From Murray Street in Gawler to the German colonial town of Hahndorf, the Santos Tour Down Under (TDU) continued to favor the fast racers in Stage 2 of the contest on Wednesday in South Australia. From the starting gun the riders seemed intent on attacking the course as it made its way to the first sprint at the 13.4 km mark in Lyndoch.
The breakaway was established early on, and steadily gained time as they sped on southeast toward Springton with the peloton seemingly content to follow, according to tweets from the SantosTDU_Live posted as the race continued. The biggest gap for the day would be at the 35km mark, where the breakaway enjoyed a 11:30 minute lead. Team RadioShack elected to sit in the peloton and ride the monster throughout the windy afternoon.
By the time the riders had switched back westbound toward Williamstown before the turn south toward the King of the Mountain (KOM) Challenge at the 83.3km mark just short of Checker Hill Road, the breakaway was down to a 4:43 minute lead. That wouldn’t last.
Battling strong winds and a 13.3 % grade on Checker Hill Road, David Kemp of Uni SA captured the KOM honors for the day’s stage. Tim Roe, also of Uni SA and the KOM the day prior, didn’t even have a chance to compete for the top on Wednesday, as he suffered a rear tire puncture prior to the climb.
With just 10km to go, The Shack, together with Astana, had moved to the front of the peloton, which had nearly swallowed up the breakaway, which only had a 15 second gap remaining.
In the end it was again Andre Greipel that crossed the finish line first, following the leadout by his Team HTC Columbia, and winning his second stage in a row. Greg Henderson of Team Sky (winner of the criterium) was second for the day, and renowned sprinter Robbie McEwen of Katusha came in third.
TRS finished as follows for the stage: Geert Steegmans, 30th & Lance Armstrong, 48th – both with the front of the peloton time of 3.23’49”; Rosseler, 57th & Impey, 63rd – both with a time of 3.23’58”; Vaitkus, 85th at 3.24’09” (Bonus 20”); Popovych, 110th at 3.24’44”, and McCartney, 132nd at 3.31’27”.
Team Radioshack’s good news for the day: after his near stage win on Monday, Gert Steegmans is now in third place in the General Classification (GC). Thursday it’s on to Unley for a 132.5km Stage 3 to Stirling. Carry on, Shackers, and stay after it!
By Jeff Ludlumm staff writer
More news articles about Stage 2 TDU 2010
Follow Santos Tour Down Under 2010: Results and Daily Recaps Here or Discuss TDU 2010 in the Forums
