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Stages & Results
Enjoy the glory of
Italy in the Spring
3rd Jacob's Creek Tour Down UnderAustralia, January 16 - 21, 2001 |
Stage profile and map Results Live report
Stage 4 - January 19: Unley - Strathalbyn, 157 km
Larsen takes the jersey in exciting finish
By Jeff Jones
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As predicted this morning, race leader Stuart O'Grady found himself under attack from all sides in today's 157 kilometre fourth stage from Unley to Strathalbyn. His Credit Agricole team worked spendidly for the entire stage, but could not prevent CSC's Nicolaj Bo Larsen from escaping in the final five kilometres. The race was won by Luke Roberts (Uni of SA) in a tight finish from Marcel Gono (Linda McCartney), but Larsen managed 3rd place and had plenty of seconds to spare on the main bunch that included O'Grady.
Today was the hottest day of the JCTDU, with temperatures reaching more than 35 degrees on the dry and windless roads around Strathalbyn. Despite the most enthusiastic start of the tour in Unley this morning, Saeco's Salvatore Commesso was clearly out of sorts and turned round after 10 kilometres and rode back to the team car.
The first sprint of the day (Echunga, 26.1 km) was taken by Graeme Brown (United Water) who was trying to regain the sprint jersey that he held on day one. In second was CSC's Nicolaj Bo Larsen, who picked up a valuable 2 second bonus to move towards O'Grady (he started at 8 seconds behind). After the sprint, a nine man break including KOM jersey wearer Robert Tighello escaped and were given some freedom, gaining 4:30 at one stage.
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Credit Agricole had placed Chris Jenner in the break, and he became the virtual leader on the road, providing security for the team. The other teams realised the danger and recaptured the break, although they could not prevent Tighello from winning another KOM sprint up Old Willunga Hill (km 73). Tighello needs more points to secure the jersey tomorrow, but he has been by far the strongest climber on the tour.
The second half of the race saw a battle of wits and stamina in the peloton. Under scorching conditions, attack after attack went but none survived as the Credit Agricole, Saeco and Lotto teams rode high tempo. With 10 kilometres of flat terrain to go, it was 'gruppo compatto' and things looked set for a bunch sprint.
Five riders had other ideas, getting clear of the peloton at the 5 kilometre to go point. Although the Credit Agricole team had been working tirelessly all day, they faltered in the end game, allowing Nicolaj Bo Larsen to slip away. Bo Larsen, together with teammate Nicolas Jalabert, Luke Roberts (Uni SA), Marcel Gono (Linda McCartney) and Trent Wilson (Sunsmart) built up a clear 17 second lead - more than enough to put Larsen in yellow.
"There was cross wind in the final and it was very hot," said Larsen. "But then I was lucky to attack at the right moment and I had some good guys with me, and we managed to get there over the line."
"I worked very hard for it and also Nicolas Jalabert. He tried to lead me out for the sprint but I was kaput," he added.
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The stage win went to former track specialist, Luke Roberts, who just managed to beat Marcel Gono in a photo finish. Roberts was clearly thrilled afterwards: "Racing among these guys and in front of my home crowd is unbelievable"
The fact that the major league teams are here was in the back his mind: "Definitely...I'm looking to switch from racing on the track to racing on the road, so I'm out looking for a team to ride with for the rest of this year and the next few years," he added. "I was up there to get some results and what more could I ask for?"
With just one more road stage to come, Larsen's overall lead is 13 seconds to Stuart O'Grady and 15 seconds to Jörg Ludewig. However, there are still plenty of other riders capable of challenging for the lead, and CSC-World Online will need to work for it over the next two days.
Results
1 Luke Roberts (Aus) University of South Australia 3.44.07 (42 km/h) 2 Marcel Gono (Aus) Jacob's Creek-Linda McCartney 3 Nicolaj Bo Larsen (Den) CSC-World Online 4 Trent Wilson (Aus) Sunsmart-Mitsubishi 0.04 5 Nicolas Jalabert (Fra) CSC-World Online 0.08 6 Tayeb Braikia (Den) Jacob's Creek-Linda McCartney 0.17 7 Hendrick Van Dijck (Bel) Lotto Adecco 8 Stuart O'Grady (Aus) Credit Agricole 9 Stefano Zanini (Ita) Mapei-Quick Step 10 Ciaran Power (Ire) Jacob's Creek-Linda McCartney 11 Jay Sweet (Aus) Big Mat 12 Glenn D'Hollander (Bel) Lotto Adecco 13 Fabio Sacchi (Ita) Saeco Macchine Per Caffé 14 Nic Brown (Aus) United Water 15 Cadel Evans (Aus) Sunsmart-Mitsubishi 16 Scott Davis (Aus) United Water 17 Nick Gates (Aus) Sunsmart-Mitsubishi 18 Kai Hundertmarck (Ger) Telekom 19 Patrick Jonker (Aus) Big Mat 20 Steffen Wesemann (Ger) Telekom 21 Gene Bates (Aus) University of South Australia 22 Arvis Piziks (Lat) CSC-World Online 23 Daniele Nardello (Ita) Mapei-Quick Step 24 Chris Jenner (NZl) Credit Agricole 25 Jakob Piil (Den) CSC-World Online 26 Jorg Ludewig (Ger) Saeco Macchine Per Caffé 27 Alexandre Botcharov (Rus) Ag2R Decathlon 28 Jeremy Hunt (GBr) Big Mat 29 Gerhard Trampusch (Aut) Telekom 30 Robert Tighello (Aus) Sunsmart-Mitsubishi 31 Peter Rogers (Aus) Sunsmart-Mitsubishi 32 Dario Cioni (Ita) Mapei-Quick Step 33 John Tanner (GBr) Jacob's Creek-Linda McCartney 34 Anthony Morin (Fra) Credit Agricole 35 Ben Day (Aus) Sunsmart-Mitsubishi 36 Cameron Jennings (Aus) United Water 37 Stephan Schreck (Ger) Telekom 38 Russel Van Hout (Aus) University of South Australia 39 Michael Rogers (Aus) Mapei-Quick Step 40 Robert Bartko (Ger) Telekom 41 Danilo Hondo (Ger) Telekom 42 Ralf Grabsch (Ger) Telekom 43 Benoit Poilvet (Fra) Credit Agricole 44 Simon Gerrans (Aus) United Water 45 Philippe Bordenave (Fra) Ag2R Decathlon 46 Kurt Van Lancker (Bel) Lotto Adecco 47 Gilles Maignan (Fra) Ag2R Decathlon 48 Fabien De Waele (Bel) Lotto Adecco 49 David McKenzie (Aus) Jacob's Creek-Linda McCartney 50 Ludovic Turpin (Fra) Ag2R Decathlon 51 Bobby Julich (USA) Credit Agricole 52 Innar Mandoja (Est) Ag2R Decathlon 53 Tristan Hoffman (Ned) CSC-World Online 54 Robert Sgambelluri (Ita) Telekom 55 Brad Davidson (Aus) Saeco Macchine Per Caffé 56 Steve Williams (Aus) Sunsmart-Mitsubishi 57 Maximilliano Sciandri (GBr) Jacob's Creek-Linda McCartney 58 Mario Scirea (Ita) Saeco Macchine Per Caffé 0.29 59 Luca Paolini (Ita) Mapei-Quick Step 0.31 60 Hans De Clercq (Bel) Lotto Adecco 61 Paul Van Hyfte (Bel) Lotto Adecco 6.24 62 Miguel M. Perdiguero (Spa) Jacob's Creek-Linda McCartney 63 Tom Steels (Bel) Mapei-Quick Step 64 Xavier Jan (Fra) Big Mat 8.10 65 Christophe Capelle (Fra) Big Mat 66 Dominique Rault (Fra) Big Mat 67 Juan Carlos Dominguez (Spa) Jacob's Creek-Linda McCartney 68 Magnus Backstedt (Swe) Credit Agricole 15.15 69 Lado Fumic (Ger) University of South Australia 70 Kristjan Snorrason (Aus) University of South Australia 71 Alexandre Chouffe (Fra) Big Mat 72 Graeme Brown (Aus) United Water 73 Steve Cunningham (Aus) University of South Australia 74 Biagio Conte (Ita) Saeco Macchine Per Caffé 75 Marcelino Garcia (Spa) CSC-World Online 76 Bart Leysen (Bel) Mapei-Quick Step 15.18 77 Alessio Galletti (Ita) Saeco Macchine Per Caffé 78 Ludovic Capelle (Bel) Ag2R Decathlon 79 Christophe Agnolutto (Fra) Ag2R Decathlon 80 Crescenzo d'Amore (Ita) Mapei-Quick Step 81 Matt Wilson (Aus) University of South Australia 82 Adrian Laidler (Aus) University of South Australia 83 Jaan Kirsipuu (Est) Ag2R Decathlon 84 Oliver Asmaker (Fra) CSC-World Online 85 Allan Davis (Aus) United Water 86 Anthony Langella (Fra) Credit Agricole 23.20 87 Torsten Nitsche (Ger) Saeco Macchine Per Caffé 88 Bruce Mcintosh (Aus) United Water 29.29 89 Franck Pencole (Fra) Big Mat 39.05 DNF Darren Rolfe (Aus) United Water DNF Salvatore Commesso (Ita) Saeco Macchine Per Caffé Sprints Echunga - km 26.1 1 Graeme Brown (Aus) United Water 6 pts 2 Nicolaj Bo Larsen (Den) CSC-World Online 4 3 Chris Jenner (NZl) Credit Agricole 2 McLaren Flat - km 59.2 1 Tayeb Braikia (Den) Jacob's Creek-Linda McCartney 6 pts 2 Jakob Piil (Den) CSC-World Online 4 3 Chris Jenner (NZl) Credit Agricole 2 Stage finish 1 Luke Roberts (Aus) University of South Australia 8 pts 2 Marcel Gono (Aus) Jacob's Creek-Linda McCartney 6 3 Nicolaj Bo Larsen (Den) CSC-World Online 4 Climbs Old Willunga Hill - km 73.1 1 Robert Tighello (Aus) Sunsmart-Mitsubishi 16 pts 2 Dominique Rault (Fra) Big Mat 12 3 Chris Jenner (NZl) Credit Agricole 8 4 Jakob Piil (Den) CSC-World Online 6 5 Paul Van Hyfte (Bel) Lotto Adecco 4 Most aggressive rider David McKenzie (Aus) Jacob's Creek-Linda McCartney General classification after stage 4 1 Nicolaj Bo Larsen (Den) CSC-World Online 12.32.11 2 Stuart O'Grady (Aus) Credit Agricole 0.13 3 Fabio Sacchi (Ita) Saeco Macchine Per Caffé 0.15 4 Jorg Ludewig (Ger) Saeco Macchine Per Caffé 5 Kai Hundertmarck (Ger) Telekom 0.19 6 Daniele Nardello (Ita) Mapei-Quick Step 7 Chris Jenner (NZl) Credit Agricole 8 Patrick Jonker (Aus) Big Mat 0.21 9 Arvis Piziks (Lat) CSC-World Online 10 Alexandre Botcharov (Rus) Ag2R Decathlon 11 Benoit Poilvet (Fra) Credit Agricole 12 Glenn D'Hollander (Bel) Lotto Adecco 0.32 13 Cadel Evans (Aus) Sunsmart-Mitsubishi 0.35 14 Nick Gates (Aus) Sunsmart-Mitsubishi 15 Jakob Piil (Den) CSC-World Online 4.05 16 Anthony Morin (Fra) Credit Agricole 4.06 17 Gene Bates (Aus) University of South Australia 4.07 18 Robert Bartko (Ger) Telekom 19 Ciaran Power (Ire) Jacob's Creek-Linda McCartney 4.08 20 Nic Brown (Aus) United Water 4.15 21 Philippe Bordenave (Fra) Ag2R Decathlon 4.18 22 Robert Tighello (Aus) Sunsmart-Mitsubishi 4.21 23 John Tanner (GBr) Jacob's Creek-Linda McCartney 24 Ben Day (Aus) Sunsmart-Mitsubishi 25 Dario Cioni (Ita) Mapei-Quick Step 4.24 26 Dominique Rault (Fra) Big Mat 8.25 27 Juan Carlos Dominguez (Spa) Jacob's Creek-Linda McCartney 12.17 28 Trent Wilson (Aus) Sunsmart-Mitsubishi 12.28 29 Simon Gerrans (Aus) United Water 12.41 30 Crescenzo d'Amore (Ita) Mapei-Quick Step 19.08 31 Luke Roberts (Aus) University of South Australia 27.07 32 Marcel Gono (Aus) Jacob's Creek-Linda McCartney 27.09 33 Tayeb Braikia (Den) Jacob's Creek-Linda McCartney 27.27 34 Hendrick Van Dijck (Bel) Lotto Adecco 27.28 35 David McKenzie (Aus) Jacob's Creek-Linda McCartney 36 Stefano Zanini (Ita) Mapei-Quick Step 27.30 37 Steffen Wesemann (Ger) Telekom 38 Danilo Hondo (Ger) Telekom 39 Fabien De Waele (Bel) Lotto Adecco 40 Ludovic Turpin (Fra) Ag2R Decathlon 41 Robert Sgambelluri (Ita) Telekom 42 Nicolas Jalabert (Fra) CSC-World Online 27.35 43 Gerhard Trampusch (Aut) Telekom 27.41 44 Russel Van Hout (Aus) University of South Australia 45 Mario Scirea (Ita) Saeco Macchine Per Caffé 27.42 46 Jay Sweet (Aus) Big Mat 27.44 47 Scott Davis (Aus) United Water 48 Jeremy Hunt (GBr) Big Mat 49 Peter Rogers (Aus) Sunsmart-Mitsubishi 50 Cameron Jennings (Aus) United Water 51 Stephan Schreck (Ger) Telekom 52 Michael Rogers (Aus) Mapei-Quick Step 53 Ralf Grabsch (Ger) Telekom 54 Kurt Van Lancker (Bel) Lotto Adecco 55 Gilles Maignan (Fra) Ag2R Decathlon 56 Bobby Julich (USA) Credit Agricole 57 Tristan Hoffman (Ned) CSC-World Online 58 Brad Davidson (Aus) Saeco Macchine Per Caffé 59 Steve Williams (Aus) Sunsmart-Mitsubishi 60 Luca Paolini (Ita) Mapei-Quick Step 61 Hans De Clercq (Bel) Lotto Adecco 27.58 62 Maximilliano Sciandri (GBr) Jacob's Creek-Linda McCartney 28.04 63 Innar Mandoja (Est) Ag2R Decathlon 28.22 64 Paul Van Hyfte (Bel) Lotto Adecco 33.37 65 Kristjan Snorrason (Aus) University of South Australia 33.45 66 Miguel M. Perdiguero (Spa) Jacob's Creek-Linda McCartney 33.51 67 Tom Steels (Bel) Mapei-Quick Step 68 Allan Davis (Aus) United Water 34.02 69 Xavier Jan (Fra) Big Mat 35.37 70 Christophe Capelle (Fra) Big Mat 35.37 71 Alessio Galletti (Ita) Saeco Macchine Per Caffé 38.59 72 Adrian Laidler (Aus) University of South Australia 41.55 73 Graeme Brown (Aus) United Water 42.17 74 Magnus Backstedt (Swe) Credit Agricole 42.28 75 Lado Fumic (Ger) University of South Australia 76 Alexandre Chouffe (Fra) Big Mat 77 Jaan Kirsipuu (Est) Ag2R Decathlon 42.29 78 Matt Wilson (Aus) University of South Australia 42.31 79 Steve Cunningham (Aus) University of South Australia 42.38 80 Biagio Conte (Ita) Saeco Macchine Per Caffé 42.39 81 Marcelino Garcia (Spa) CSC-World Online 42.42 82 Bart Leysen (Bel) Mapei-Quick Step 42.45 83 Christophe Agnolutto (Fra) Ag2R Decathlon 84 Oliver Asmaker (Fra) CSC-World Online 85 Ludovic Capelle (Bel) Ag2R Decathlon 43.44 86 Torsten Nitsche (Ger) Saeco Macchine Per Caffé 50.33 87 Anthony Langella (Fra) Credit Agricole 50.47 88 Franck Pencole (Fra) Big Mat 1.06.32 89 Bruce Mcintosh (Aus) United Water 1.12.54 Sprints classification 1 Graeme Brown (Aus) United Water 26 pts 2 Alessio Galletti (Ita) Saeco Macchine Per Caffé 20 3 Jorg Ludewig (Ger) Saeco Macchine Per Caffé 12 4 Stuart O'Grady (Aus) Credit Agricole 10 5 Michael Rogers (Aus) Mapei-Quick Step 8 6 Luke Roberts (Aus) University of South Australia 8 7 Fabio Sacchi (Ita) Saeco Macchine Per Caffé 8 8 Steve Cunningham (Aus) University of South Australia 8 9 Nicolaj Bo Larsen (Den) CSC-World Online 8 10 Tayeb Braikia (Den) Jacob's Creek-Linda McCartney 6 11 Nic Brown (Aus) United Water 6 12 Marcel Gono (Aus) Jacob's Creek-Linda McCartney 6 13 Jakob Piil (Den) CSC-World Online 4 14 Peter Rogers (Aus) Sunsmart-Mitsubishi 4 15 Daniele Nardello (Ita) Mapei-Quick Step 4 16 Chris Jenner (NZl) Credit Agricole 4 17 Kai Hundertmarck (Ger) Telekom 4 18 Crescenzo d'Amore (Ita) Mapei-Quick Step 2 19 Anthony Morin (Fra) Credit Agricole 2 Mountains classification 1 Robert Tighello (Aus) Sunsmart-Mitsubishi 56 pts 2 Ben Day (Aus) Sunsmart-Mitsubishi 24 3 Steve Cunningham (Aus) University of South Australia 16 4 Cameron Jennings (Aus) United Water 14 5 Dominique Rault (Fra) Big Mat 12 6 Alessio Galletti (Ita) Saeco Macchine Per Caffé 12 7 Chris Jenner (NZl) Credit Agricole 8 8 Miguel Martin Perdiguero (Spa) Jacob's Creek-Linda McCart 8 9 Jakob Piil (Den) CSC-World Online 6 10 Cadel Evans (Aus) Sunsmart-Mitsubishi 6 11 Russel Van Hout (Aus) University of South Australia 6 12 Paul Van Hyfte (Bel) Lotto Adecco 4 13 Luke Roberts (Aus) University of South Australia 4 14 Alexandre Botcharov (Rus) Ag2R Decathlon 4 15 Innar Mandoja (Est) Ag2R Decathlon 4 U23 classification 1 Gene Bates (Aus) University of South Australia 12.36.18 2 Crescenzo d'Amore (Ita) Mapei-Quick Step 3 Nic Brown (Aus) United Water 0.08 4 Simon Gerrans (Aus) United Water 8.34 5 Scott Davis (Aus) United Water 23.37 6 Cameron Jennings (Aus) United Water 7 Michael Rogers (Aus) Mapei-Quick Step 8 Brad Davidson (Aus) Saeco Macchine Per Caffé 9 Allan Davis (Aus) United Water 29.55 10 Adrian Laidler (Aus) University of South Australia 37.48 11 Graeme Brown (Aus) United Water 38.10 12 Bruce Mcintosh (Aus) United Water 1.08.47 Teams classification 1 Credit Agricole 37.37.34 2 CSC - World Online 3.22 3 Sunsmart - Mitsubishi 4.17 4 Mapei Quick-Step 7.37 5 Linda Mccartney - Jacob's Creek 11.08 6 Saeco 23.51 7 Big Mat 27.22 8 Ag2R Decathlon 30.55 9 Team Telekom 30.57 10 United Water 34.43 11 University Of South Australia 48.16 12 Lotto Adecco 54.18