Tour Down Under: Win for Lampre on Stage 2

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Italian Diego Ulissi of the Lampre-Merida holds off race leader Simon Gerrans (Orica-GreenEDGE) and Cadel Evans (BMC) to win stage 2

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Event Press Release | Stage 1 Report/Results/Photos |

Italian Diego Ulissi of the Lampre-Merida team stole the show in Stirling today holding off star Australians Simon Gerrans (Orica-GreenEDGE) and Cadel Evans (BMC) who crossed for the minor placings at the end of the 150km stage BikeExchange.com.au Stage 2 through the Adelaide Hills.

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Lampre-Merida stage winner Diego Ulissi. Photo: Santos Tour Down Under / Regallo 

The Santos Ochre Leader’s jersey remains on the shoulders of Gerrans but today’s stage winner now sits in second place at seven seconds. Ilissi, 24, who won a stage of the Giro d’Italia (Tour of Italy) in 2011, outfoxed his rivals to sprint well clear and celebrate his seventh professional career victory.

“I’ve never believed in my chances to win this stage because I had the impression that Simon Gerrans was by far the strongest,” said Ulissi who crossed the line in a time of 3:52:15. “I thought he’d be unbeatable but I managed to beat him thanks to the help of the great team I have behind me.

“It has a lot to do with the serenity I found by winning a few races at the very end of last season, therefore I could train for this one with no worries and prepare well for Milan-San Remo.”

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Diego Ulissi. Photo: Santos Tour Down Under / Regallo 

Glorious summer weather and a spectator friendly course attracted 110 thousand fans who camped out from early this morning staking their claim on the best seats in the hills. “This is my first time in Australia and I’m amazed by the incredible affection of the fans,” said Ulissi. “The environment of this race is wonderful.”

Gerrans, the newly crowned Australian road champion, had been hoping for back-to-back stage wins after his vcitory yesterday in Angaston but despite closing fast on Ulissi wasn’t able to overtake. “I would have loved to win the stage again today,” said Gerrans. “It was close but I can’t win them all.”

“It didn’t surprise me to be sprinting against Diego Ulissi in such a finale like Stirling,” he explained. “He’s a classy rider. But I wasn’t expecting he’d pass me as fast as he did. He’s obviously a threat for the overall classification but it’s a good result for me today as I have a bigger advantage over my other rivals with the time bonus of the second place.”

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Santos Tour Down Under Ochre Leader’s Jersey holder Simon Gerrans.  Photo: Santos Tour Down Under / Regallo 

“My position on GC is just as good as I could have hoped for,” said Gerrans. “Tomorrow is going to be the most decisive stage with the Corkscrew climb so close to the finish.”

Evans’ third place on the stage has moved the 2011 Tour de France champion up from ninth overall to fourth overall at 13 seconds off the lead and he was one of several strong contenders to test their legs on the short, sharp pinch at the end of the stage.

“I went too early, and got swamped at the finish,” said Evans. “I hope to get it right in the next few days, I didn’t have the legs and timing to do it today. The team is being really good here (but) we’re still getting things going together,” he said. “It’s our first race of the year. I’m going OK. I just need a bit of timing. It’s still pretty open on GC (race for overall win).”

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Australian Cadel Evans moved up into fourth place overall.  Photo: Santos Tour Down Under / Regallo 

The Adelaide suburb of Prospect hosted a stage start for the third year in a row farewelling the 136 riders as they headed off to the Adelaide Hills region ahead of two laps of an undulating, leafy 20 kilometre circuit through and around the finish town of Stirling.

Racing was barely underway when an early attack saw yesterday’s Europcar Most Competitive rider, Will Clarke (Drapac) break clear with UniSA-Australia’s Campbell Flakemore and Dutchman Boy Van Poppel of Trek Factory Racing.

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Crowds at the start line in Prospect.  Photo: Santos Tour Down Under / Regallo

“It’s three years in a row that I break away on the way to Stirling. Unfortunately, the last two haven’t been as successful as two years ago when I stayed away and won,” said Clarke whose efforts today saw him again named Europcar Most Competitive Rider.

The trio shared the spoils of both Adam Internet Sprint and both Skoda King of the Mountain primes contested in the first 85 kilometres.

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Orica-GreenEdge riders on the front climbing out of Adelaide. Photo: Santos Tour Down Under / Regallo

At One Tree Hill, 26 kilometres into the stage, Van Poppel scored top points in the Adam Internet sprint ahead of Flakemore and Clarke. But when the trio contested the Skoda King of the Mountain climb at Golden Grove it was Clarke who crested the hill ahead of Flakemore and Van Poppel. Mountain classification leader, Adam Hansen (Lotto-Belisol) led the peloton over a couple of minutes later to protect his jersey.

The second climb of the day was at Checker Hill at the 56 kilometre point and the placings were a repeat of the previous as Clarke lead Flakemore and Van Poppel over the top before Hansen grabbed fourth place points.

The second Adam Internet intermediate sprint was at Blahannah (85km) where Clarke held off Van Poppel and Flakemore was third.

Hopes the trio might contest the stage win were dashed when they were reeled in by the peloton as they rode through Stirling to start the final 20 kilometre circuit to the finish. “In the next day or two, I’ll take it easy,” said Clarke. “I feel a bit tired so I’ll back off for another attack a bit later in the race.”

Meantime Hansen’s efforts ensured he held onto the Skoda King of the Mountain lead, albeit on a countback with Clarke who also has 20 points. “I’ve seen the possibility to take two points for the KOM without spending much energy as the fourth place atop the hill was still up for grabs,” said Hansen.

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SKODA King of the Mountain leader Adam Hansen (Lotto –Belisol). Photo: Santos Tour Down Under / Regallo

Hansen’s team mate, André Greipel put in a super effort to fight his way back to the lead group after a front wheel change the closing kilometres. He placed 19th, the last rider in the lead group awarded the same time as the winner, which meant he only slipped down one place overall to third where he sits 11 seconds off the overall lead.

“I was trying to help André (Greipel) today,” said his team mate Hansen. “It was always the plan to race for him, even after he had a flat tyre. He and I had a little argument with 1km to go. He wanted me to go for myself but I kept supporting me.”

The lead in the Cycle Instead Young Rider category remains with Carlos Verona (Omega Pharma-Quick Step) who was caught behind a late race crash but awarded the same time as the main bunch and is now ranked 22nd overall, 21 seconds behind Gerrans.

“This was a very nice stage with lots of ups and downs. Mainly, I wanted to avoid crashing. I enjoy being the best young rider in such a big race,” said Verona. “It’s always good to wear a distinctive jersey. If I can keep it in the next couple of days, it’s perfect, but it’s not an obsession.”

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The three man breakaway, Will Clarke (Drapac) Boy Van Poppel (Trek Factory Racing) and Campbell Flakemore (UniSA-Australia) . Photo: Santos Tour Down Under / Regallo

The race started today with two less riders. Australian David Tanner (Belkin) broke his right collar bone in a crash during yesterday’s racing and had surgery overnight to repair it and x-rays this morning confirmed a broken scaphoid for Spanish climber Jose Joaquim Rojas (Movistar) who will return home for treatment. Rojas joins his team mate Giovanni Visconti who broke his leg in a crash during Sunday’s People’s Choice Classic.

Tomorrow’s Thomas Foods Stage 3 starts in the inner-city Adelaide shopping precinct of Norwood and takes the riders over the notorious Corkscrew Hill climb shortly before the finish in Campbelltown.

RESULTS
1 ULISSI Diego, Lampre – Merida 03:52:14
2 GERRANS Simon, Orica GreenEDGE
3 EVANS Cadel, BMC Racing Team
4 GAVAZZI Francesco, Astana Pro Team
5 GESINK Robert, Belkin Pro Cycling Team
6 PORTE Richie, Team Sky
7 HERMANS Ben, BMC Racing Team
8 FELLINE Fabio, Trek Factory Racing
9 MORENO BAZAN Javier, Movistar Team
10 IMPEY Daryl, Orica GreenEDGE
11 SILIN Egor, Team Katusha
12 ROUX Anthony, Equipe Cycliste FDJ.fr
13 MORABITO Steve, BMC Racing Team
14 BOOKWALTER Brent, BMC Racing Team
15 HANSEN Adam, Lotto Belisol Team
16 SULZBERGER Wesley, Drapac Professional Cycling
17 SUTHERLAND Rory, Tinkoff-Saxo
18 HAAS Nathan, Garmin – Sharp
19 GREIPEL Andre, Lotto Belisol Team
20 PLAZA MOLINA, Rubén Movistar Team
21 GESCHKE Simon, Team Giant-Shimano
22 WESTRA Lieuwe, Astana Pro Team
23 BOUET Maxime, AG2R La Mondiale
24 PAUWELS Serge, Omega Pharma – Quick-Step
25 WACKERMANN Luca, Lampre – Merida
26 BROECKX Stig, Lotto Belisol Team
27 BAKELANTS Jan, Omega Pharma – Quick-Step
28 WYSS Danilo, BMC Racing Team
29 SCHLECK Fränk, Trek Factory Racing
30 FAIRLY Caleb, Garmin – Sharp
31 DIDIER Laurent, Trek Factory Racing
32 SOUPE Geoffrey, Equipe Cycliste FDJ.fr
33 CANTWELL Jonathan, Drapac Professional Cycling
34 SULZBERGER Bernard, Drapac Professional Cycling
35 LAPTHORNE Darren, Drapac Professional Cycling
36 VERONA QUINTANILLA Carlos, Omega Pharma – Quick-Step
37 WURF Cameron, Cannondale Pro Cycling Team
38 VORGANOV Eduard, Team Katusha
39 VON HOFF Steele, Garmin – Sharp
40 TULIK Angelo, Team Europcar
41 DEIGNAN Philip, Team Sky
42 CLARKE Simon, Orica GreenEDGE
43 ARASHIRO Yukiya, Team Europcar
44 DENNIS Rohan, Garmin – Sharp
45 JUUL-JENSEN, Christopher Tinkoff-Saxo
46 CLEMENT Stef, Belkin Pro Cycling Team
47 VIVIANI Elia, Cannondale Pro Cycling Team
48 THURAU Bjorn, Team Europcar
49 QUEMENEUR Perrig, Team Europcar
50 GIACOPPO Anthony, UniSA-Australia
51 TANKINK Bram, Belkin Pro Cycling Team
52 KOCHETKOV Pavel, Team Katusha
53 TURGOT Sébastien, AG2R La Mondiale
54 O’ BRIEN Mark, UniSA-Australia
55 AGNOLI Valerio, Astana Pro Team
56 ALAPHILIPPE Julian, Omega Pharma – Quick-Step
57 DEBUSSCHERE Jens, Lotto Belisol Team
58 ZABEL Rick, BMC Racing Team
59 MOHORIC Matej, Cannondale Pro Cycling Team
60 VAN POPPEL, Danny Trek Factory Racing
61 LECUISINIER, Pierre-Henri Equipe Cycliste FDJ.fr
62 MORI Manuele, Lampre – Merida
63 HAYMAN Mathew, Orica GreenEDGE
64 RENSHAW Mark, Omega Pharma – Quick-Step
65 TRENTIN Matteo, Omega Pharma – Quick-Step
66 GUTIéRREZ PALACIOS Jose Iván, Movistar Team
67 DE KORT Koen, Team Giant-Shimano
68 BOIVIN Guillaume, Cannondale Pro Cycling Team
69 IGNATYEV Mikhail, Team Katusha
70 THOMAS Geraint, Team Sky
71 HUFFMAN Evan, Astana Pro Team
72 SIEBERG Marcel, Lotto Belisol Team
73 STANNARD Ian, Team Sky
74 BONNET William, Equipe Cycliste FDJ.fr
75 VEIKKANEN Jussi, Equipe Cycliste FDJ.fr
76 ELISSONDE Kenny, Equipe Cycliste FDJ.fr
77 WATSON Calvin, Trek Factory Racing
78 HUPOND Thierry, Team Giant-Shimano
79 BAUER Jack, Garmin – Sharp
80 GASPAROTTO Enrico, Astana Pro Team
81 BONNAFOND Guillaume, AG2R La Mondiale
82 KOLAR Michael, Tinkoff-Saxo
83 BOBRIDGE Jack, Belkin Pro Cycling Team
84 MOINARD Amaël, BMC Racing Team
85 GAUDIN Damien, AG2R La Mondiale
86 MEYER Travis, Drapac Professional Cycling
87 BETTIOL Alberto, Cannondale Pro Cycling Team
88 LOBATO DEL VALLE Juan Jose, Movistar Team
89 COURTEILLE Arnaud, Equipe Cycliste FDJ.fr
90 HAIG Jack, UniSA-Australia
91 EARLE Nathan, Team Sky
92 HUCKER Robbie, Drapac Professional Cycling
93 BERARD Julien, AG2R La Mondiale
94 GRIVKO Andriy, Astana Pro Team
95 ROELANDTS Jurgen, Lotto Belisol Team
96 LINFIELD Bradley, UniSA-Australia
97 FROHLINGER Johannes, Team Giant-Shimano
98 KRIZEK Matthias, Cannondale Pro Cycling Team 02:45
99 ARNDT Nikias, Team Giant-Shimano 00:00
100 ERVITI OLLO Imanol, Movistar Team
101 DOMONT Axel, AG2R La Mondiale
102 REZA Kevin, Team Europcar 03:20
103 BENNETT George, Cannondale Pro Cycling Team 03:55
104 MATTHEWS Michael, Orica GreenEDGE 00:00
105 MORTON Lachlan, Garmin – Sharp 04:15
106 FERRARI Roberto, Lampre – Merida 04:40
107 BONO Matteo, Lampre – Merida
108 PORSEV Alexander, Team Katusha
109 EISEL Bernhard, Team Sky 04:54
110 ROWE Luke, Team Sky 00:00
111 TRUSOV Nikolay, Tinkoff-Saxo 04:54
112 MCCARTHY Jay, Tinkoff-Saxo
113 SøRENSEN Nicki, Tinkoff-Saxo
114 VALGREN ANDERSEN Michael, Tinkoff-Saxo
115 PETERSON Tom, Team Giant-Shimano
116 VALLS FERRI Rafael, Lampre – Merida 00:00
117 BELKOV Maxim, Team Katusha 05:54
118 COUSIN Jérôme, Team Europcar
119 VOIGT Jens, Trek Factory Racing
120 GUARNIERI Jacopo, Astana Pro Team
121 FLENS Rick, Belkin Pro Cycling Team
122 KITTEL Marcel, Team Giant-Shimano
123 EWAN Caleb, UniSA-Australia 00:00
124 CLARKE William, Drapac Professional Cycling 07:05
125 HALLER Marco, Team Katusha 07:42
126 DURBRIDGE Luke, Orica GreenEDGE 07:48
127 GOSS Matthew, Orica GreenEDGE
128 VAN POPPEL Boy, Trek Factory Racing
129 CIMOLAI Davide, Lampre – Merida
130 FENN Andrew, Omega Pharma – Quick-Step 09:10
131 DEKKER Thomas, Garmin – Sharp
132 KAISEN Olivier, Lotto Belisol Team 10:45
133 VAN DER PLOEG Neil, UniSA-Australia 14:46
134 BROWN Graeme, Belkin Pro Cycling Team
135 DANIEL Maxime, AG2R La Mondiale
136 FLAKEMORE Campbell, UniSA-Australia 19:35

GENERAL CLASSIFCATION
1 GERRANS Simon, Orica GreenEDGE 07:12:31
2 ULISSI Diego, Lampre – Merida 00:07
3 GREIPEL Andre, Lotto Belisol Team 00:11
4 EVANS Cadel, BMC Racing Team 00:13
5 VON HOFF Steele, Garmin – Sharp
6 GESCHKE Simon, Team Giant-Shimano 00:16
7 GAVAZZI Francesco, Astana Pro Team 00:17
8 GESINK Robert, Belkin Pro Cycling Team
9 BOUET Maxime, AG2R La Mondiale
10 THOMAS Geraint, Team Sky
11 VALLS FERRI Rafael, Lampre – Merida
12 IMPEY Daryl, Orica GreenEDGE 00:21
13 BOOKWALTER Brent, BMC Racing Team
14 HAAS Nathan, Garmin – Sharp
15 SUTHERLAND Rory, Tinkoff-Saxo
16 PORTE Richie, Team Sky
17 HERMANS Ben, BMC Racing Team
18 PLAZA MOLINA Rubén, Movistar Team
19 SULZBERGER Wesley, Drapac Professional Cycling
20 SCHLECK Fränk, Trek Factory Racing

— Santos Ochre Leader – Simon Gerrans (AUS | Orica-GreenEDGE)
— Adam Internet Sprint Leader – Simon Gerrans (AUS | Orica-GreenEDGE)
— Skoda King of the Mountain leader – Adam Hansen (AUS | Lotto-Belisol)
— Cycle Instead Young Rider leader – Carlos Quintanilla Verona (ESP | Omega Pharma – QuickStep)
— Europcar Most Competitive Rider – Will Clarke (AUS | Drapac)
— Hindmarsh Leading Team – Lampre-Merida
2014 Santos Tour Down Under
Tuesday 21 January – San Remo Pasta Stage 1 – Nuriootpa to Angaston (135km)
Wednesday 22 January – BikeExchange.com.au Stage 2 – Prospect to Stirling (150km)
Thursday 23 January – Thomas Foods Stage 3 – Norwood to Campbelltown (145km)
Friday 24 January – Bupa Stage 4 – Unley to Victor Harbor (148.5km)
Saturday 25 January – Pure Blonde Stage 5 – McLaren Vale to Willunga Hill (151.5km)
Sunday 26 January – Be Safe Be Seen, MAC Stage 6 – Adelaide (95km)

 

 

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