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5th Jacob's Creek Tour Down Under - 2.3
Australia, January 21-26, 2003
Home Live report Results Next stage
Stage 1: Tuesday Jan 21, Adelaide street race, 50km
Cookie wins but Brown pooed off
By Anthony Tan in Adelaide
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In the first stage of what South Australian Premier Mike Rann described as "the biggest bike race in the world outside Europe", Baden Cooke (FDJeux.com) won stage one of the Jacob's Creek Tour Down Under, ahead of Robbie McEwen (Lotto-Domo) and Luca Paolini (Quickstep-Davitamon).
Graeme Brown (Panaria-Fiordo) was initially thought to have won the 50 kilometre criterium, but ten minutes after crossing the line in first position, Brown was relegated to the back of the pack in 94th place after officials declared he had deviated from his line in the final sprint to the line.
"I think he [McEwen] rode stupid," said Brown, clearly annoyed at the final decision of the commissaires. "There was less than one metre on the left, but 20 on the right. But no matter - I can beat him tomorrow and the next day and the next day." Brownie's ego may have been damaged but his confidence certainly was not.
At 7:30pm, Adelaide's city centre was buzzing: a packed crowd estimated at 55,000 lined themselves three deep around the two kilometre course, muttering their preferences for the stage win to any who would listen.
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After less than ten minutes, a break of seven formed, spearheaded by Fabio Sacchi (Saeco) and Spanish rider Alvaro Gonzalez de Galdeano (ONCE Eroski). With Andrea Tafi (CSC), Igor Astarloa (Saeco), Matt Wilson (FDJeux.com), Mark Scanlon (Ag2R), Nick Gates (Lotto-Domo) joining the group moments later, all began working in unison and soon forged a healthy lead of 20 seconds with 17 laps to go.
The break was driven largely by the Italian trio of Tafi, Sacchi and Astarloa, as well as Irish road champion Scanlon. As the laps progressed, the gap widened to 30, then 40 seconds and with less than 10 laps to go, the break looked as firm as the tanned legs of the podium girls who were preparing themselves for the presentations to come.
In the closing stages, however, elements of frustration began to creep in; Sacchi and Astarloa were particularly vocal towards Robbie McEwen's teammate in the break, Nick Gates, for missing out on one too many turns. One rider unaware of all the goings-on was Jackie Durand (FDJeux.com), clearly enjoying himself at the back of the main field. Dudu even had time to practice his cornering skills... while still on the main straight.
The source of frustration coming from the northern Europeans was not unfounded; in the space of five kilometres, the gap was whittled down to a little over ten seconds. Sacchi foresaw the inevitable, hurling himself off the front in a desperate attempt for a solo win, but as the bell rang to signal the penultimate lap, the race was headed for a massive bunch gallop.
With 300 to go, McEwen was lying in third wheel, his Lotto-Domo boys doing their job well. And with Cooke and Brown also at the head of affairs, the stage was set for an all-Aussie showdown.
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Depending on how you saw things, Brown did appear to have deviated from his line, squeezing the pocket-rocket McEwen out of first place as he tried in vain to come through a small gap on the left hand barrier. Cooke misjudged his throw to the line, possibly due to the fading light, finishing a close second from the fast finishing Panaria Fiordo rider.
However, what virtually everyone misjudged - apart from the commissaires - were the final placings. Brown was quite literally sent to the back of the pack, fined 200 Swiss francs and awarded a 30 second penalty, along with the loss of eight points as if Brown had not contested the sprint at all - leaving Brown in a particularly uncompromising position by the night's end. Meanwhile, the Cookie Monster chomped his way to the highest step of the podium.
Said the stunned but diplomatic Cooke afterwards, "I thought the break was gone. There was certainly some irregular riding around the corners, but in the sprint, I threw my bike too early which I thought cost me the race."
So how are the McEwen-Brown relations now?
"As far as I'm concerned, the officials did their job," said McEwen, disappointed with second, but clearly preferring to see Cooke rather than Brown in the leader's yellow jersey. "I would have liked to have won and I think I would have won, but I had my sprint impeded."
Round 2 starts tomorrow.
Photography
Images by www.tombalks.com
- Baden Cooke (FDJeux.com, L) throws his bike too early as the orange clad Graeme Brown (C.) makes his run for the line. McEwen is on the right, closest to the barrier
- The lunge… Graeme Brown in the middle is clearly in front
- Graeme Brown (Panaria) crossed the line first, but he was later relegated, giving Baden Cooke (L) the win by the narrowest of margins over Robbie McEwen (R.)
- Graeme Brown (Panaria) in the post race media crush
- Chief commissaire John McDonnell ruled that Graeme Brown sprinted irregularly
- Baden Cooke (FDJeux.com) with the first leader's yellow jersey
- The seven man breakaway led by Saeco's Igor Astarloa
- Andrea Tafi (CSC) was the most aggressive rider in stage 1
- Fabio Sacchi (Saeco) in action during stage 1 of the Jacob's Creek Tour Down Under
- Matt Wilson (FDJeux.com) won the sprints classification today
- Graeme Brown (Panaria) was attentive throughout the race
- Stuart O'Grady (Credit Agricole) was fairly active during the race in his national champion's jersey
- The peloton race around the streets of Adelaide for the first stage of the JCTDU
- The peloton rounds a corner in front of a huge crowd
- Aussie fans were understandably prominent during the first stage
- Andrea Tafi (CSC) is always a crowd favourite
Images by Gerard Knapp
- Saeco-Longoni Sport's Fabio Sacchi (left) looking cool on the start line of stage 1 of the 2003 Jacob's Creek Tour Down under, his first race of the season.
- Another season begins. They're off in stage 1 of the Jacob's Creek Tour Down Under, the first major race of the season for most of the field.
- FDjeux.com's Matt Wilson throws his bike across the line in front of CSC's Andrea Tafi to take out the first intermediate sprint in stage 1 of the Jacob's Creek Tour Down Under - the first of more to come for the Australian contingent on this French team?
- Saeco - Longoni Sport's Fabio Sacchi in front of Irish rider Mark Scanlon, in his first outing for AG2R Prevoyance. both riders were major drivers in the break of seven which threatened to take out the stage, but was eventually overhauled by the peloton in the final lap
- Graeme Brown tells the assembled media how he won the stage.
- Then the media learn he has been relegated and a scrum forms to get his comments.
- FDjeux.com's Baden Cooke prepares to walk on stage as the winner of the first stage of the Jacob's Creek Tour Down Under.
- FDjeux's Baden Cooke prepares to throw the flowers into the crowd - the young Australian was surprised yet delighted to take the stage and leader's jersey.
- CSC's Andrea Tafi's efforts driving the break were rewarded with the jersey for Most Aggressive Rider after stage 1.
- FDjeux.com's Matt Wilson won the sprinter's jersey after his efforts in the break in stage 1 of the Jacob's Creek Tour Down Under. It is the second jersey to be worn by the French team.
- Telekom's Dirk Reichl has the jersey for best young rider after stage 1.
- Cadel Evans gets on stage in his first outing in Telekom colours. Although there were no mountain points in the opening stage, he is given the King of the Mountains jersey as he won the mountains classification in last year's JCTDU.
Results
1 Baden Cooke (Aus) FDJeux.com 1.02.20 (48.1 km/h) 2 Robbie McEwen (Aus) Lotto Domo 3 Luca Paolini (Ita) Quickstep-Davitamon 4 Julian Dean (NZl) CSC 5 Allan Davis (Aus) ONCE Eroski 6 Stuart O'Grady (Aus) Credit Agricole 7 Dirk Reichl (Ger) Telekom 8 Brett Aitken (Aus) UniSA 9 Mark Renshaw (Aus) United Water 10 Stefano Zanini (Ita) Saeco-Longoni Sport 11 Ashley Hutchinson (Aus) United Water 12 Jaan Kirsipuu (Est) Ag2R 13 Mickael Pichon (Fra) FDJeux.com 14 Tom Boonen (Bel) Quickstep-Davitamon 15 Nicola Gavazzi (Ita) Saeco-Longoni Sport 16 Ruben Bongiorno (Arg) Panaria Fiordo 17 Angel Vicioso (Spa) ONCE Eroski 18 Peter Dawson (Aus) United Water 19 Nicolas Portal (Fra) Ag2R 20 Andy Flickinger (Fra) Ag2R 21 Erki Putsep (Est) Ag2R 22 Cedric Herve (Fra) Credit Agricole 23 Giampaolo Caruso (Ita) ONCE Eroski 24 Michael Rogers (Aus) Quickstep-Davitamon 25 Mikel Astarloza (Spa) Ag2R 26 Thomas Bruun Eriksen (Den) CSC 27 Brett Lancaster (Aus) Panaria Fiordo 28 Brendan Cato (Aus) United Water 29 Matt Wilson (Aus) FDJeux.com 30 Russell Van Hout (Aus) UniSA 31 Igor Astarloa (Spa) Saeco-Longoni Sport 32 Stefen Wesemann (Ger) Telekom 33 Fabio Sacchi (Ita) Saeco-Longoni Sport 34 Andrea Tafi (Ita) CSC 35 Stefan Schumacher (Ger) Telekom 36 Christian Pepoli (Ita) Saeco-Longoni Sport 37 Tristan Hoffman (Ned) CSC 38 Xavier Florencio (Spa) ONCE Eroski 39 Geert Van Bondt (Bel) CSC 40 Joerg Ludewig (Ger) Saeco-Longoni Sport 41 Juan Fuentes (Spa) Saeco-Longoni Sport 42 Regis Lhuillier (Fra) FDJeux.com 43 David Canada (Spa) Quickstep-Davitamon 44 Luke Roberts (Aus) UniSA 45 Alexandre Botcharov (Rus) Ag2R 46 Dario Pieri (Ita) Saeco-Longoni Sport 47 Daniele Nardello (Ita) Telekom 48 Arvis Piziks (Lat) CSC 49 Kai Hundertmarck (Ger) Telekom 50 Steve Cunningham (Aus) UniSA 51 Corey Sweet (Aus) Credit Agricole 52 Joaquin Rodriguez (Spa) ONCE Eroski 53 Christian Werner (Ger) Telekom 54 Bobby Julich (USA) Telekom 55 Lennie Kristensen (Den) CSC 56 Cadel Evans (Aus) Telekom 57 Alvaro Gonzalez De Galdeano (Spa) ONCE Eroski 58 Gene Bates (Aus) UniSA 59 Filippo Perfetto (Ita) Panaria Fiordo 60 Mark Scanlon (Irl) Ag2R 61 Glen d'Hollander (Bel) Lotto Domo 62 Inigo Chaurreau (Spa) Ag2R 63 Aaron Kemps (Aus) United Water 64 Hans De Clercq (Bel) Lotto Domo 65 Thierry Marichal (Bel) Lotto Domo 66 Bernard Sulzberger (Aus) United Water 67 Sergey Matveyev (Ukr) Panaria Fiordo 68 Lilian Jegou (Fra) Credit Agricole 69 Christopher Jenner (NZl) Credit Agricole 70 Pierrick Fedrigo (Fra) Credit Agricole 71 Kurt Van De Wouwer (Bel) Quickstep-Davitamon 72 Adrian Laidler (Aus) UniSA 73 Bernhard Eisel (Aut) FDJeux.com 74 Christophe Moreau (Fra) Credit Agricole 75 Jakob Piil (Den) CSC 76 Jens Voigt (Ger) Credit Agricole 77 Igor Gonzalez De Galdeano (Spa) ONCE Eroski 78 Scott Davis (Aus) Panaria Fiordo 79 Patrick Jonker (Aus) UniSA 80 Davide Bramati (Ita) Quickstep-Davitamon 81 Bram Tankink (Ned) Quickstep-Davitamon 82 Julio Alberto Perez Cuapio (Mex) Panaria Fiordo 83 Benoit Vaugrenard (Fra) FDJeux.com 84 Brad McGee (Aus) FDJeux.com 85 Lee Godfrey (Aus) United Water 86 David Betts (Aus) United Water 87 Kevin Van Impe (Bel) Lotto Domo 89 Paolo Lanfranchi (Ita) Panaria Fiordo 90 Jacky Durand (Fra) FDJeux.com 91 Nick Gates (Aus) Lotto Domo 92 Gert Steegmans (Bel) Lotto Domo 93 Jay Sweet (Aus) UniSA 94 Graeme Brown (Aus) Panaria Fiordo DNS Kevin Hulsmans (Bel) Quick Step-Davitamon DNS David Arroyo (Spa) ONCE Eroski Sprints Lap 10 - 20 km 1 Matt Wilson (Aus) FDJeux.com 6 pts 2 Andrea Tafi (Ita) CSC 4 3 Fabio Sacchi (Ita) Saeco-Longoni Sport 2 Lap 20 - 40 km 1 Andrea Tafi (Ita) CSC 6 pts 2 Matt Wilson (Aus) FDJeux.com 4 3 Fabio Sacchi (Ita) Saeco-Longoni Sport 2 Lap 25 - 50 km 1 Baden Cooke (Aus) FDJeux.com 8 pts 2 Robbie McEwen (Aus) Lotto Domo 6 3 Luca Paolini (Ita) Quickstep-Davitamon 4 General classification after stage 1 1 Baden Cooke (Aus) FDJeux.com 1.02.20 2 Robbie McEwen (Aus) Lotto Domo 3 Luca Paolini (Ita) Quickstep-Davitamon 4 Julian Dean (NZl) CSC 5 Allan Davis (Aus) ONCE Eroski 6 Stuart O'Grady (Aus) Credit Agricole 7 Dirk Reichl (Ger) Telekom 8 Brett Aitken (Aus) UniSA 9 Mark Renshaw (Aus) United Water 10 Stefano Zanini (Ita) Saeco-Longoni Sport 11 Ashley Hutchinson (Aus) United Water 12 Jaan Kirsipuu (Est) Ag2R 13 Mickael Pichon (Fra) FDJeux.com 14 Tom Boonen (Bel) Quickstep-Davitamon 15 Nicola Gavazzi (Ita) Saeco-Longoni Sport 16 Ruben Bongiorno (Arg) Panaria Fiordo 17 Angel Vicioso (Spa) ONCE Eroski 18 Peter Dawson (Aus) United Water 19 Nicolas Portal (Fra) Ag2R 20 Andy Flickinger (Fra) Ag2R 21 Erki Putsep (Est) Ag2R 22 Cedric Herve (Fra) Credit Agricole 23 Giampaolo Caruso (Ita) ONCE Eroski 24 Michael Rogers (Aus) Quickstep-Davitamon 25 Mikel Astarloza (Spa) Ag2R 26 Thomas Bruun Eriksen (Den) CSC 27 Brett Lancaster (Aus) Panaria Fiordo 28 Brendan Cato (Aus) United Water 29 Matt Wilson (Aus) FDJeux.com 30 Russell Van Hout (Aus) UniSA 31 Igor Astarloa (Spa) Saeco-Longoni Sport 32 Stefen Wesemann (Ger) Telekom 33 Fabio Sacchi (Ita) Saeco-Longoni Sport 34 Andrea Tafi (Ita) CSC 35 Stefan Schumacher (Ger) Telekom 36 Christian Pepoli (Ita) Saeco-Longoni Sport 37 Tristan Hoffman (Ned) CSC 38 Xavier Florencio (Spa) ONCE Eroski 39 Geert Van Bondt (Bel) CSC 40 Joerg Ludewig (Ger) Saeco-Longoni Sport 41 Juan Fuentes (Spa) Saeco-Longoni Sport 42 Regis Lhuillier (Fra) FDJeux.com 43 David Canada (Spa) Quickstep-Davitamon 44 Luke Roberts (Aus) UniSA 45 Alexandre Botcharov (Rus) Ag2R 46 Dario Pieri (Ita) Saeco-Longoni Sport 47 Daniele Nardello (Ita) Telekom 48 Arvis Piziks (Lat) CSC 49 Kai Hundertmarck (Ger) Telekom 50 Steve Cunningham (Aus) UniSA 51 Corey Sweet (Aus) Credit Agricole 52 Joaquin Rodriguez (Spa) ONCE Eroski 53 Christian Werner (Ger) Telekom 54 Bobby Julich (USA) Telekom 55 Lennie Kristensen (Den) CSC 56 Cadel Evans (Aus) Telekom 57 Alvaro Gonzalez De Galdeano (Spa) ONCE Eroski 58 Gene Bates (Aus) UniSA 59 Filippo Perfetto (Ita) Panaria Fiordo 60 Mark Scanlon (Irl) Ag2R 61 Glen d'Hollander (Bel) Lotto Domo 62 Inigo Chaurreau (Spa) Ag2R 63 Aaron Kemps (Aus) United Water 64 Hans De Clercq (Bel) Lotto Domo 65 Thierry Marichal (Bel) Lotto Domo 66 Bernard Sulzberger (Aus) United Water 67 Sergey Matveyev (Ukr) Panaria Fiordo 68 Lilian Jegou (Fra) Credit Agricole 69 Christopher Jenner (NZl) Credit Agricole 70 Pierrick Fedrigo (Fra) Credit Agricole 71 Kurt Van De Wouwer (Bel) Quickstep-Davitamon 72 Adrian Laidler (Aus) UniSA 73 Bernhard Eisel (Aut) FDJeux.com 74 Christophe Moreau (Fra) Credit Agricole 75 Jakob Piil (Den) CSC 76 Jens Voigt (Ger) Credit Agricole 77 Igor Gonzalez De Galdeano (Spa) ONCE Eroski 78 Scott Davis (Aus) Panaria Fiordo 79 Patrick Jonker (Aus) UniSA 80 Davide Bramati (Ita) Quickstep-Davitamon 81 Bram Tankink (Ned) Quickstep-Davitamon 82 Julio Alberto Perez Cuapio (Mex) Panaria Fiordo 83 Benoit Vaugrenard (Fra) FDJeux.com 84 Brad McGee (Aus) FDJeux.com 85 Lee Godfrey (Aus) United Water 86 David Betts (Aus) United Water 87 Kevin Van Impe (Bel) Lotto Domo 88 Wim Vansevenant (Bel) Lotto Domo 89 Paolo Lanfranchi (Ita) Panaria Fiordo 90 Jacky Durand (Fra) FDJeux.com 91 Nick Gates (Aus) Lotto Domo 92 Gert Steegmans (Bel) Lotto Domo 93 Jay Sweet (Aus) UniSA 94 Graeme Brown (Aus) Panaria Fiordo 0.30 Note: Graeme Brown was relegated to last position for irregular sprinting, fined SFR200 and penalised 8 points on the sprints classification and 30 seconds on the general classification. Sprints classification 1 Matt Wilson (Aus) FDJeux.com 10 pts 2 Andrea Tafi (Ita) CSC 10 3 Baden Cooke (Aus) FDJeux.com 8 4 Robbie McEwen (Aus) Lotto Domo 6 5 Luca Paolini (Ita) Quickstep-Davitamon 4 6 Fabio Sacchi (Ita) Saeco-Longoni Sport 4 U23 classification 1 Dirk Reichl (Ger) Telekom 1.02.20 2 Mark Renshaw (Aus) United Water 3 Peter Dawson (Aus) United Water 4 Brendan Cato (Aus) United Water 5 Stefan Schumacher (Ger) Telekom 6 Gene Bates (Aus) UniSA 7 Aaron Kemps (Aus) United Water 8 Bernard Sulzberger (Aus) United Water 9 Adrian Laidler (Aus) UniSA 10 Bernhard Eisel (Aut) FDJeux.com 11 Benoit Vaugrenard (Fra) FDJeux.com 12 Lee Godfrey (Aus) United Water 13 David Betts (Aus) United Water 14 Kevin Van Impe (Bel) Lotto-Domo Teams classification 1 United Water 3.07.00 2 Ag2r Prevoyance 3 ONCE-Eroski 4 Quick Step-Davitamon 5 FDJeux.com 6 Saeco-Longoni Sport 7 Team CSC 8 Team Telekom 9 UniSA 10 Credit Agricole 11 Ceramiche Panaria-Fiordo 12 Lotto-Domo
