Caisse d’Epargne work the Australian heat for little reward in stage 3 of the Tour Down Under.
After a street party that attracted thousand last night in Unley the Tour Down Under began stage three to Sterling in the Australian summer heat that very nearly saw the stage abandoned due high fire danger on the race route and for the safety of the riders.
With the temperature around 30c when the riders arrived in inner city Unley they knew it was going to be a tough day at the office. When I walked out of cafe Luna Rosso in Unley after an early morning ride to Glenelg (the scene of the Lance twitter ride) most riders sat in the team vans to escape the early heat. Oscar Pereiro was interviewed in a local coffee shop saying “the Tour Down Under is that good it could become the second best event after the Tour d France” a great endorsement to the TDU.
The word on the street amongst the team vans was that Alejandro Valverde (Caisse dEpargne) will smash the field in the 40c heat on the hills to Stirling.
It wasn’t long after the 10 kilometer neutral zone that the heat was turned up by Gorka Izaguirre (Euskatel) who powered away from the bunch like he had done on the previous two mornings, to leave behind some carnage on the road with USA national champion George Hincapie (BMC) hitting the road in a crash with 10 other and Lance Armstrong having to change wheels after a flat. Armstrong was soon back in the race as Hincapie received medical attention before rejoining the waiting peloton soon after.
Sebastien Rosseler worked his way in to a group of 17 that included the TDU Ochre Jersey of Andre Greipel (HTC) who worked to put a gap on the race. The heat nearing 40c took its toll with many attacks but none getting too far away. Australian Jack Bobridge (Garmin) the world U23 champ, was as aggressive as ever attacking the field.
Caisse dEpargne did much of the work in the heat chasing down the attacks, when they arrived in Sterling for first of three times, five riders hold a 1.05 advantage the five included veteran Jens Voigt (Saxo Bank) and three Australians Simon Clarke (UniSA) Mathew Lloyd (OP lotto) and Jack Bobridge. The three Australians made a break but the Spanish team Caisse dEpargne were on the front driving for a Valverde victory, most at Sterling in the heat cheered for an Armstrong victory but the good money was on Valverde.
With two laps around Sterling to go the gap was closed out and the usual suspect lined their teams up for the finish line, The HTC power train didn’t figure in the uphill dash to the line, the 40+ heat had taken it out of them and most of the field that prompted world champ Cadel Evans to say later “Coming into the last kilometer it was like riding in slow motion almost, everyone was so exhausted”
Caisse dEpargne looked the team, with most the team on the front before Team RadioShack threatened with Steegmans and Armstrong working to the front inside the final 500 meters. Caisse dEpargne again looked home when Porchuguese national champion Manuel Cardoso (Footon-Servetto-FUJI) in only his third professional race rode a way with his first ever stage victory. Alejandro Valverde finished second with Cadel Evans a surprise third.
Caisse dEpargne would consider itself unlucky after doing most of the work in the heat but failing to get the win for Valverde, that in contrast to Evans who said “my team are all a bit disappointed, I told them not to ride for me today, then I come third.”
Manual Cardosa said after his maiden win “I was extremely happy to have won the tough stage to Stirling” “Once the attack had been closed Caisse dEpargne did a lot of work on the front in preparation for the finish but I was able to make a big move in the final kilometer”
To show how tough the day had be an Armstrong Tweet simply said “Ouch” followed some minutes later by “Ouch” was for the hurtin’ that stage put on me (and all of us) today. Extremely hot and rolling. Felt better than I have recently tho.
Andre Greipel leads the Tour Down Under by 14 seconds from Greg Henderson (Sky) Gert Steegmans and Alejandro Valverde (Caisse dEpargne). Lance Armstrong a further 6 seconds back.
You can tune into the TDU live via www.abc.net.au with expert commentary buy TDU winner Patrick Jonker and Jamie Ford of www.cyclesportnews.com/aus/
Results Stage 3 Santos Tour Down Under
1 Manuel Cardoso (Footon-Servetto-Fuji)
2 Alejandro Valverde (Caisse dEpargne)
3 Cadel Evans (BMC)
4 Peter Sagan (Liquigas)
5 Mauro Finetto (Liquigas)
—
22 Gert Steegmans
30 Lance Armstrong
43 Daryl Impey
57 Yaroslav Popovych
71 Sebastien Rosseler
76 Jason McCartney
85 Tomas Vaitkus
By Chris Cameron, staff writer
For teamradioshack.us in Adelaide Australia
Stage two tomorrow is 133 km Gawler to Hahndorf includes the short but steep ascend up Checker hill. Follow my live updates on twitter @chriscameron55
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