TDU Stage 2 Hahndorf to Stirling, 90 Miles

Tour Down Under
Fine racing continues from the 2009 Tour Down Under as stage two from Hahndorf to Stirling was contested in front of a huge crowd estimated at 90,000. Slightly cooler temperatures greeted the peloton of NUMBER as many riders took their chances to score a win today. But in the final bunch sprint it was Aussie rider Allan Davis (Quick-Step) who had the most punch in his legs as he took the victory over Graeme Brown (Rabobank) and Martin Elmiger (Ag2R). Davis moved into the overall race leader as well and wears the leader’s jersey heading into Thursday’s stage three from Unley to Victor Harbor. Post-race Team Astana's Michael Schar said, "Today was a great day for the team. I think we did a nice job. I felt good and did an attack of my own, but then the motor turned over." Michael uses most of his energy protecting Lance Armstrong during the stage and brings good form.

Early attacks were quickly nullified until an acceptable trio of riders went up the road and were allowed to develop a gap of almost 5 minutes that held strong throughout much of the stage. Included in the breakaway were Guillaum Blot (Cofidis), Markel Irizor (Euskaltel-Euskadi) and Aussie rider Aaron Kemps (UniSA). The team of race leader Andre Greipel (Columbia) stayed in the front to keep an eye on the time gap.
On the first of two descents into Stirling New Zealand rider Julien Dean (Garmin) attacked the peloton and quickly joined forces with the front three, adding new firepower to the breakaway. With Dean in the mix the peloton showed renewed interest in making sure they reeled back the escapees with Columbia sending Bernhard Eisel to drive the peloton hard for 50km, eventually bringing it all together on the final circuit into Stirling.
Another attack was put in by none other than Team Astana’s Lance Armstrong who went away for a short test-ride with yesterday’s local hero Jack Bobridge (UniSA). The seven-time Tour de France winner had spoken previously of wanting to test himself on a stage and today’s climb offered up just enough challenge to satisfy any questions he might still have about his level of fitness. Attack-after-attack followed in the closing kilometers, but the watchful teams of the sprinters took turns guarding the front and shutting down the efforts of those trying to sneak away. Katusha took over from Columbia, perhaps hoping Robbie McEwen had another win in his legs, but it was not to be in stage two. As the peloton raced to the finish line Columbia looked to once again have control but not for long, as Quick-Step put their powerful train in position and launched Davis for the win.

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Top 10 stage 2

1 Allan Davis (Aus) Quick Step 3.46.25 (38,424 km/h)
2 Graeme Brown (Aus) Rabobank
3 Martin Elmiger (Swi) AG2R La Mondiale 0.02
4 Stuart O'Grady (Aus) Team Saxo Bank
5 George Hincapie (USA) Team Columbia - High Road 0.04
6 José Joaquin Rojas Gil (Spa) Caisse D'Epargne
7 Mauro Santambrogio (Ita) Lampre - N.G.C
8 Tom Leezer (Ned) Rabobank 9 Mickaël Buffaz (Fra) Cofidis
10 André Greipel (Ger) Team Columbia - High Road

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GC after stage 2

1 Allan Davis (Aus) Quick Step 7.31.42
2 André Greipel (Ger) Team Columbia - High Road 0.03
3 Graeme Brown (Aus) Rabobank 0.04
4 Stuart O'Grady (Aus) Team Saxo Bank 0.08
5 Baden Cooke (Aus) UniSA
6 Martin Elmiger (Swi) AG2R La Mondiale
7 Mauro Santambrogio (Ita) Lampre - N.G.C 0.14
8 José Joaquin Rojas Gil (Spa) Caisse D'Epargne
9 Jussi Veikkanen (Fin) Française Des Jeux
10 Ryder Hesjedal (Can) Garmin-Slipstream

(by Cathy Mehl, source: http://www.astana-cyclingteam.com/)