Second Verse, Same As The First – 2010 Santos Tour Down Under Stage 2
HTC-Columbia's Greipel Doubles Up
The names have changed, but the outcome remained the same. For the second day in row, a break of three would make the race, but Andre Greipel and HTC-Columbia would once again swoop in for the victory.
David Kemp (UniSA Australia) and Omega Pharma-Lotto teammates, Mickael Delage and Olivier Kaisen would throw down the gauntlet early on the 133.5km Stage 2 from Gawler to Hahndorf, establishing a gap of well over 11 minutes at the 35km mark. With soaring temperatures and the challenge of the event's first real climb, positioned at the latter half of the stage, conditions seemed favorable for the breakaway to spoil the party for the sprinters’ teams.
But with a run into the finish of roughly 40km after cresting the climb up Checker Hill Road, the trio would eventually succumb to the wheels of inevitability.
With less that 7kms to go, Team RadioShack, attempting to get Gert Steegmans a win and quite possibly into the ochre leader’s jersey, pulled the group back together. Andre Greipel and HTC-Columbia, however, would have the final say as the big German would breeze to victory just ahead of Greg Henderson (Team Sky) and the always game Robbie McEwen (Team Katusha).
Although four stages and hundreds of kilometers remain in the 2010 Santos Tour Down Under, the event already has all the earmarks of a rout; and a giant-sized German one at that.
Result - Stage 2
1. Andre Greipel (Team HTC-Columbia)
2. Greg Henderson (Team Sky)
3. Robbie McEwen (Team Katusha)
General Classification After Stage 2
1. Andre Greipel (HTC-Columbia)
2. Greg Henderson (Team Sky)
3. Gert Steegmans (Team RadioShack)
4. Robbie McEwen (Team Katusha)
5. Jurgen Roelandts (Omega Pharma-Lotto)
6. Danilo Wyss (BMC Racing Team)
7. Graeme Brown (Rabobank)
8. Baden Cooke (Team Saxo Bank)
9. Robbie Hunter (Garmin-Transitions)
10. Jose Rojas (Caisse d'Epargne)
Next: Stage 3 - Unley to Stirling (132.5km)
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