After losing touch with the race leaders on the final climb, Allan Davis, left, fought back to the front of the peloton on Stage 5 and scored a hat trick at the Tour Down Under on Saturday in Australia.
The Aussie's time bonuses from three wins virtually assures him the championship when the 6-stage bicycle race ends Sunday.
Armstrong
Lance Armstrong battled to make a bid for the lead on Stage 5's second climb up daunting Willunga Hill and stayed in the thick of the action. But if you want to know how things have changed since Armstrong last raced in the peloton, picture this scene:
As Armstrong leads a group of 10 riders struggling to catch the five cyclists up the hill, friend and former teammate George Hincapie and two others zoom out of the group and catch the leaders, leaving Armstrong and the others behind.
The description by CyclingNews left me wondering if Hincapie had ever before attacked Armstrong in a race.
Armstrong is still on the comeback trail after 3 1/2 years of retirement from pro cycling. Everday he accomplishes more. At his Twitter website, Armstrong sounded satisfied with his accomplishments:
“Decent legs today. Was with the strongest over the climbs today. Met/exceeded expectations. ToC here we come”
Willunga
As it turned out, all the strategies and heroisms on the two Willunga Hill climbs gained the leaders nothing. Davis and others caught the Armstrong group which caught the leaders on the road to create a 50-man peloton that drove toward the finish line.
In spite of attempts by Saxo Bank to deliver two-time champion Stuart O'Grady (third overall) to a win, Quick Step once again controlled the train leading to the finish line for a third win by Davis in a mass sprint.
Texting to his Twitter website from the Astana team car, Johan Bruyneel wrote: “Allan Davis takes it again! A class act!” That's quite a compliment.
The 92-mile race from Snapper Point to Willunga was routed to take two climbs of Willunga Hill, the 400-meter climb that helped to seal the victory for Andre Greipel in the 2008 Tour Down Under.
The mountain certainly played a part in eliminating more than half the peloton from the final sprint, the race ended with a mass sprint. The time bonuses awarded to Davis as he has crossed the line first three times will be the deciding factor in the Tour.
One of the most active racers of the day was Jack Bobridge (UniSA), the under-23 champion of Australia. He attacked immediately, was pulled back, and attacked to create a breakaway group that led nearly to the first climb.
Following Davis, left, across the finish line were Jose Joaquin Rojas (Caisse d'Epargne), Martin Elmiger (AG2R) and O'Grady.
Top 12
1 Allan Davis (Aus) Quick Step
2 Stuart O'Grady (Aus) Team Saxo Bank — 25 seconds
3 José Joaquin Rojas Gil (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne — 30 seconds
4 Martin Elmiger (Swi) AG2R La Mondiale
5 Michael Rogers (Aus) Team Columbia – High Road — 38 seconds
6 Matthew Wilson (Aus) UniSA — 39 seconds
7 Mauro Santambrogio (Ita) Lampre – N.G.C — 40 seconds
8 Jussi Veikkanen (Fin) Française Des Jeux
9 Mickaël Chérel (Fra) Française Des Jeux
10 Ryder Hesjedal (Can) Garmin-Slipstream
11 George Hincapie (USA) Team Columbia – High Road
12 Wesley Sulzberger (Aus) Française Des Jeux
29 Lance Armstrong (Astana) 49 seconds
Check CyclingNews for final reports and results.
Watching Stage 6
The final stage of Tour Down Under is a 20-lap criterium that covers 90 km in Adelaide. It starts at 1:45 p.m. Sunday in South Australia time; that's 10:15 p.m. Saturday (eastern) and 7:15 p.m. (Pacific). The race is expected to take 2 hours.
The Versus cable network plans to provide live streaming of the final stage at its website. In addition, it will televise highlights of Stage 5 from 3:30 to 4 p.m. Saturday and Stage 6 from 5-6 p.m. Sunday.
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