy (Fra) Française Des Jeux
55. Daniele Nardello (Ita) Fuji-Servetto
56. Alexander Efimkin (Rus) AG2R La Mondiale
57. Jesus Hernandez (Spa) Astana
58. Imanol Erviti Ollo (Spa) Caisse D’Epargne
59. Rick Flens (Ned) Rabobank
60. Yoann Offredo (Fra) Française Des Jeux
61. Olivier Kaisen (Bel) Silence-Lotto
62. Alexandr Pliuschin (Mda) AG2R La Mondiale
63. Michael Schär (Swi) Astana
64. Luca Barla (Ita) Team Milram
65. Laurent Lefèvre (Fra) Bbox Bouygues Telecom
66. Josu Agirre Aseginolaza (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi
67. Steve Morabito (Swi) Astana
68. Serguei Klimov (Rus) Team Katusha
69. Mathieu Drujon (Fra) Caisse D’Epargne
70. Mario Aerts (Bel) Silence-Lotto
71. José Luis Rubiera Vigil (Spa) Astana
72. Davide Viganò (Ita) Fuji-Servetto
73. Robbie McEwen (Aus) Team Katusha 0.26
74. Glenn d’Hollander (Bel) Silence-Lotto 0.33
75. Dries Devenyns (Bel) Quick Step
76. Tom Stubbe (Bel) Silence-Lotto 0.36
77. Travis Meyer (Aus) UniSA
78. Stef Clement (Ned) Rabobank 0.39
79. Perrig Quemeneur (Fra) Bbox Bouygues Telecom
80. Matteo Tosatto (Ita) Quick Step 0.44
81. Nicki Sørensen (Den) Team Saxo Bank 0.45
82. Ronny Scholz (Ger) Team Milram 0.47
83. Timothy Gudsell (NZl) Française Des Jeux 0.48
84. Francesco Reda (Ita) Quick Step 0.49
85. Jack Bobridge (Aus) UniSA
86. Alexandre Pichot (Fra) Bbox Bouygues Telecom 0.53
87. Davide Malacarne (Ita) Quick Step 0.55
88. Jos Van Emden (Ned) Rabobank 0.56
89. Joan Horrach Rippoll (Spa) Team Katusha 1.07
90. Kurt Hovelijnck (Bel) Quick Step 1.14
91. Matthew Goss (Aus) Team Saxo Bank 1.17
92. David Moncoutié (Fra) Cofidis 1.20
93. Kai Reus (Ned) Rabobank
94. Adam Hansen (Aus) Team Columbia-High Road 1.42
95. Frank Hoj (Den) Team Saxo Bank 3.29
96. Rein Taaramae (Est) Cofidis 3.46
97. Nikolay Trusov (Rus) Team Katusha
98. Stijn Vandenbergh (Bel) Team Katusha
99. Volodymyr Zagorodniy (Ukr) Lampre-N.G.C
100. Scott Davis (Aus) UniSA
101. Timmy Duggan (USA) Garmin-Slipstream
102. Vitaliy Buts (Ukr) Lampre-N.G.C
103. Claudio Corioni (Ita) Liquigas 4.39
104. Frederik Willems (Bel) Liquigas
105. Maxim Iglinsky (Kaz) Astana 4.59
106. Gianni Da Ros (Ita) Liquigas
107. Mathieu Claude (Fra) Bbox Bouygues Telecom
108. Aaron Kemps (Aus) UniSA 6.01
109. Gert Steegmans (Bel) Team Katusha 6.10
110. Assan Bazayev (Kaz) Astana
111. Jacopo Guanieri (Ita) Liquigas 7.00
112. David Loosli (Swi) Lampre-N.G.C 7.01
113. Matteo Bono (Ita) Lampre-N.G.C
114. Andrea Grendene (Ita) Lampre-N.G.C
115. Mark Renshaw (Aus) Team Columbia-High Road 8.08
116. Gregory Henderson (NZl) Team Columbia-High Road 11.41
117. Chris Sutton (Aus) Garmin-Slipstream
118. Willem Stroetinga (Ned) Team Milram
119. Jonas Ljungblad (Swe) Silence-Lotto
120. Markus Eichler (Ger) Team Milram
121. Ermanno Capelli (Ita) Fuji-Servetto
122. Guillaume Blot (Fra) Cofidis 14.37
123. Bernhard Eisel (Aut) Team Columbia-High Road 18.04
124. Julian Dean (NZl) Garmin-Slipstream
125. Florent Brard (Fra) Cofidis
126. Matthieu Sprick (Fra) Bbox Bouygues Telecom
127. Andoni Lafuente (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi
128. Francesco Chicchi (Ita) Liquigas
129. Cameron Meyer (Aus) Garmin-Slipstream
130. Sergio De Lis (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi
131. Pablo Urtasun (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi
132. Kenny De Haes (Bel) Team Katusha
133. Ivan Dominquez (Cub) Fuji-Servetto

GC after Stage 2

1. Allan Davis (Aus) Quick Step 7:31.42
2. André Greipel (Ger) Team Columbia-High Road 0.03
3. Graeme Brown (Aus) Rabobank 0.04
4. Stuart O’Grady (Aus) Team Saxo Bank 0.08
5. Baden Cooke (Aus) UniSA
6. Martin Elmiger (Swi) AG2R La Mondiale
7. Mauro Santambrogio (Ita) Lampre-N.G.C 0.14
8. José Joaquin Rojas Gil (Spa) Caisse D’Epargne
9. Jussi Veikkanen (Fin) Française Des Jeux
10. Ryder Hesjedal (Can) Garmin-Slipstream
11. Mathew Hayman (Aus) Rabobank
12. Mickaël Chérel (Fra) Française Des Jeux
13. George Hincapie (USA) Team Columbia-High Road
14. Michael Rogers (Aus) Team Columbia-High Road
15. Mickaël Buffaz (Fra) Cofidis
16. Rémy Di Grégorio (Fra) Française Des Jeux
17. Wesley Sulzberger (Aus) Française Des Jeux
18. Olivier Kaisen (Bel) Silence-Lotto 0.17
19. Nicolas Roche (Irl) AG2R La Mondiale 0.18
20. Iñaki Isasi Flores (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi
21. Christian Knees (Ger) Team Milram
22. Mathieu Perget (Fra) Caisse D’Epargne
23. Luis Leon Sanchez Gil (Spa) Caisse D’Epargne
24. Matthew Wilson (Aus) UniSA
25. Vincent Jérôme (Fra) Bbox Bouygues Telecom
26. Matthew Lloyd (Aus) Silence-Lotto
27. Markel Irizar Aranburu (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 0.21
28. William Walker (Aus) Fuji-Servetto 0.22
29. Alexandre Usov (Blr) Cofidis 0.23
30. Rony Martias (Fra) Bbox Bouygues Telecom
31. Pieter Jacobs (Bel) Silence-Lotto
32. Luca Barla (Ita) Team Milram
33. Emanuele Bindi (Ita) Lampre-N.G.C
34. Jérémy Roy (Fra) Française Des Jeux
35. Anders Lund (Den) Team Saxo Bank
36. Davide Viganò (Ita) Fuji-Servetto
37. Sébastien Hinault (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
38. Alexandr Pliuschin (Mda) AG2R La Mondiale
39. Julien El Farès (Fra) Cofidis
40. Kasper Klostergaard Larsen (Den) Team Saxo Bank
41. Mathieu Drujon (Fra) Caisse D’Epargne
42. Pablo Lastras Garcia (Spa) Caisse D’Epargne
43. Yoann Offredo (Fra) Française Des Jeux
44. Thomas Rohregger (Aut) Team Milram
45. René Mandri (Est) AG2R La Mondiale
46. Imanol Erviti Ollo (Spa) Caisse D’Epargne
47. Christian Meier (Can) Garmin-Slipstream
48. Martin Müller (Ger) Team Milram
49. Alexander Efimkin (Rus) AG2R La Mondiale
50. Trent Lowe (Aus) Garmin-Slipstream
51. Vladimir Efimkin (Rus) AG2R La Mondiale
52. Maciej Bodnar (Pol) Liquigas
53. Javier Megías Leal (Spa) Fuji-Servetto
54. Josu Agirre Aseginolaza (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi
55. Oscar Pereiro Sio (Spa) Caisse D’Epargne
56. Aitor Hernandez Gutierrez (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi
57. Hilton Clarke (Aus) Fuji-Servetto
58. Michael Schär (Swi) Astana
59. Aleksandr Kuchynski (Blr) Liquigas
60. Simon Clarke (Aus) UniSA
61. Serguei Klimov (Rus) Team Katusha
62. Jens Voigt (Ger) Team Saxo Bank
63. Jesus Hernandez (Spa) Astana
64. Hubert Schwab (Swi) Quick Step
65. José Luis Rubiera Vigil (Spa) Astana
66. Daniele Nardello (Ita) Fuji-Servetto
67. Mario Aerts (Bel) Silence-Lotto
68. Lance Armstrong (USA) Astana
69. Steve Morabito (Swi) Astana
70. Laurent Lefèvre (Fra) Bbox Bouygues Telecom
71. Tom Leezer (Ned) Rabobank 0.33
72. Robbie McEwen (Aus) Team Katusha 0.36
73. Glenn d’Hollander (Bel) Silence-Lotto 0.43
74. Dries Devenyns (Bel) Quick Step
75. Travis Meyer (Aus) UniSA 0.46
76. Tom Stubbe (Bel) Silence-Lotto
77. Perrig Quemeneur (Fra) Bbox Bouygues Telecom 0.49
78. Stef Clement (Ned) Rabobank
79. Matteo Tosatto (Ita) Quick Step 0.54
80. Nicki Sørensen (Den) Team Saxo Bank 0.55
81. Ronny Scholz (Ger) Team Milram 0.57
82. Timothy Gudsell (NZl) Française Des Jeux 0.58
83. Francesco Reda (Ita) Quick Step 0.59
84. Jack Bobridge (Aus) UniSA
85. Alexandre Pichot (Fra) Bbox Bouygues Telecom 1.03
86. Davide Malacarne (Ita) Quick Step 1.05
87. Joan Horrach Rippoll (Spa) Team Katusha 1.17
88. Kurt Hovelijnck (Bel) Quick Step 1.24
89. Matthew Goss (Aus) Team Saxo Bank 1.27
90. Kai Reus (Ned) Rabobank 1.30
91. David Moncoutié (Fra) Cofidis
92. Rick Flens (Ned) Rabobank 1.35
93. Adam Hansen (Aus) Team Columbia-High Road 1.52
94. Jos Van Emden (Ned) Rabobank 2.21
95. Frank Hoj (Den) Team Saxo Bank 3.39
96. Scott Davis (Aus) UniSA 3.56
97. Nikolay Trusov (Rus) Team Katusha
98. Timmy Duggan (USA) Garmin-Slipstream
99. Volodymyr Zagorodniy (Ukr) Lampre-N.G.C
100. Stijn Vandenbergh (Bel) Team Katusha
101. Vitaliy Buts (Ukr) Lampre-N.G.C
102. Rein Taaramae (Est) Cofidis
103. Frederik Willems (Bel) Liquigas 4.49
104. Claudio Corioni (Ita) Liquigas 5.06
105. Gianni Da Ros (Ita) Liquigas 5.09
106. Maxim Iglinsky (Kaz) Astana
107. Aaron Kemps (Aus) UniSA 6.05
108. Gert Steegmans (Bel) Team Katusha 6.20
109. Assan Bazayev (Kaz) Astana
110. Jacopo Guanieri (Ita) Liquigas 7.10
111. Andrea Grendene (Ita) Lampre-N.G.C 7.11
112. Matteo Bono (Ita) Lampre-N.G.C
113. David Loosli (Swi) Lampre-N.G.C
114. Mark Renshaw (Aus) Team Columbia-High Road 8.18
115. Willem Stroetinga (Ned) Team Milram 11.51
116. Chris Sutton (Aus) Garmin-Slipstream
117. Gregory Henderson (NZl) Team Columbia-High Road
118. Ermanno Capelli (Ita) Fuji-Servetto
119. Jonas Ljungblad (Swe) Silence-Lotto
120. Markus Eichler (Ger) Team Milram
121. Guillaume Blot (Fra) Cofidis 14.43
122. Andoni Lafuente (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 18.10
123. Cameron Meyer (Aus) Garmin-Slipstream 18.14
124. Bernhard Eisel (Aut) Team Columbia-High Road
125. Matthieu Sprick (Fra) Bbox Bouygues Telecom
126. Kenny De Haes (Bel) Team Katusha
127. Pablo Urtasun (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi
128. Francesco Chicchi (Ita) Liquigas
129. Sergio De Lis (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi
130. Florent Brard (Fra) Cofidis
131. Julian Dean (NZl) Garmin-Slipstream
132. Mathieu Claude (Fra) Bbox Bouygues Telecom 25.41
133. Ivan Dominquez (Cub) Fuji-Servetto 38.46

Young Rider

1. José Joaquin Rojas Gil (Spa) Caisse D’Epargne 7:31.56
2. Mickaël Chérel (Fra) Française Des Jeux
3. Rémy Di Grégorio (Fra) Française Des Jeux
4. Wesley Sulzberger (Aus) Française Des Jeux
5. William Walker (Aus) Fuji-Servetto 0.08
6. Pieter Jacobs (Bel) Silence-Lotto 0.09
7. Luca Barla (Ita) Team Milram
8. Anders Lund (Den) Team Saxo Bank
9. Alexandr Pliuschin (Mda) AG2R La Mondiale
10. Julien El Farès (Fra) Cofidis

12. Christian Meier (Can) Garmin-Slipstream