Veteran Australian sprinter Robbie McEwen (Radio Shack) has taken over the lead in the 2011 Santos Tour Down Under in a countback to split a three-way tie after an incident packed second stage into Mannum on the banks of the River Murray.
Veteran Australian sprinter Robbie McEwen (Radio Shack) has taken over the lead in the 2011 Santos Tour Down Under in a countback to split a three-way tie after an incident packed second stage into Mannum on the banks of the River Murray.
The 146km IG Markets Stage 2 was won by Britain's Ben Swift (Sky Procycling) in a time of 3:27:44 ahead of McEwen with Sydney's Graeme Brown (Rabobank) third.
The result created a deadlock at the top of the standings between Swift, McEwen and overnight leader Tasmanian Matthew Goss (HTC-Highroad) forcing officials to a countback to rank them. The countback adds together the individual stage placings of each rider to break the deadlock which gave McEwen a tally of five, Goss 48 and Swift 65.
The stage went according to script until the final four kilometres when the peloton reached a left hand turn on the approach into Mannum. Someone misjudged the corner and the ensuing crash saw British sprint sensation Mark Cavendish (HTC-Highroad) hit the deck as did defending champion, Andre Greipel and Goss. Greipel and Goss rejoined the main bunch but Cavendish crossed the line bloodied and bruised almost four minutes after the stage winner.
The peloton regrouped for the sprint home but less than 100 metres from the line there was another incident. It didn't impact the front of the bunch but caused havoc further back with around two dozen riders caught up in the chaos. They were all awarded the same finishing time as the winner as per the UCI rules for a mishap in the final three kilometres of the race.
In the wake of the crashes the Santos Tour Down Under race doctor, Peter Barnes, said several riders required treatment.
McEwen was relieved that he managed to stay out of trouble and end up on the podium.
"I'm very happy, I have the jersey through consistency, unfortunately guys crashed, that also influenced things," said McEwen.
"I was fortunate not to get caught up in it and it's delivered me the jersey, at least for a day. I'm sure otherwise, Greipel and Matt Goss would have been up there in contention for the win, but that's part of bike racing."
The 38-year-old is looking forward to wearing the ochre leader's jersey for just the second time in his ten Tour starts.
"I may not be in the jersey after tomorrow night because it's a tough finish at Stirling and everything is still really close, within a few seconds.
"But being up there is good, it's nice to lead the Tour at least for a day, my aim is still to win a stage," he added.
Triple Australian Olympian Graeme Brown was disappointed after finishing so close.
"I felt really good today so I'm a little bit disappointed as I hesitated a bit in the final 200m ," explained the 31-year-old.
"I guess it's been a while since I've been at the pointy head of a sprint so I made a little bit of a mistake but Swift was the strongest today."
In tomorrow's Colemans Group Stage 3 Tasmanian Matthew Goss (HTC-Highroad) will wear the Cycle Instead Young Rider U26; South Australian Luke Roberts (UniSA - Australia) maintains his lead in the Skoda King of the Mountain and his team mate Mitchell Docker, from Victoria, will wear the Jayco Sprint jersey. SKY Procycling continues to lead the Brilliant Blend Teams Classification.
Thursday's stage covers 129 kilometres from the trendy Adelaide suburb of Unley to Stirling nestled in the Adelaide Hills.
Cycling Australia
The 146km IG Markets Stage 2 was won by Britain's Ben Swift (Sky Procycling) in a time of 3:27:44 ahead of McEwen with Sydney's Graeme Brown (Rabobank) third.
The result created a deadlock at the top of the standings between Swift, McEwen and overnight leader Tasmanian Matthew Goss (HTC-Highroad) forcing officials to a countback to rank them. The countback adds together the individual stage placings of each rider to break the deadlock which gave McEwen a tally of five, Goss 48 and Swift 65.
The stage went according to script until the final four kilometres when the peloton reached a left hand turn on the approach into Mannum. Someone misjudged the corner and the ensuing crash saw British sprint sensation Mark Cavendish (HTC-Highroad) hit the deck as did defending champion, Andre Greipel and Goss. Greipel and Goss rejoined the main bunch but Cavendish crossed the line bloodied and bruised almost four minutes after the stage winner.
The peloton regrouped for the sprint home but less than 100 metres from the line there was another incident. It didn't impact the front of the bunch but caused havoc further back with around two dozen riders caught up in the chaos. They were all awarded the same finishing time as the winner as per the UCI rules for a mishap in the final three kilometres of the race.
In the wake of the crashes the Santos Tour Down Under race doctor, Peter Barnes, said several riders required treatment.
McEwen was relieved that he managed to stay out of trouble and end up on the podium.
"I'm very happy, I have the jersey through consistency, unfortunately guys crashed, that also influenced things," said McEwen.
"I was fortunate not to get caught up in it and it's delivered me the jersey, at least for a day. I'm sure otherwise, Greipel and Matt Goss would have been up there in contention for the win, but that's part of bike racing."
The 38-year-old is looking forward to wearing the ochre leader's jersey for just the second time in his ten Tour starts.
"I may not be in the jersey after tomorrow night because it's a tough finish at Stirling and everything is still really close, within a few seconds.
"But being up there is good, it's nice to lead the Tour at least for a day, my aim is still to win a stage," he added.
Triple Australian Olympian Graeme Brown was disappointed after finishing so close.
"I felt really good today so I'm a little bit disappointed as I hesitated a bit in the final 200m ," explained the 31-year-old.
"I guess it's been a while since I've been at the pointy head of a sprint so I made a little bit of a mistake but Swift was the strongest today."
In tomorrow's Colemans Group Stage 3 Tasmanian Matthew Goss (HTC-Highroad) will wear the Cycle Instead Young Rider U26; South Australian Luke Roberts (UniSA - Australia) maintains his lead in the Skoda King of the Mountain and his team mate Mitchell Docker, from Victoria, will wear the Jayco Sprint jersey. SKY Procycling continues to lead the Brilliant Blend Teams Classification.
Thursday's stage covers 129 kilometres from the trendy Adelaide suburb of Unley to Stirling nestled in the Adelaide Hills.
Cycling Australia
