Tour Down Under - Cat. 2.3Australia, January 18 - 23, 2000Stage 1 - January 18, Adelaide Street Race, 52.2 kmMoerenhout in yellowDutch rider Koos Moerenhout of the Farm Frites team has the first yellow jersey in the Tour Down Under after winning the opening stage, a 52-kilometre street race in Adelaide. Moerenhout slipped from the grip of 12 other breakaway riders to win on his own, completing the 52 kilometres in just over an hour. Graham Brown of the United Water-AIS squad finished second and Brad McGee, riding for French team Francaise des Jeux was third. They were part of a 13-rider break that went away on lap 6 of 18, never to be seen again by the peloton. As well as these three placegetters, the leaders included defending champion Stuart O'Grady of Credit Agricole, Brett Aitken and his Sunsmart Mitsubishi teammate Scott Sunderland and Big Mat sprinter Jay Sweet. The group's lead grew steadily, eventually averaging about 90 seconds as the main field showed little interest in chasing. On lap seven, Aitken took the first intermediate sprint, narrowly defeating Sweet who led out around the final bend in to the Hutt Street finish straight. Aitken also took second place in the second sprint to once again don the blue jersey as points leader, the competition he won in last year's tour. Sweet also showed some aggression towards the end, slipping away to a 50 metre lead with about two laps remaining. But his strength had been sapped from chasing down gaps in the lead group and with one lap to go Moerenhout launched the attack that was to take him to victory. The Dutchman closed in on Sweet before sprinting straight past and away on his own, eventually crossing the line about 10 seconds clear of his breakaway companions. Sweet said later he thought about trying to match Moerenhout when he came past, but by then he was beginning to cramp. "He seemed to be dangling just behind for a while so I suspected then he would try to hit me hard," Sweet said. "He backed off and then just blew straight past." From there Moerenhout's victory never looked in danger despite a valiant effort by Brown and McGee to close the gap in the last half of the last lap. Race favourite Erik Zabel of team Telekom finished 29th, safely in the main field with the big bunch sprint taken out by Jaan Kirsipuu of AG2R Decathlon. In the points competition Aitken finished on top tonight, while Brown was named the best young rider and donned the white jersey and McGee the most aggressive rider earning him the black jersey. O'Grady picked up the king of the mountains jersey after finishing second in that competition last year. Organisers said they had decided to present the jersey to the leading rider in the competition from last year's event who was also competing in the 2000 race. Tomorrow, stage two will take the riders from North Adelaide to Goolwa, a distance of 152 kilometres.
1 Koos Moerenhout (Ned) Farm Frites 1:06:53 2 Graham Brown (Aus) United Water - AIS 3 Bradley McGee (Aus) Francaise Des Jeux 4 Scott Sunderland (Aus) Sunsmart - Mitsubishi 5 David McKenzie (Aus) Linda McCartney 6 Allan Johansen (Den) Memory Card-Jack & Jones 7 Brett Aitken (Aus) Sunsmart - Mitsubishi 8 Stuart O'Grady (Aus) Credit Agricole 9 Ludovic Turpin (Fra) Ag2R - Prevoyance 10 Fabio Sacchi (Ita) Polti 11 Alessandro Guerra (Ita) Saeco - Gaggia 12 Jay Sweet (Aus) Big Mat-Auber93 13 Guillaume Auger (Fra) Big Mat-Auber93 14 Jaan Kirsipuu (Est) Ag2R - Prevoyance 15 Bjarke Nielsen (Den) Memory Card-Jack & Jones 16 Torsen Nitsche (Ger) Saeco - Gaggia 17 Alexandre Chouffe (Fra) Big Mat-Auber93 18 Scott Davis (Aus) United Water - AIS 19 Magnus Backstedt (Swe) Credit Agricole 20 Emmanuel Magnien (Fra) Francaise Des Jeux 21 Maximilian Sciandri (GBr) Linda McCartney 22 Corey Sweet (Aus) Sunsmart - Mitsubishi 23 Franck Pencole (Fra) Credit Agricole 24 Jimmy Casper (Fra) Francaise Des Jeux 25 Pascal Richard (Swi) Linda McCartney 26 Gerben Loewik (Ned) Farm Frites 27 Yvon Ledanois (Fra) Francaise Des Jeux 28 Cyril Saugrain (Fra) Francaise Des Jeux 29 Erik Zabel (Ger) Telekom 30 Nicolas Vogondy (Fra) Francaise Des Jeux 31 Christophe Brandt (Bel) Saeco - Gaggia 32 Innar Mandoja (Est) Ag2R - Prevoyance 33 Steven Kleynen (Bel) Farm Frites 34 Joeg Ludewig (Ger) Saeco - Gaggia 35 Bart Voskamp (Ned) Polti 36 Andrei Mizurov (Kaz) Telekom 37 Maurizio De Pascale (Ita) Linda McCartney 38 Luke Roberts (Aus) United Water - AIS 39 Thierry Bourguignon (Fra) Big Mat-Auber93 40 Mathew Stephens (GBr) Linda McCartney 41 Massimiliano Mori (Ita) Saeco - Gaggia 42 Ben Brooks (Aus) Linda McCartney 43 Mateos Perez (Spa) Polti 44 Alexander Vinokourov (Kaz) Telekom 45 Brad Davidson (Aus) Sunsmart - Mitsubishi 46 Christopher Jenner (NZ) Credit Agricole 47 Tayeb Braikia (Den) Linda McCartney 48 Jamie Drew (Aus) Sunsmart - Mitsubishi 49 Rassano Brasi (Ita) Polti 50 Jerome Neuville (Fra) Credit Agricole 51 Rene Jorgensen (Den) Memory Card-Jack & Jones 52 Sean Sullivan (Aus) Sunsmart - Mitsubishi 53 Sandy Casar (Fra) Francaise Des Jeux 54 Remoo Van Der Ven (Ned) Farm Frites 55 Michele Colleoni (Ita) Polti 56 Jacob Moe Rasmussen (Den) Memory Card-Jack & Jones 57 Mikael Kyneb (Den) Memory Card-Jack & Jones 58 Jesper Skibby (Den) Memory Card-Jack & Jones 59 Mirko Crepaldi (Ita) Polti 60 Cadel Evans (Aus) Sunsmart - Mitsubishi 61 Johan Capiot (Bel) Farm Frites 62 Wim Vansevenant (Bel) Farm Frites 63 Martin Van Steen (Ned) Farm Frites 64 Tristan Hoffman (Ned) Memory Card-Jack & Jones 65 Anthony Langella (Fra) Credit Agricole 66 Rolf Aldag (Ger) Telekom 67 Carlos Da Cruz (Fra) Big Mat-Auber93 68 Stephane Berges (Fra) Big Mat-Auber93 69 Laurent Estadieu (Fra) Ag2R - Prevoyance 70 Valentino China (Ita) Saeco - Gaggia 71 Gilles Maignan (Fra) Ag2R - Prevoyance 72 Gian Matteo Fagnini (Ita) Telekom 73 Bjornar Vestol (Nor) Linda McCartney 74 Kai Hundertmarck (Ger) Telekom 75 Pascal Herve (Fra) Polti 76 Marcel Gono (Aus) Credit Agricole 77 Andre Kivilev (Kaz) Ag2R - Prevoyance 78 Philippe Bordenave (Fra) Ag2R - Prevoyance 79 Jan Schaffrath (Ger) Telekom 80 Salvatore Commesso (Ita) Saeco - Gaggia 81 Brett Lancaster (Aus) United Water - AIS 82 Steffen Wesemann (Ger) Telekom 83 Frederic Finot (Fra) Credit Agricole 84 Robbie McEwen (Aus) Farm Frites 85 Baden Cooke (Aus) United Water - AIS 86 Michael Rogers (Aus) United Water - AIS 87 Nick Gates (Aus) Sunsmart - Mitsubishi 88 Michael Sandstod (Den) Memory Card-Jack & Jones 89 Jeremy Hunt (GBr) Big Mat-Auber93 90 Nicolas Fritsch (Fra) Francaise Des Jeux 91 Allan Davis (Aus) United Water - AIS 92 Dario Pieri (Ita) Saeco - Gaggia 93 Enrico Cassani (Ita) Polti 94 Dominique Rault (Fra) Big Mat-Auber93 95 Nic Brown (Aus) United Water - AIS 96 Alexandre Botcharov Russia Ag2R - Prevoyance DNS General Classification 1 Koos Moerenhout (Ned) Farm Frites 1:06:53 2 Graham Brown (Aus) United Water - AIS 3 Bradley McGee (Aus) Francaise Des Jeux 4 Scott Sunderland (Aus) Sunsmart - Mitsubishi 5 David McKenzie (Aus) Linda McCartney 6 Allan Johansen (Den) Memory Card-Jack & Jones 7 Brett Aitken (Aus) Sunsmart - Mitsubishi 8 Stuart O'Grady (Aus) Credit Agricole 9 Ludovic Turpin (Fra) Ag2R - Prevoyance 10 Fabio Sacchi (Ita) Polti 11 Alessandro Guerra (Ita) Saeco - Gaggia 12 Jay Sweet (Aus) Big Mat-Auber93 13 Guillaume Auger (Fra) Big Mat-Auber93 14 Jaan Kirsipuu (Est) Ag2R - Prevoyance 15 Bjarke Nielsen (Den) Memory Card-Jack & Jones 16 Torsen Nitsche (Ger) Saeco - Gaggia 17 Alexandre Chouffe (Fra) Big Mat-Auber93 18 Scott Davis (Aus) United Water - AIS 19 Magnus Backstedt (Swe) Credit Agricole 20 Emmanuel Magnien (Fra) Francaise Des Jeux 21 Maximilian Sciandri (GBr) Linda McCartney 22 Corey Sweet (Aus) Sunsmart - Mitsubishi 23 Franck Pencole (Fra) Credit Agricole 24 Jimmy Casper (Fra) Francaise Des Jeux 25 Pascal Richard (Swi) Linda McCartney 26 Gerben Loewik (Ned) Farm Frites 27 Yvon Ledanois (Fra) Francaise Des Jeux 28 Cyril Saugrain (Fra) Francaise Des Jeux 29 Erik Zabel (Ger) Telekom 30 Nicolas Vogondy (Fra) Francaise Des Jeux 31 Christophe Brandt (Bel) Saeco - Gaggia 32 Innar Mandoja (Est) Ag2R - Prevoyance 33 Steven Kleynen (Bel) Farm Frites 34 Joeg Ludewig (Ger) Saeco - Gaggia 35 Bart Voskamp (Ned) Polti 36 Andrei Mizurov (Kaz) Telekom 37 Maurizio De Pascale (Ita) Linda McCartney 38 Luke Roberts (Aus) United Water - AIS 39 Thierry Bourguignon (Fra) Big Mat-Auber93 40 Mathew Stephens (GBr) Linda McCartney 41 Massimiliano Mori (Ita) Saeco - Gaggia 42 Ben Brooks (Aus) Linda McCartney 43 Mateos Perez (Spa) Polti 44 Alexander Vinokourov (Kaz) Telekom 45 Brad Davidson (Aus) Sunsmart - Mitsubishi 46 Christopher Jenner (NZ) Credit Agricole 47 Tayeb Braikia (Den) Linda McCartney 48 Jamie Drew (Aus) Sunsmart - Mitsubishi 49 Rassano Brasi (Ita) Polti 50 Jerome Neuville (Fra) Credit Agricole 51 Rene Jorgensen (Den) Memory Card-Jack & Jones 52 Sean Sullivan (Aus) Sunsmart - Mitsubishi 53 Sandy Casar (Fra) Francaise Des Jeux 54 Remoo Van Der Ven (Ned) Farm Frites 55 Michele Colleoni (Ita) Polti 56 Jacob Moe Rasmussen (Den) Memory Card-Jack & Jones 57 Mikael Kyneb (Den) Memory Card-Jack & Jones 58 Jesper Skibby (Den) Memory Card-Jack & Jones 59 Mirko Crepaldi (Ita) Polti 60 Cadel Evans (Aus) Sunsmart - Mitsubishi 61 Johan Capiot (Bel) Farm Frites 62 Wim Vansevenant (Bel) Farm Frites 63 Martin Van Steen (Ned) Farm Frites 64 Tristan Hoffman (Ned) Memory Card-Jack & Jones 65 Anthony Langella (Fra) Credit Agricole 66 Rolf Aldag (Ger) Telekom 67 Carlos Da Cruz (Fra) Big Mat-Auber93 68 Stephane Berges (Fra) Big Mat-Auber93 69 Laurent Estadieu (Fra) Ag2R - Prevoyance 70 Valentino China (Ita) Saeco - Gaggia 71 Gilles Maignan (Fra) Ag2R - Prevoyance 72 Gian Matteo Fagnini (Ita) Telekom 73 Bjornar Vestol (Nor) Linda McCartney 74 Kai Hundertmarck (Ger) Telekom 75 Pascal Herve (Fra) Polti 76 Marcel Gono (Aus) Credit Agricole 77 Andre Kivilev (Kaz) Ag2R - Prevoyance 78 Philippe Bordenave (Fra) Ag2R - Prevoyance 79 Jan Schaffrath (Ger) Telekom 80 Salvatore Commesso (Ita) Saeco - Gaggia 81 Brett Lancaster (Aus) United Water - AIS 82 Steffen Wesemann (Ger) Telekom 83 Frederic Finot (Fra) Credit Agricole 84 Robbie McEwen (Aus) Farm Frites 85 Baden Cooke (Aus) United Water - AIS 86 Michael Rogers (Aus) United Water - AIS 87 Nick Gates (Aus) Sunsmart - Mitsubishi 88 Michael Sandstod (Den) Memory Card-Jack & Jones 89 Jeremy Hunt (GBr) Big Mat-Auber93 90 Nicolas Fritsch (Fra) Francaise Des Jeux 91 Allan Davis (Aus) United Water - AIS 92 Dario Pieri (Ita) Saeco - Gaggia 93 Enrico Cassani (Ita) Polti 94 Dominique Rault (Fra) Big Mat-Auber93 95 Nic Brown (Aus) United Water - AIS 96 Alexandre Botcharov Russia Ag2R - Prevoyance DNS Sprints: 1. - Lap 7 - 20.3 km 1 Brett Aitken (Aus) Sunsmart - Mitsubishi 6 pts 2 Jay Sweet (Aus) Big Mat-Auber93 4 3 Graham Brown (Aus) United Water - AIS 2 2. - Lap 14 - 40.6 km 1 Scott Sunderland (Aus) Sunsmart - Mitsubishi 6 pts 2 Brett Aitken (Aus) Sunsmart - Mitsubishi 4 3 Bradley McGee (Aus) Francaise Des Jeux 2 Finish - Lap 18 - 52.2 km 1 Koos Moerenhout (Ned) Farm Frites 8 pts 2 Graham Brown (Aus) United Water - AIS 6 3 Bradley McGee (Aus) Francaise Des Jeux 4 Overall Sprint Classification 1 Brett Aitken (Aus) Sunsmart - Mitsubishi 10 pts 2 Koos Moerenhout (Ned) Farm Frites 8 3 Graham Brown (Aus) United Water - AIS 8 4 Scott Sunderland (Aus) Sunsmart - Mitsubishi 6 5 Bradley McGee (Aus) Francaise Des Jeux 6 6 Jay Sweet (Aus) Big Mat-Auber93 4 Most aggressive: 1 Bradley McGee (Aus) Francaise Des Jeux KOM 1 Stuart O'Grady (Aus) Credit Agricole |