Cyclingheroes

Tour Down Under: Allan Davis takes third stage - Renshaw took back overall lead

Home
Contact
Special Coverage Vuelta Espana 2008
Saul's corner
Interviews
Race reports
Peloton TV
Picture gallery
Other stories
Riders diaries
Live coverage
Cyclingheroes Forum
Book reviews
Doping
Special Coverage
Hall of Fame
Cyclingheroes shop
Race calender
Cyclinheroes Flash-news archive
Links

24.01.2008/ Allan Davis (UniSA - Australia) took todays third stage of the Tour Down Under. Mark Renshaw (Credit Agricole) came in second and took back the overall lead.

© Credit Agricole
Mark Renshaw leads the overall (© Credit Agricole)

Davis already showed his good form by finishing fourth at the opening stage and a third place at yesterdays second stage. Today he won the bunch sprint, Mark Renshaw came in second and Rabobank's Mathew Hayman came in third, making it an all Australian day. It was enough for Renshaw to take back the overall lead. Davis crossed the line in a time of 3hours 13minutes and 49 seconds.

The 139 kilometres long stage stage started at Adelaide suburb of Unley and the finish was in Victor harbor. After a few kilometres Andoni Lafuente (Euskatel-Euskadi attacked and got company from Frantisek Rabon (Team High Road) from and Simon Clarke from UniSA. Rabobank moves to the front right away to defend Graeme Browns jersey. Soon the three were caught by the chsing pack but Richie Porte from UniSA immediatley launched the next attack.  Porte got company from four other riders but the peloton didn't like the break and caught them again.

After 11 kilometres Philippe Gilbert (FD jeux) attacked, Gilbert was joined by a  Caisse D'Epargne rider but the bunch started a furious chase to cath both riders again. After 14 kilometres they were caught again by the bunch, which was riding 60 km/h at that moment. An escape was impossible.

After 17 kilometres the speed had dropped and three riders attacked: Mickael Delage (Fd Jeux), Kjell Carlstrom (Liquigas) and Wesley Sulzberger (Aus) from UniSA - Australia. The breakaway group had a lead of 15 seconds with 122 kilometres to go. A little bit later their lead grew to 1' 10". With 106 kilometres to go the lead of the three riders was 5'. 05". Rabobank started to defend ŽBrown's overall lead and took care that the lead of the three race leaders was kept around 5 minutes.

With 79 kilometres to go the lead was still around 5 minutes. Delage, Carlstrom and Sulberger worked together very well. But the strong breakaway group managed to extend their lead to 5'. 35" with 75 kilometres to go. With 60 kilometres to go their lead was 5'. 50". The maximum lead of the leading trio was 6'. 30" and that was the signal for the bunch to start the chase.

With 40 kilometres to go the bunch was 4'. 55" behind the three escapees and it looked like we would see a reapeat of the first two stages. But with 30 kilometres to go the escapees still had a lead of 4 minutes. The sprinter teams saw the danger and worked together in order to catch the breakaway group. In the following 10 kilometres the gap dropped rapidly: 2'. 30" with 20 kilometres to go.

With 10 kilometres to go the lead was 1 minute and lots of riders got dropped because of the incredible high speed of the peloton. With 5 kilometres to go the lead was down to about 200 metres but the three riders were giving it all. For the break of the day the stage was three kilomtres to long: they were caught by the bunch with three kilometres to go.

Some riders attacked (one of them was Philippe Gilbert) but the pace is too high to get away. The sprinters took position at the front and it was Allan Davis who took the stage. Davis outsprinted Mark Renshaw. Mathew Hayman came in third.

"The win was a great relief, but I just want to thank UniSA," said Davis. "We had Wes (Sulzberger) in the break all day which made our job pretty easy behind him and then the boys did a great job in the last four kilometres."

"I probably started my sprint earlier than I would have liked, at about 350m out, but I thought if I can get to 50m out I would be all right, and I looked between my legs and there was no one there," said Davis. "It was just great to get a win today."

Renshaw was lucky to contest the sprint after awheel puncture earlier in the stage but three of his Credit Agricole team mates brought him back into the peloton.

"We started hitting some little climbs and dead roads and I got caught down the back and it made it a lot harder to get back to the front," said Renshaw. "Once I got up there it took me probably 10 or 15km to recover and then I was right for the sprint.

"I had Jeremy [Hunt] and Simon [Gerrans] looking after me but we had a little bit of a mix-up on the last corner and Jeremy got caught on the wrong side of the road and I ended up being by myself," explained Renshaw. "I launched the sprint from a fair way out and just missed Alan … a bit of a disappointment but it’s great to know the form’s there."

Tomorrow the fourth stage takes the riders over 134 kilometres from the Murray River town of Mannum to Strathalbyn.

Belgian Philippe Gilbert (Francaise des Jeux) still leads the mountain classification, Renshaw also leads the sprint classification. Jose Rojas (ESP - Caisse d'Epargne) leads the young rider classification and Team High Road is ranked at the top of the team classification.

Gerolsteiners Heinrich Haussler publishes a riders diary at our website and radsport-aktiv.de (German version). Haussler finished 24th today, in the same time as stage winner Allan Davis.

Results  Tour Down Under 2008
 
Stage 3
 
1 Allan Davis (Aus) Unisa - Australia                       3.13.48
2 Mark Renshaw (Aus) Credit Agricole                              
3 Mathew Hayman (Aus) Rabobank                                    
4 Davide Vigano (Ita) Quick Step                                  
5 Andre Greipel (Ger) Team High Road                              
6 Stuart O’Grady (Aus) Team Csc                                   
7 Pieter Jacobs (Bel) Silence-Lotto                               
8 Aurelien Clerc (Swi) Bouygues Telecom                           
9 Martin Elmiger (Swi) Ag2R-La Mondiale                           
10 Philippe Gilbert (Bel) Francaise Des Jeux                      
11 Elia Rigotto (Ita) Team Milram                                 
12 Jan Robert Forster (Ger) Gerolsteiner                          
13 Jose Alberto Benitez Roman (Spa) Saunier Duval-Scott           
14 Jose Joaquin Rojas Gil (Spa) Caisse D'Epargne                  
15 Matthew Harley Goss (Aus) Team Csc                             
16 Murilo Antonio Fischer (Bra) Liquigas                          
17 Erki Putsep (Est) Bouygues Telecom                             
18 Adam Hansen (Aus) Team High Road                               
19 Graeme Brown (Aus) Rabobank                                    
20 Michael Albasini (Swi) Liquigas                                
21 Massimiliano Mori (Ita) Lampre                                 
22 Mirco Lorenzetto (Ita) Lampre                                  
23 Bernhard Eisel (Aut) Team High Road                            
24 Heinrich Friederich Haussler (Ger) Gerolsteiner                
25 Carlo Westphal (Ger) Gerolsteiner                              
26 Timothy Gudsell (NZl) Francaise Des Jeux                       
27 Simon Gerrans (Aus) Credit Agricole                            
28 Jose Ivan Gutierrez Palacios (Spa) Caisse D'Epargne            
29 Peter Wrolich (Aut) Gerolsteiner                               
30 Aaron Kemps (Aus) Astana                                       
31 Josep Jufre Pou (Spa) Saunier Duval-Scott                      
32 Mauro Facci (Ita) Quick Step                                   
33 Jeremy Hunt (GBr) Credit Agricole                              
34 Lars Ytting Bak (Den) Team Csc                                 
35 Thomas Fothen (Ger) Gerolsteiner                               
36 Mickael Buffaz (Fra) Cofidis Le Credit Par Telephone           
37 Iker Camano Ortuzar (Spa) Saunier Duval-Scott                  
38 Igor Astarloa Ascasibar (Spa) Team Milram                      
39 Jeremy Roy (Fra) Francaise Des Jeux                            
40 Christian Murro (Ita) Lampre                                   
41 Ivan Velasco Murillo (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi                 
42 Alessandro Proni (Ita) Quick Step                              
43 Jerome Pineau (Fra) Bouygues Telecom                           
44 Xavier Florencio Cabre (Spa) Bouygues Telecom                  
45 William Walker (Aus) Rabobank                                  
46 Simon Clarke (Aus) Unisa - Australia                           
47 Luis Leon Sanchez Gil (Spa) Caisse D'Epargne                   
48 Mario Aerts (Bel) Silence-Lotto                                
49 Yoann Offredo (Fra) Francaise Des Jeux                         
50 Ivan Santaromita Villa (Ita) Liquigas                          
51 Mauro Da Dalto (Ita) Liquigas                                  
52 Volker Ordowski (Ger) Gerolsteiner                             
53 Paolo Fornaciari (Ita) Lampre                                  
54 Denis Flahaut (Fra) Saunier Duval-Scott                        
55 Matthew Wilson (Aus) Unisa - Australia                         
56 Arkaitz Duran Daroca (Spa) Saunier Duval-Scott                 
57 Sebastien Portal (Fra) Cofidis Le Credit Par Telephone         
58 Renaud Dion (Fra) Ag2R-La Mondiale                             
59 Mickael Delage (Fra) Francaise Des Jeux                        
60 Rick Flens (Ned) Rabobank                                      
61 Christophe Kern (Fra) Credit Agricole                          
62 Jose Luis Rubiera Vigil (Spa) Astana                           
63 Dmytro Grabovskyy (Ukr) Quick Step                             
64 Luke Roberts (Aus) Unisa - Australia                           
65 Koen De Kort (Ned) Astana                                      
66 Nicki Sorensen (Den) Team Csc                                  
67 Lloyd Mondory (Fra) Ag2R-La Mondiale                           
68 Jesus Del Nero Montes (Spa) Saunier Duval-Scott                
69 Fabio Baldato (Ita) Lampre                                     
70 Kjell Carlstrom (Fin) Liquigas                                 
71 Jon Bru Pascal (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi                       
72 Christophe Mengin (Fra) Francaise Des Jeux                     
73 Amets Txurruka (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi                       
74 Laurent Mangel (Fra) Ag2R-La Mondiale                          
75 Dennis Haueisen (Ger) Team Milram                              
76 Nicolas Portal (Fra) Caisse D'Epargne                          
77 Kevin Seeldraeyers (Bel) Quick Step                            
78 Amael Moinard (Fra) Cofidis Le Credit Par Telephone            
79 Wim Vansevenant (Bel) Silence-Lotto                            
80 Mathieu Perget (Fra) Caisse D'Epargne                          
81 Mikel Astarloza Chaurreau (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi            
82 Jan Boven (Ned) Rabobank                                       
83 Richie Porte (Aus) Unisa - Australia                           
84 Matthias Russ (Ger) Gerolsteiner                               
85 Leonardo Scarselli (Ita) Quick Step                            
86 Francesco Gavazzi (Ita) Lampre                                 
87 Kasper Klostergaard Larsen (Den) Team Csc                      
88 Brett Lancaster (Aus) Team Milram                              
89 Sergio Ghisalberti (Ita) Team Milram                           
90 Scott Davis (Aus) Team High Road                               
91 Vladimir Miholjevic (Cro) Liquigas                             
92 Kurt Asle Arvesen (Nor) Team Csc                               
93 Wesley Sulzberger (Aus) Unisa - Australia                      
94 Karl Menzies (Aus) Unisa - Australia                           
95 Marcus Burghardt (Ger) Team High Road                       0.47
96 Nick Gates (Aus) Silence-Lotto                              1.06
97 Matthew Lloyd (Aus) Silence-Lotto                              
98 Joan Horrach Rippoll (Spa) Caisse D'Epargne                 2.15
99 Pablo Lastras Garci (Spa) Caisse D'Epargne                     
100 Yuriy Krivtsov (Ukr) Ag2R-La Mondiale                      4.04
101 Sylvain Calzati (Fra) Ag2R-La Mondiale                        
102 Nicolas Crosbie (Fra) Bouygues Telecom                        
103 Javier Aramendia Lorenti (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi            
104 Olivier Kaisen (Bel) Silence-Lotto                            
105 Ruben Lobato Elvira (Spa) Saunier Duval-Scott                 
106 Tom Stubbe (Bel) Francaise Des Jeux                           
107 Aitor Galdos Alonso (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi                 
108 Emanuele Bindi (Ita) Lampre                                   
109 Benoit Joachim (Lux) Astana                                   
110 Andoni Lafuente (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi                     
111 Julien Mazet (Fra) Astana                                     
112 Robbie McEwen (Aus) Silence-Lotto                             
113 Steve Morabito (Swi) Astana                                   
114 David Moncoutie (Fra) Cofidis Le Credit Par Telephone         
115 Yann Huguet (Fra) Cofidis Le Credit Par Telephone             
116 Enrico Poitschke (Ger) Team Milram                            
117 Martin Muller (Ger) Team Milram                               
118 Frantisek Rabon (Cze) Team High Road                          
119 Greg Henderson (NZl) Team High Road                           
120 Allan Johansen (Den) Team Csc                                 
121 Bram De Groot (Ned) Rabobank                                  
122 Theo Elltink (Ned) Rabobank                                   
123 Dimitri Champion (Fra) Bouygues Telecom                       
124 Stephane Poulhies (Fra) Ag2R-La Mondiale                      
125 Laszlo Bodrogi (Hun) Credit Agricole                          
126 Pierre Rolland (Fra) Credit Agricole                          
127 Nicolas Hartmann (Fra) Cofidis Le Credit Par Telephone        
128 Christophe Le Mevel (Fra) Credit Agricole                     
129 Rene Haselbacher (Aut) Astana                                 
130 Jean-Eudes Demaret (Fra) Cofidis Le Credit Par Telephone      
131 Evgeny Sokolov (Rus) Bouygues Telecom                     15.58

General Classification after stage 3
 
1 Mark Renshaw (Aus) Credit Agricole                       10.14.00
2 Allan Davis (Aus) Unisa - Australia                          0.02
3 Andre Greipel (Ger) Team High Road                           0.06
4 Graeme Brown (Aus) Rabobank                                     
5 Jose Joaquin Rojas Gil (Spa) Caisse D'Epargne                0.10
6 Mickael Buffaz (Fra) Cofidis Le Credit Par Telephone            
7 Mickael Delage (Fra) Francaise Des Jeux                         
8 Yoann Offredo (Fra) Francaise Des Jeux                       0.11
9 Mathew Hayman (Aus) Rabobank                                 0.12
10 Kjell Carlstrom (Fin) Liquigas                                 
11 Wesley Sulzberger (Aus) Unisa - Australia                   0.14
12 Richie Porte (Aus) Unisa - Australia                           
13 Stuart O’Grady (Aus) Team Csc                               0.16
14 Aurelien Clerc (Swi) Bouygues Telecom                          
15 Martin Elmiger (Swi) Ag2R-La Mondiale                          
16 Philippe Gilbert (Bel) Francaise Des Jeux                      
17 Jose Alberto Benitez Roman (Spa) Saunier Duval-Scott           
18 Murilo Antonio Fischer (Bra) Liquigas                          
19 Davide Vigano (Ita) Quick Step                                 
20 Pieter Jacobs (Bel) Silence-Lotto                              
21 Mirco Lorenzetto (Ita) Lampre                                  
22 Xavier Florencio Cabre (Spa) Bouygues Telecom                  
23 Aaron Kemps (Aus) Astana                                       
24 Denis Flahaut (Fra) Saunier Duval-Scott                        
25 Michael Albasini (Swi) Liquigas                                
26 Heinrich Friederich Haussler (Ger) Gerolsteiner                
27 Jose Ivan Gutierrez Palacios (Spa) Caisse D'Epargne            
28 Jeremy Roy (Fra) Francaise Des Jeux                            
29 Erki Putsep (Est) Bouygues Telecom                             
30 Jerome Pineau (Fra) Bouygues Telecom                           
31 Luis Leon Sanchez Gil (Spa) Caisse D'Epargne                   
32 William Walker (Aus) Rabobank                                  
33 Adam Hansen (Aus) Team High Road                               
34 Lars Ytting Bak (Den) Team Csc                                 
35 Ivan Velasco Murillo (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi                 
36 Carlo Westphal (Ger) Gerolsteiner                              
37 Igor Astarloa Ascasibar (Spa) Team Milram                      
38 Alessandro Proni (Ita) Quick Step                              
39 Lloyd Mondory (Fra) Ag2R-La Mondiale                           
40 Peter Wrolich (Aut) Gerolsteiner                               
41 Simon Gerrans (Aus) Credit Agricole                            
42 Amets Txurruka (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi                       
43 Jan Robert Forster (Ger) Gerolsteiner                          
44 Renaud Dion (Fra) Ag2R-La Mondiale                             
45 Jon Bru Pascal (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi                       
46 Matthew Lloyd (Aus) Silence-Lotto                              
47 Timothy Gudsell (NZl) Francaise Des Jeux                       
48 Arkaitz Duran Daroca (Spa) Saunier Duval-Scott                 
49 Massimiliano Mori (Ita) Lampre                                 
50 Josep Jufre Pou (Spa) Saunier Duval-Scott                      
51 Mauro Facci (Ita) Quick Step                                   
52 Koen De Kort (Ned) Astana                                      
53 Simon Clarke (Aus) Unisa - Australia                           
54 Ivan Santaromita Villa (Ita) Liquigas                          
55 Nicki Sorensen (Den) Team Csc                                  
56 Iker Camano Ortuzar (Spa) Saunier Duval-Scott                  
57 Matthew Wilson (Aus) Unisa - Australia                         
58 Mario Aerts (Bel) Silence-Lotto                                
59 Mikel Astarloza Chaurreau (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi            
60 Scott Davis (Aus) Team High Road                               
61 Fabio Baldato (Ita) Lampre                                     
62 Thomas Fothen (Ger) Gerolsteiner                               
63 Rick Flens (Ned) Rabobank                                      
64 Jeremy Hunt (GBr) Credit Agricole                              
65 Matthew Harley Goss (Aus) Team Csc                             
66 Luke Roberts (Aus) Unisa - Australia                           
67 Nicolas Portal (Fra) Caisse D'Epargne                          
68 Jose Luis Rubiera Vigil (Spa) Astana                           
69 Wim Vansevenant (Bel) Silence-Lotto                            
70 Jesus Del Nero Montes (Spa) Saunier Duval-Scott                
71 Volker Ordowski (Ger) Gerolsteiner                             
72 Matthias Russ (Ger) Gerolsteiner                               
73 Mauro Da Dalto (Ita) Liquigas                                  
74 Christophe Mengin (Fra) Francaise Des Jeux                     
75 Paolo Fornaciari (Ita) Lampre                                  
76 Christophe Kern (Fra) Credit Agricole                          
77 Laurent Mangel (Fra) Ag2R-La Mondiale                          
78 Sebastien Portal (Fra) Cofidis Le Credit Par Telephone         
79 Leonardo Scarselli (Ita) Quick Step                            
80 Jan Boven (Ned) Rabobank                                       
81 Amael Moinard (Fra) Cofidis Le Credit Par Telephone            
82 Dmytro Grabovskyy (Ukr) Quick Step                             
83 Mathieu Perget (Fra) Caisse D'Epargne                          
84 Francesco Gavazzi (Ita) Lampre                                 
85 Kasper Klostergaard Larsen (Den) Team Csc                      
86 Vladimir Miholjevic (Cro) Liquigas                             
87 Kurt Asle Arvesen (Nor) Team Csc                               
88 Sergio Ghisalberti (Ita) Team Milram                           
89 Kevin Seeldraeyers (Bel) Quick Step                         0.36
90 Elia Rigotto (Ita) Team Milram                              0.40
91 Christian Murro (Ita) Lampre                                0.53
92 Dennis Haueisen (Ger) Team Milram                           1.50
93 Marcus Burghardt (Ger) Team High Road                       2.07
94 Brett Lancaster (Aus) Team Milram                           2.15
95 Pablo Lastras Garci (Spa) Caisse D'Epargne                  2.31
96 Joan Horrach Rippoll (Spa) Caisse D'Epargne                    
97 Nick Gates (Aus) Silence-Lotto                              3.21
98 Bernhard Eisel (Aut) Team High Road                         3.42
99 Dimitri Champion (Fra) Bouygues Telecom                     4.16
100 Aitor Galdos Alonso (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi              4.20
101 Rene Haselbacher (Aut) Astana                                 
102 Robbie McEwen (Aus) Silence-Lotto                             
103 Enrico Poitschke (Ger) Team Milram                            
104 Jean-Eudes Demaret (Fra) Cofidis Le Credit Par Telephone      
105 Javier Aramendia Lorenti (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi            
106 Yuriy Krivtsov (Ukr) Ag2R-La Mondiale                         
107 Christophe Le Mevel (Fra) Credit Agricole                     
108 Olivier Kaisen (Bel) Silence-Lotto                            
109 Sylvain Calzati (Fra) Ag2R-La Mondiale                        
110 Nicolas Hartmann (Fra) Cofidis Le Credit Par Telephone        
111 Frantisek Rabon (Cze) Team High Road                          
112 Steve Morabito (Swi) Astana                                   
113 Yann Huguet (Fra) Cofidis Le Credit Par Telephone             
114 Theo Elltink (Ned) Rabobank                                   
115 Allan Johansen (Den) Team Csc                                 
116 Andoni Lafuente (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi                     
117 Bram De Groot (Ned) Rabobank                                  
118 Benoit Joachim (Lux) Astana                                   
119 Ruben Lobato Elvira (Spa) Saunier Duval-Scott                 
120 Julien Mazet (Fra) Astana                                     
121 Laszlo Bodrogi (Hun) Credit Agricole                          
122 David Moncoutie (Fra) Cofidis Le Credit Par Telephone         
123 Greg Henderson (NZl) Team High Road                        4.39
124 Martin Muller (Ger) Team Milram                            5.21
125 Emanuele Bindi (Ita) Lampre                                6.14
126 Pierre Rolland (Fra) Credit Agricole                       6.16
127 Tom Stubbe (Bel) Francaise Des Jeux                        6.19
128 Stephane Poulhies (Fra) Ag2R-La Mondiale                   7.01
129 Karl Menzies (Aus) Unisa - Australia                       8.56
130 Nicolas Crosbie (Fra) Bouygues Telecom                    12.00
131 Evgeny Sokolov (Rus) Bouygues Telecom                     27.07

Join our forum and discuss the Tour Down Under 2008

Back to:

Special Coverage Tour Down Under 2008

Link: New Cyclingheroes Website

Custom Search

By clicking to an outside link from our website, you automatically release us from any and all liability. Cyclingheroes has no control over the content of outside links, or sites linked from there, nor do we endorse anything that may be of a illegal and/or vulgar nature. Cyclingheroes provides outside links only as a free service to our readers.