3rd Jacob's Creek Tour Down UnderAustralia, January 16 - 21, 2001Main page Course map Report and results Complete Live ReportStage 3 - January 18: McLaren Vale - Victor Harbor, 165 kmStart time: 11:00 - SA Time Stage three of the Jacob's Creek Tour Down Under is the longest of the race, 165 kilometres from McLaren Vale (one of the State's largest wine growing regions) to Victor Harbor, the scene of Stuart O'Grady's first stage win in the inaugural TDU in 1999. Along the way, the race will visit the towns and villages of the Fleurieu Peninsula, including Delamere, Parawa and Waitpinga. The stage passes through Victor Harbor at km 121 and loops out to Goolwa before finishing in Victor Harbor. The first and only King of the Mountain climb today is at Sellicks Hill (km 30). This is a long 20 kilometre drag up from Aldinga Beach and will once again test the riders. There are also two intermediate sprints planned: Myponga (km 33.4) and Goolwa (km 145.9). Today could be a critical day as the temperature is certainly warmer, and the parcours hillier. 10:45 - 0.0km The temperature is quite cool, around 25 C. The convoy is lined up and ready to go, about 200m down the main street, watched by a large crowd in McLaren Vale, the town at the centre of the winery district of the same name, which is the second largest in SA. The riders will have a quartering tailwind when they start. Cyclingnews.com has just spoken with Hein Verbruggen who has been out here watching the race for the last couple of day and he says he is very very impressed, and wishes he'd come down here sooner. All the riders have signed on it's about 15 minutes to start. 11:00 - 0.0km The riders are under way with 2.4km of neutral as they head out of McLaren Vale, then a sharp left along the main road to Willunga at the 6km mark. They then hang a right and head for the coast to Aldinga at 16.2km. The first significant point will be the KOM at Sellicks Hill (km 30). The race will pass through very open country today with few trees, so the wind will likely pay an important part. Conditions are otherwise perfect with clear, deep blue sky over the peloton. 11:15 - 5km/160km to go The riders are feeling very frisky this morning. There have been several attacks with groups of around 10 attempting to escape already, though the race is only a handful of kilometres out of the neutral zone. 11:25 - 10km/155km to go Two riders attacked at kilometre 9: Steve Cunningham (University of South Australia) and Alessio Galletti (Saeco Macchine Per Caffé). The route is lined with parties as thousands of people take the morning off work to watch the race. 11:35 - 16km/149km to go The riders have just passed through the seaside town of Aldinga Beach on the Fleurieu Peninsula. 11:50 - 30km/135km to go The riders are climbing Sellicks Hill, the day's first KOM stage. This is a long, not extremely steep grade, the main climb about 4km long. A strong headwind is blowing against the riders to add to the difficulty, though. There is a large crowd to cheer on the riders as they crest the hill. 12:00 30km/135km to go Steve Cunningham (University of South Australia) and Alessio Galletti (Saeco Macchine Per Caffé) have about three minutes on the bunch and were first over Sellicks Hill. The bunch was lead over the summit by Robert Tighello (Sunsmart-Mitsubishi), Cameron Jennings (United Water) and Luke Roberts (University of South Australia) 33.4km/161.6km to go Galletti was first in the sprint at Myponga, 3km after Sellicks Hill. Now we head inland for a while. Third in the sprint was Graeme Brown (United Water). Tighello was first over the summit of Sellicks hill and therefore wears the KOM jersey 'on the road' with 40 points. 12:20 47.6km/117.4km to go After building up a 5 minute lead, the break of Cunningham and Galletti is being chased by the bunch and the gap has been reduced to 4 mins 15 sec. The leaders have just entered the town of Yankalilla at 47.6km and we are now heading back toward the coast. Yankalilla has turned out massively balloon-handed and the streets are lined with people. 12:45 70km/95km to go The bunch seems to have given up on the chase for the moment, allowing Cunningham and Galletti to rebuild their lead to seven minutes, with the bunch currently at about the 66km mark. There have been a few attempts to break away from the main mass, but nothing has stuck. It's warmed up to about 36 C but the riders are being cooled by a headwind. 1:00 75km/90km to go Cunningham and Galletti passed through the 71km mark at Delamere General Store 5 minutes ago, but we're still waiting for the main field to reach this point. 1:12 bunch at 71km The time gap is now up to 14 minutes, but as Cunningham and Galletti are some 27 minutes down on GC, the bunch seems content to let them have their moment in the sun. If the gap starts to threaten the overall leaders we will see the bunch liven up and give chase, and at the rate the breakaway pair is building their lead that could happen in the next hour or so. 1:20 74km/91km 5km before Parawa the gap is 16:45, which probably means the last gap report was a slight underestimate. While maps of the area don't show it well, the terrain of the Fleurieu Peninsula is quite hilly. Combined with the windy conditions this explains the bunch's reluctance to really chase, but Cunningham and Galletti are working hard together and exploiting the situation for all it's worth. 1:40 87km/78km to go Mapei has moved the front en masse and really put the hammer down leaving a few struggling to hold the pace, though the main bunch is together. Mapei went to the front at about 80km. The current time gap is 12:30 minutes, down from 16 minutes 12km before. Can Cunningham and Galletti stay away? It looks unlikely with this European powerhouse bearing down on them. 1:55 bunch at 95km/70km to go A break-up in the lead pair! Galletti has ridden away from Cunningham and now has a 30 second lead. With 70km to go it's a brave move, but 'kamikaze' tactics sometimes pay off for less-ranked riders who pose no threat on GC. The gap between these two and the bunch is now 11.40 and we're in very open landscape with a strong headwind which is pushing the race behind schedule. It's now generally downhill into Victor Harbour, then a climb round the top of the town. 2:10 110km/55km to go The gap is now down to 10 minutes 50 seconds to Galletti and Cunningham is about 40 seconds behind him as they ride into a very strong headwind. The winds are keeping temperatures down. The peloton is not chasing especially hard, still riding four-abreast across the road, they seem to be simply trying to limit the damage. 2: 25 121km/44km to go As Alessio Galletti approaches Victor Harbour for the first time, he has a 2 min 25 sec gap over Steve Cunningham with the peloton approximately 12:40 behind Galletti. From here they head into the wind to Port Elliott and Middleton, then after the sprint at Goolwa they loop back to the finish in Victor Harbour. With only 40km or so to go, Galletti should be able to hang on to his lead and take the stage, but he will nevertheless move up only a few places on GC. 2:40 130km/35km to go Galletti has a 13:30 lead on the bunch and Steve Cunningham is now over four minutes behind. The whole of Victor Harbour has turned out to watch the finish, and that's been the pattern for the day — anywhere there's population, everyone is out on the streets getting behind this spectacle. 3:00 155km/10km to go We're right on the beachfront at Victor Harbor, waiting for the riders to arrive. The sprint at Goolwa was won by Galletti, of course, and he is a long way in front of Cunningham. The bunch now can't catch Galletti, and the question is can Cunningham hang on for second? Graeme Brown took the bunch sprint at Goolwa, which probably puts him in the Sprint jersey. The crowds are six deep behind the barriers at the finish and the atmosphere is terrific. 3:15 160km/5km to go Galletti is five to ten minutes away from crossing the line. We can't tell whether Cunningham has hung on – he was suffering earlier, so it's going to be very close for him, and hard to stay away as the bunch starts to speed up and jockey for the sprint for third. 3:25 165km Galletti has taken the second victory in a row for Saeco, crossing the line arms aloft, clearly delighted. Cunningham was caught a few kilometres out and the bunch are expected in three minutes or so. It'll be a big bunch sprint. 3: 28 165km Graeme Brown takes the bunch sprint ahead of Stuart O'Grady by a clear bike length, 3:17 behind the finishing time of Galletti. Stuart O'Grady is the new overall leader! Results 1 Alessio Galletti (Ita) Saeco Macchine Per Caffé 4.18.01 2 Graeme Brown (Aus) United Water 3.18 3 Stuart O'Grady (Aus) Credit Agricole 4 Hendrick Van Dijck (Bel) Lotto Adecco 5 David McKenzie (Aus) Jacob's Creek-Linda McCartney 6 Jaan Kirsipuu (Est) Ag2R Decathlon 7 Ciaran Power (Ire) Jacob's Creek-Linda McCartney 8 Tayeb Braikia (Den) Jacob's Creek-Linda McCartney 3.20 9 Steffen Wesemann (Ger) Telekom 10 Luke Roberts (Aus) University of South Australia General Classification 1 Stuart O'Grady (Aus) Credit Agricole 8.47.58 2 Fabio Sacchi (Ita) Saeco Macchine Per Caffé 0.02 3 Jorg Ludewig (Ger) Saeco Macchine Per Caffé 4 Kai Hundertmarck (Ger)Telekom 0.06 5 Daniele Nardello (Ita) Mapei-Quick Step 6 Alexandre Botcharov (Rus) Ag2R Decathlon 0.08 7 Benoit Poilvet (Fra) Credit Agricole 8 Nicolaj Bo Larsen (Den) CSC-World Online 9 Patrick Jonker (Aus) Big Mat 10 Arvis Piziks (Lat) CSC-World Online Other categories Sprints: Alessio Galletti (Ita) Saeco Macchine Per Caffé KOM: Robert Tighello (Aus) Sunsmart-Mitsubishi U23: Crescenzo d'Amore (Ita) Mapei-Quick Step Most aggressive rider: Steve Cunningham (Aus) University of South Australia Team: Credit Agricole |