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5th Jacob's Creek Tour Down Under - 2.3
Australia, January 21-26, 2003
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Stage 4: Friday Jan 24, Unley - Goolwa, 144km
Cooke burns 'em off
By Jeff Jones in Goolwa
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"It's nice to actually get across the line first today," said stage 4 winner Baden Cooke moments after crossing the line. Cooke was of course referring to his stage 1 win, which came about after a Graeme Brown disqualification. Today there was no controversy at all, as Cooke sprinted over the line in Goolwa half a wheel ahead of Brown, with Stuart O'Grady again finishing in third place.
Cooke described the sprint as "...very hectic with the sidewind. Everyone was sprinting against the fence. I waited until the last minute when Ashley Hutchinson opened up a gap on the inside, which was the easy way through. But after seeing what Graeme Brown did the other day to McEwen, I took the hard way round. I'm lucky because I'm sure he would have stepped straight into me."
However, with 8 km to go it could have been otherwise as a group of 10 had escaped, containing Brad McGee, Jaan Kirsipuu, Graeme Brown and race leader Fabio Sacchi. Many teams were represented, but Stuart O'Grady and Robbie McEwen drove the chase hard from behind, swallowing up the break and setting things up for a mass sprint. FDJeux.com's Bernhard Eisel took Baden Cooke to the front, Cooke biding his time as other sprinters hit the wind too early and faded. In the final 100 metres, the Cookie Monster came flying through to win his second stage in the Jacob's Creek Tour Down Under.
Race leader Fabio Sacchi (Saeco) today lost 2 of his 10 seconds buffer to Robbie McEwen when the Lotto-Domo rider took second place in one of the intermediate time bonus sprints. But Sacchi was cool and composed at the end of the stage, despite having just ridden for three and a half hours in 40 degree heat.
"Today I felt really good," said Sacchi. The conditions were good, the weather also and tomorrow should be a great day to have fun."
But Sacchi is not fully confident of holding onto the overall. "To win, you have to be the leader on Sunday. But tomorrow's another day."
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The other star of the 144 km stage was the young UniSA rider Adrian Laidler, who rode in front of the peloton for over 130 km today, only to be caught just before the McFarlane Hill mountain sprint with around 12 kilometres to go. Laidler had attacked from the gun, building up a maximum lead of 11'20 at one point, eventually falling victim to the extreme heat and the Panaria/Quick Step mounted chase from behind.
When asked if he was crazy for attempting such a move, Laidler replied: "Yeah I think so. Twenty k's into the race I was starting to regret it a little bit. But you have to push and try to do what you can. Once you're out the front, you may as well keep going. I tried my best to hang on but it just didn't work out."
"Nearly all day there were long, straight roads, headwinds and hot breezes. It definitely hurt. But once you're there you've got to do it."
Laidler, who is from South Australia, wasn't nearly as bothered by the heat as the other riders. "It was pretty hot but we're from here and we're used to the heat. Bring it on, the hotter the better!"
How it unfolded
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Today's stage from Unley to Goolwa started with a six kilometre climb along the freeway up to Stirling. From then on, it was mostly downhill or flat, with the small climb of McFarlane Hill coming at 10 km to go. Everyone knew today was going to be hot, and the thermometer read 38 degrees as the riders set off from Unley. At the hottest part of the day the mercury climbed to a searing 43 degrees, which probably explained the lack of aggression within the peloton.
Stage winner Baden Cooke said that he drank "a dozen bidons [6 litres]...I was drinking the whole time, even forcing it down. I think that was the key."
The heat obviously didn't deter Adrian Laidler (UniSA), the Australia U23 time trial champion who attacked virtually as the flag dropped at the Old Toll Gate on the South East Freeway. Laidler had started 30 minutes down on GC and was not pursued by the bunch, which was content to roll along up the climb at a tempo barely above andante. By the top, Laidler had 3'53, and it kept growing as he descended into Strathalbyn and onto the barren and baking Fleurieu Peninsula. Seven minutes, then 10, then up to a maximum of 11'20 when the peloton passed kilometre 61.
Saeco was perfectly happy to let Laidler stay out there, as he posed no threat to Sacchi's lead and was also swallowing up valuable time bonuses. "We didn't have to work much at all," said Fabio Sacchi. "The truth is that it would have been great if the guy out the front had been able to hang onto the win, because he really deserved it. The two things that (director) Guido Bontempi and myself decided were to try and maintain the gap and not to catch him, so that he could pull off the stage win."
The ploy worked well for Saeco, although Robbie McEwen did manage to snatch a two second bonus at the second intermediate sprint at Langhorne Creek. That moved him to within eight seconds of Sacchi on GC, and with six seconds bonus for a stage win, his chances at the overall have improved.
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Laidler's advantage began to drop when the peloton reached Lake Alexandrina (the mouth of the Murray River), riding along its shores at 50 km/h led by Panaria and Saeco. Once Laidler hit the 90 km mark, he really began to suffer, losing four minutes over the next 20 km as the speed began to increase behind him. He passed through the big crowd at Goolwa (27 km to go) with 3'18, and 15 km later his marathon breakaway was finished.
As Laidler crumbled on the McFarlane Hill climb, the peloton was in full flight. Lennie Kristensen (CSC) sprinted off the front to take the mountain points in front of Cadel Evans (Telekom), solidifying his lead in the KOM competition. The attacks continued over the top of the climb, and a group of 10 riders escaped, containing Angel Vicioso (ONCE Eroski), Russell Van Hout (UniSA), Jaan Kirsipuu and Andy Flickinger (Ag2R), Cedric Hervé (Credit Agricole), Brad McGee (FDJeux.com), Andrea Tafi (CSC), Graeme Brown (Panaria Fiordo) and Fabio Sacchi (Saeco-Longoni Sport).
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Sacchi's presence in the break was enough to set the alarm bells off in the peloton, not to mention sprinters Kirsipuu and Brown. Stuart O'Grady and Robbie McEwen put in a huge effort to close it, and they succeeded with 5 km to go, ensuring a bunch sprint. But the heat and the wind made it difficult for any team to organise a lead out, and the bunch hurtled into Goolwa with all the top sprinters at its head. The tall Queenslander Ashley Hutchinson made a strong bid for the line with 250m to go, but in the end he was overtaken by a flying Baden Cooke, followed by Brown, O'Grady and McEwen.
While Cooke got his second win, Brown remains stageless, with McEwen (and Flickinger) moving a little closer to Sacchi on GC. The final two stages promise to be thrillers, especially tomorrow's 147 km stage starting and finishing in Willunga, featuring the tough climb of Willunga Hill with 20 km to go. The predicted temperature tomorrow is 41 degrees, and after today's scorcher, it's likely to cause some more damage to the GC.
Photos
Images by www.tombalks.com
- Bradley McGee (FDJeux.com, L) and teamamte Baden Cooke talking team tactics before the start. After today's outcome, it must have been a good conversation.
- Elvis - two of them in fact - spotted in Unley
- Davide Bramati (Quick Step-Davitamon) would prefer to act the judge today, but of a beauty contest, not a bike race
- The race proper begins on the South East Freeway at 11:22 after a 7.2 kilometre neutral zone
- The peloton moves slowly through the Heysen Tunnel, jerseys unzipped
- Early escapee Adrian Laidler (UniSA) hydrates. Most riders went through around a dozen bidons of water today.
- Bram Tankink (Quick Step-Davitamon) must have know his days were numbered, pulling the pin halfway through today's stage
- The winding roads leading to the first sprint in Echunga provided a little shelter from the blistering sun
- Fans take cover in the searing heat
- Smart and safe - now that's how you avoid the sun
- Stuart O'Grady (Credit Agricole) knew one of his last chances to make up time on Sacchi and McEwen was today, but was not able to initiate any breaks
- The ol' garden hose comes in handy when it's 41 degrees Celsius
- After close to 130 kilometres out in front, Adrian Laidler's (UniSA) lead whittled away to nothing in the final 20 kilometres
- A photographer's eye view of the finishing straight
- With 200m to go, the stage was set for a massive bunch gallop...
- And Cookie (FDJeux.com) gets it! Graeme Brown (Panaria) was second and Stuart O'Grady (Credit Agricole) third.
- Bradley McGee provided the perfect lead-out for his teammate, and was almost as excited as Cooke
- Sponging down. Just don't wash the dishes with that, OK Cookie?
- Well why not? Baden Cooke (FDJeux.com) deserves a beer or four after today's effort
- A delighted Baden Cooke (FDJeux.com) on the podium
- Ugghhh! Gene Bates (UniSA) too young to enjoy the fruits of his labour
- Lennie Kristensen (CSC) looking a comfortable leader in the King of the Mountains competition
Results
1 Baden Cooke (Aus) FDJeux.com 3.33.59 (40.4 km/h) 2 Graeme Brown (Aus) Panaria Fiordo 3 Stuart O'Grady (Aus) Credit Agricole 4 Robbie McEwen (Aus) Lotto Domo 5 Ashley Hutchinson (Aus) United Water 6 Tom Boonen (Bel) Quickstep-Davitamon 7 Luke Roberts (Aus) UniSA 8 Mark Scanlon (Irl) Ag2R 9 Jaan Kirsipuu (Est) Ag2R 10 Allan Davis (Aus) ONCE Eroski 11 Mikel Astarloza (Spa) Ag2R 12 Andy Flickinger (Fra) Ag2R 13 Stefen Wesemann (Ger) Telekom 14 Mark Renshaw (Aus) United Water 15 Brendan Cato (Aus) United Water 16 Nicolas Portal (Fra) Ag2R 17 Andrea Tafi (Ita) CSC 18 Dirk Reichl (Ger) Telekom 19 Gene Bates (Aus) UniSA 20 Cedric Herve (Fra) Credit Agricole 21 Christian Pepoli (Ita) Saeco-Longoni Sport 22 Xavier Florencio (Spa) ONCE Eroski 23 David Canada (Spa) Quickstep-Davitamon 24 Bobby Julich (USA) Telekom 25 Christopher Jenner (NZl) Credit Agricole 26 Michael Rogers (Aus) Quickstep-Davitamon 27 Fabio Sacchi (Ita) Saeco-Longoni Sport 28 Hans De Clercq (Bel) Lotto Domo 29 Giampaolo Caruso (Ita) ONCE Eroski 30 Lennie Kristensen (Den) CSC 31 Erki Putsep (Est) Ag2R 32 Kurt Van De Wouwer (Bel) Quickstep-Davitamon 33 Paolo Lanfranchi (Ita) Panaria Fiordo 34 Daniele Nardello (Ita) Telekom 35 Patrick Jonker (Aus) UniSA 36 Russell Van Hout (Aus) UniSA 37 Joerg Ludewig (Ger) Saeco-Longoni Sport 38 Cadel Evans (Aus) Telekom 39 Brad McGee (Aus) FDJeux.com 40 Alexandre Botcharov (Rus) Ag2R 41 Angel Vicioso (Spa) ONCE Eroski 42 Stefan Schumacher (Ger) Telekom 43 Christian Werner (Ger) Telekom 44 Inigo Chaurreau (Spa) Ag2R 45 Joaquin Rodriguez (Spa) ONCE Eroski 46 Pierrick Fedrigo (Fra) Credit Agricole 47 Tristan Hoffman (Ned) CSC 48 Geert Van Bondt (Bel) CSC 49 Kai Hundertmarck (Ger) Telekom 0.10 50 Bernhard Eisel (Aut) FDJeux.com 0.14 51 Regis Lhuillier (Fra) FDJeux.com 0.16 52 Igor Astarloa (Spa) Saeco-Longoni Sport 0.23 53 Arvis Piziks (Lat) CSC 1.55 54 Jens Voigt (Ger) Credit Agricole 3.47 55 Kevin Van Impe (Bel) Lotto Domo 56 Stephen Cunningham (Aus) UniSA 57 Glenn d'Hollander (Bel) Lotto Domo 58 Wim Vansevenant (Bel) Lotto Domo 59 David Betts (Aus) United Water 60 Igor Gonzalez De Galdeano (Spa) ONCE Eroski 61 Lilian Jegou (Fra) Credit Agricole 62 Julian Dean (NZl) CSC 63 Alvaro Gonzalez De Galdeano (Spa) ONCE Eroski 64 Thomas Bruun Eriksen (Den) CSC 65 Brett Lancaster (Aus) Panaria Fiordo 66 Scott Davis (Aus) Panaria Fiordo 67 Aaron Kemps (Aus) United Water 4.05 68 Bernard Sulzberger (Aus) United Water 69 Adrian Laidler (Aus) UniSA 7.11 70 Peter Dawson (Aus) United Water 7.15 71 Davide Bramati (Ita) Quickstep-Davitamon 72 Dario Pieri (Ita) Saeco-Longoni Sport 73 Nicola Gavazzi (Ita) Saeco-Longoni Sport 74 Luca Paolini (Ita) Quickstep-Davitamon 75 Stefano Zanini (Ita) Saeco-Longoni Sport 76 Ruben Bongiorno (Arg) Panaria Fiordo 77 Thierry Marichal (Bel) Lotto Domo 78 Julio Alberto Perez Cuapio (Mex) Panaria Fiordo 79 Filippo Perfetto (Ita) Panaria Fiordo 80 Jacky Durand (Fra) FDJeux.com 81 Christophe Moreau (Fra) Credit Agricole 82 Jakob Piil (Den) CSC 83 Mickael Pichon (Fra) FDJeux.com 84 Benoit Vaugrenard (Fra) FDJeux.com 85 Juan Fuentes (Spa) Saeco-Longoni Sport 86 Matt Wilson (Aus) FDJeux.com 87 Gert Steegmans (Bel) Lotto Domo 88 Nick Gates (Aus) Lotto Domo 89 Sergey Matveyev (Ukr) Panaria Fiordo DNF Bram Tankink (Ned) Quickstep-Davitamon Sprints Adelaide Road at Institute, Echunga - 26.0 km 1 Adrian Laidler (Aus) UniSA 6 3 pts/secs 2 Andy Flickinger (Fra) Ag2R 4 2 3 Luke Roberts (Aus) UniSA 2 1 Main Street at General Store, Langhorne Creek - 64.8 km 1 Adrian Laidler (Aus) UniSA 6 3 pts/secs 2 Robbie McEwen (Aus) Lotto Domo 4 2 3 Andy Flickinger (Fra) Ag2R 2 1 Cadell Street near Dawson Street, Goolwa - 144 km - FINISH 1 Baden Cooke (Aus) FDJeux.com 8 6 pts/secs 2 Graeme Brown (Aus) Panaria Fiordo 6 4 3 Stuart O'Grady (Aus) Credit Agricole 4 2 Mountains Macfarlane Hill, Flagstaff Hill Rd, - Middleton - 132.6 km 1 Lennie Kristensen (Den) CSC 16 pts 2 Cadel Evans (Aus) Telekom 12 3 Igor Astarloa (Spa) Saeco-Longoni Sport 8 4 Regis Lhuillier (Fra) FDJeux.com 6 5 Giampaolo Caruso (Ita) ONCE Eroski 4 Most aggressive rider 1 Adrian Laidler (Aus) UniSA General classification after stage 4 1 Fabio Sacchi (Ita) Saeco-Longoni Sport 11.58.33 2 Robbie McEwen (Aus) Lotto Domo 0.08 3 Andy Flickinger (Fra) Ag2R 0.17 4 Cedric Herve (Fra) Credit Agricole 0.18 5 Mikel Astarloza (Spa) Ag2R 0.20 6 Lennie Kristensen (Den) CSC 7 Russell Van Hout (Aus) UniSA 0.23 8 Stuart O'Grady (Aus) Credit Agricole 0.25 9 Xavier Florencio (Spa) ONCE Eroski 0.27 10 Luke Roberts (Aus) UniSA 0.28 11 Daniele Nardello (Ita) Telekom 12 Michael Rogers (Aus) Quickstep-Davitamon 0.29 13 Angel Vicioso (Spa) ONCE Eroski 14 Gene Bates (Aus) UniSA 15 Tristan Hoffman (Ned) CSC 16 Geert Van Bondt (Bel) CSC 17 Cadel Evans (Aus) Telekom 18 Paolo Lanfranchi (Ita) Panaria Fiordo 19 Patrick Jonker (Aus) UniSA 20 Giampaolo Caruso (Ita) ONCE Eroski 0.30 21 Mark Scanlon (Irl) Ag2R 0.33 22 David Canada (Spa) Quickstep-Davitamon 23 Kurt Van De Wouwer (Bel) Quickstep-Davitamon 24 Inigo Chaurreau (Spa) Ag2R 25 Pierrick Fedrigo (Fra) Credit Agricole 26 Stefen Wesemann (Ger) Telekom 0.39 27 Brad McGee (Aus) FDJeux.com 0.42 28 Bernhard Eisel (Aut) FDJeux.com 0.54 29 Baden Cooke (Aus) FDJeux.com 1.59 30 Andrea Tafi (Ita) CSC 31 Tom Boonen (Bel) Quickstep-Davitamon 2.05 32 Dirk Reichl (Ger) Telekom 33 Erki Putsep (Est) Ag2R 34 Nicolas Portal (Fra) Ag2R 35 Joerg Ludewig (Ger) Saeco-Longoni Sport 36 Alexandre Botcharov (Rus) Ag2R 37 Christopher Jenner (NZl) Credit Agricole 38 Bobby Julich (USA) Telekom 39 Christian Werner (Ger) Telekom 40 Joaquin Rodriguez (Spa) ONCE Eroski 41 Kai Hundertmarck (Ger) Telekom 2.15 42 Hans De Clercq (Bel) Lotto Domo 2.16 43 Regis Lhuillier (Fra) FDJeux.com 2.21 44 Graeme Brown (Aus) Panaria Fiordo 2.27 45 Igor Astarloa (Spa) Saeco-Longoni Sport 3.40 46 Thomas Bruun Eriksen (Den) CSC 4.16 47 Jens Voigt (Ger) Credit Agricole 4.18 48 Alvaro Gonzalez De Galdeano (Spa) ONCE Eroski 4.46 49 Scott Davis (Aus) Panaria Fiordo 5.52 50 Wim Vansevenant (Bel) Lotto Domo 6.42 51 David Betts (Aus) United Water 6.49 52 Glenn d'Hollander (Bel) Lotto Domo 7.04 53 Igor Gonzalez De Galdeano (Spa) ONCE Eroski 54 Luca Paolini (Ita) Quickstep-Davitamon 9.20 55 Peter Dawson (Aus) United Water 9.29 56 Sergey Matveyev (Ukr) Panaria Fiordo 9.31 57 Stefano Zanini (Ita) Saeco-Longoni Sport 10.32 58 Gert Steegmans (Bel) Lotto Domo 59 Allan Davis (Aus) ONCE Eroski 11.34 60 Jaan Kirsipuu (Est) Ag2R 61 Mark Renshaw (Aus) United Water 62 Christian Pepoli (Ita) Saeco-Longoni Sport 63 Brendan Cato (Aus) United Water 64 Stefan Schumacher (Ger) Telekom 65 Arvis Piziks (Lat) CSC 13.29 66 Stephen Cunningham (Aus) UniSA 15.20 67 Brett Lancaster (Aus) Panaria Fiordo 15.21 68 Lilian Jegou (Fra) Credit Agricole 69 Kevin Van Impe (Bel) Lotto Domo 16.33 70 Nicola Gavazzi (Ita) Saeco-Longoni Sport 18.49 71 Mickael Pichon (Fra) FDJeux.com 72 Christophe Moreau (Fra) Credit Agricole 73 Julio Alberto Perez Cuapio (Mex) Panaria Fiordo 74 Davide Bramati (Ita) Quickstep-Davitamon 75 Matt Wilson (Aus) FDJeux.com 20.00 76 Dario Pieri (Ita) Saeco-Longoni Sport 20.01 77 Juan Fuentes (Spa) Saeco-Longoni Sport 78 Adrian Laidler (Aus) UniSA 37.56 79 Ashley Hutchinson (Aus) United Water 41.50 80 Julian Dean (NZl) CSC 45.39 81 Aaron Kemps (Aus) United Water 45.57 82 Bernard Sulzberger (Aus) United Water 83 Ruben Bongiorno (Arg) Panaria Fiordo 49.07 84 Filippo Perfetto (Ita) Panaria Fiordo 85 Thierry Marichal (Bel) Lotto Domo 86 Jakob Piil (Den) CSC 87 Benoit Vaugrenard (Fra) FDJeux.com 88 Jacky Durand (Fra) FDJeux.com 89 Nick Gates (Aus) Lotto Domo Sprints classification 1 Robbie McEwen (Aus) Lotto Domo 24 pts 2 Andrea Tafi (Ita) CSC 22 3 Baden Cooke (Aus) FDJeux.com 16 4 Fabio Sacchi (Ita) Saeco-Longoni Sport 12 5 Russell Van Hout (Aus) UniSA 12 6 Adrian Laidler (Aus) UniSA 12 7 Matt Wilson (Aus) FDJeux.com 12 8 Stuart O'Grady (Aus) Credit Agricole 8 9 Andy Flickinger (Fra) Ag2R 6 10 Giampaolo Caruso (Ita) ONCE Eroski 6 11 Cedric Herve (Fra) Credit Agricole 4 12 Xavier Florencio (Spa) ONCE Eroski 4 13 Graeme Brown (Aus) Panaria Fiordo 4 14 Jens Voigt (Ger) Credit Agricole 4 15 Luca Paolini (Ita) Quickstep-Davitamon 4 16 Ashley Hutchinson (Aus) United Water 4 17 Luke Roberts (Aus) UniSA 2 18 Daniele Nardello (Ita) Telekom 2 19 Stephen Cunningham (Aus) UniSA 2 Mountains classification 1 Lennie Kristensen (Den) CSC 36 pts 2 Cadel Evans (Aus) Telekom 28 3 Russell Van Hout (Aus) UniSA 16 4 Paolo Lanfranchi (Ita) Panaria Fiordo 12 5 Giampaolo Caruso (Ita) ONCE Eroski 8 6 Inigo Chaurreau (Spa) Ag2R 8 7 Igor Astarloa (Spa) Saeco-Longoni Sport 8 8 Kurt Van De Wouwer (Bel) Quickstep-Davitamon 6 9 Brad McGee (Aus) FDJeux.com 6 10 Regis Lhuillier (Fra) FDJeux.com 6 11 Fabio Sacchi (Ita) Saeco-Longoni Sport 4 U23 classification 1 Gene Bates (Aus) UniSA 11.59.02 2 Bernhard Eisel (Aut) FDJeux.com 0.25 3 Dirk Reichl (Ger) Telekom 1.36 4 David Betts (Aus) United Water 6.20 5 Peter Dawson (Aus) United Water 9.00 6 Mark Renshaw (Aus) United Water 11.05 7 Brendan Cato (Aus) United Water 8 Stefan Schumacher (Ger) Telekom 9 Kevin Van Impe (Bel) Lotto Domo 16.04 10 Adrian Laidler (Aus) UniSA 37.27 11 Aaron Kemps (Aus) United Water 45.28 12 Bernard Sulzberger (Aus) United Water 13 Benoit Vaugrenard (Fra) FDJeux.com 48.38 Teams classification 1 Ag2r Prevoyance 35.56.52 2 Team CSC 0.05 3 Credit Agricole 0.09 4 UniSA 0.14 5 ONCE-Eroski 0.18 6 Quick Step-Davitamon 0.22 7 Team Telekom 0.24 8 FDJeux.com 2.04 9 Saeco-Longoni Sport 3.03 10 Ceramiche Panaria-Fiordo 7.13 11 Lotto-Domo 8.05 12 United Water 14.49
