Santos Tour Down Under

Stage 4: Norwood to Goolwa, 143km/93mi

By Cathy Mehl

Driving the pace with less than 10km to go, Team RadioShack’s Lance Armstrong and Tomas Vaitkus attacked the peloton and briefly held the lead before being caught at the 3km mark, putting on a good show of team strength.  But race leader Andrei Greipel (HTC-Columbia) still had his eyes on the prize and managed to take another win in Stage 4 of the Santos Tour Down Under, making his overall total 8 out of 13 stage wins. Team RadioShack rider Gert Steegmans was in the thick of the action and took 4^th place, managing to keep his high standing on the overall classification with two stages to go. Second place went to Robbie McEwen (Team Katusha) and third to Graeme Brown of Rabobank.  Greipel retained the ochre jersey of the race leader for a fourth day.

 

"I couldn't really sprint today," said Steegmans after the stage.  "I flatted 20km from the finish and Rosseler brought me back.  Then I sat on Greipel's wheel and that was great.  Goss started pulling late and Greipel went left so I went right...but I got blocked between Goss and Greipel.  There was no way through," he concluded.

Temperatures were cooler in South Australia on Friday but the new weather element to deal with was Mr. Wind.  Gusts up to 25mph blasted the riders for most of the day and at times split apart the peloton.  Miraculously no crashes marred the day and everyone arrived safely in Goolwa. 

Almost from the gun David Kemp (UniSA), Olivier Kaisen (Omega Pharma-Lotto), Thomas Rohregger (Milram), Thomas Frei (BMC Racing), Anthony Ravard (AG2R-La Mondiale), Stef Clement (Rabobank) and Jonathan Castroviejo (Euskaltel-Euskadi) broke away from the peloton and built a gap that held steady near the three-minute mark.   By 50km to go the gap had dropped to under two-minutes, and at just under 30km to go the escapees were within view of the peloton.  Kemp, Clement and Castroviejo seized the moment to attack their former companions and slipped off the front to hold off the HTC-Columbia-led peloton.

At 20km to go Kemp, Clement and Castroviejo still held 49-seconds but by 15km to go it was all together for the arrival in windy Goolwa.  Team RadioShack upped the pace at the front of the main field, giving Armstrong and Vaitkus the perfect opportunity to break away and establish a gap of twenty-two seconds before being brought back in the clsoing kilometers.  Team RadioShack kept their train on the front, joined in the pace-making by Team Saxo Bank but it was HTC-Columbia and Andrei Greipel once again in the driver’s seat to seize the win.

Greipel has yet to loosen his grip on the leader’s jersey, but Saturday’s penultimate stage includes two times up Old Willunga Hill and could be the defining moment in the 2010 Santos Tour Down Under.   Steegmans is one of many riders sitting just behind Greipel, waiting to pounce and take the leader’s jersey off the back of the German rider.  Can Greipel respond when the Australian roads aren’t quite so flat anymore?  Team RadioShack thinks the real action is still to come in the final two stages of this year’s race.

Beyond the Finish Line:  Sailing is another popular sport in South Australia and Goolwa is home to the Goolwa Regatta Yacht Club, a 150-year old sailing club located in the historic river-port of Goolwa near the mouth of the River Murray.  The  name “Goolwa” comes from the local Aboriginal word for “elbow,” which describes the course of the River Murray in the area as it makes an almost 180-degree turn before running out to see.  The port was formerly used by paddle steamers bringing wool and wheat down the Murray for shipping on seagoing vessels.

 

Top Ten Results

1 Andre Greipel (Ger) HTC-Columbia 3:30:29  

2 Robbie McEwen (Aus) Katyusha    

3 Graeme Brown (Aus) Rabobank    

4 Gert Steegmans (Bel) Team RadioShack    

5 Manuel Cardoso (Por) Footon Servetto    

6 Julian Dean (NZl) Garmin-Transitions    

7 Jurgen Roelandts (Bel) Omega Pharma-Lotto    

8 Matthew Goss (Aus) HTC-Columbia    

9 Robert Forster (Ger) Team Milram    

10 Yauheni Hutarovich (Blr) Française Des Jeux

Team RadioShack on Stage 4

 

49 Tomas Vaitkus (Ltu)  0:00:17  

50 Lance Armstrong (USA)

76 Daryl Impey (RSA) 0:00:54

81 Yaroslav Popovych (Ukr) 0:00:59

104 Sebastien Rosseler (Bel) 0:01:24

115 Jason McCartney (USA)

General Classificatin After Stage 4

 

1 Andre Greipel (Ger) HTC-Columbia 13:23:57  

2 Robbie McEwen (Aus) Katyusha 0:00:20  

3 Greg Henderson (NZl) Team Sky 0:00:24  

4 Gert Steegmans (Bel) Team RadioShack    

5 Graeme Brown (Aus) Rabobank 0:00:26  

6 Jurgen Roelandts (Bel) Omega Pharma-Lotto    

7 Cadel Evans (Aus) BMC Racing Team    

8 Andriy Grivko (Ukr) Astana 0:00:29  

9 Robbie Hunter (RSA) Garmin-Transitions 0:00:30  

10 Baden Cooke (Aus) Team Saxo Bank

Team RadioShack on General Classification

 

29 Lance Armstrong (USA)  0:00:47  

44 Daryl Impey (RSA)  0:01:49

52 Tomas Vaitkus (Ltu)  0:02:45

60 Sebastien Rosseler (Bel)     

61 Yaroslav Popovych (Ukr) 0:03:12

111 Jason McCartney (USA)  0:19:03

 

 

 

Photo: Graham Watson