THIS WEEK IN PRO CYCLING
Menzies takes big win Down Under
A successful early breakaway effort blew a hole in the hopes of many race favorites at Australia’s Tour Down Under on Wednesday as powerful Tasmanian rider Karl Menzies claimed one of the biggest wins of his career.
The UniSA rider held off Swiss ace Martin Elmiger (Ag2r) in a sprint for the line and then exploded with joy after picking up the race leader's ochre jersey.
"This is as big as it gets for me, this is the best result for a long way," beamed the big 29-year-old, who finished more than 26 minutes ahead of 93 of the race's 111 riders. “That was everything I had on Sunday at the Nationals and I was beaten by two stronger guys on the day but you know another day, another race and I had the best legs today.
"We thought it might go down early, so we all had to be up there," he said of the early breakaway. "The group went and that was it for the day and then the attacking started with 30km to go and five of us left in the end, we all worked all the way to the line."
Stage 1 started under sunny skies with the promise of as steamy day in the saddle for the stellar field of riders who wasted no time getting the racing underway. South Australian, Brett Aitken (UniSA-Australia) launched an early attack at the six kilometer mark and he was soon joined by fellow South Australian, Gene Bates (SouthAustralia.com-AIS) and New Zealand's Gordon McCauley but the break failed to stick.
However at the 16 kilometer mark an attack was launched that proved to be decisive and by the first SA Lotteries intermediate sprint of the day at One Tree Hill (26.5km) the 18 riders had established a lead of more than two minutes. South Australian Luke Roberts (CSC) claimed the sprint points ahead of Bates and Spaniard Juan Miguel Mercado (Agritubel).
With a lead group containing a rider from each team of the race, (CSC, SouthAustralia.com-AIS, Predictor-Lotto and Bouygues Telecom had two representatives each in the group), there was no incentive for the rest of the field to chase it down and by the time the leaders reached the 'A Brilliant Blend' King of the Mountain at Humbug Scrub the gap had increased to more than five minutes with only New Zealand's Clinton Avery giving chase.
The second intermediate sprint at Williamstown (59.9km) saw Bates first across the line ahead of Roberts with Elmiger third. Avery remained a lone figure 6:14 behind the leaders with the gap to the main field at almost 12 minutes.
The leaders passed through Tanunda intact to begin the first loop through the Barossa Valley intact but when they approached Seppeltsfield for the final loop the attacks began with Mercado charging off for a try at the win. The effort, however, cost the Spaniard dearly and he couldn’t respond to a counter attack as the race turned onto the Barossa Valley Highway at Nuriootpa for the final run into the finish. Five riders managed to build a nice gap and Mercado and the remnants of the break soft-pedaled in to the finish.
Nearing the finish, Menzies reacted quickly to counter an attack from Predictor-Lotto debutant, Australia's Matt Lloyd, 800 meters from the finish. Menzies blew past Lloyd and hit the front with 300 meters remaining. He hit the line ahead of fast finishing Swiss rider Martin Elmiger (AG2R-Prevoyance). Denmark's Lars Bak (Team CSC) crossed three seconds later to claim third.
Two-time TDU winner Stuart O'Grady (CSC) led home the main field 26:15 after Menzies, with Avery placing 19th at 24:35 after a very lonely day on the road.
Menzies now holds a narrow one second lead overall from Elmiger with Bak a further six seconds off the lead. Lloyd is sitting in fourth at nine seconds.
"I was a bit upset that I made the move because it means I've gotta make it up that Willunga Hill (Saturday's stage) so a bit of pressure but I'll have a think about that later," joked Menzies. "I was just happy to win a stage and I could probably go home now if I wanted to, but I'll try and get to the end and we'll just wait to see what happens."
O'Grady and defending champion Simon Gerrans of Ag2r had declared their victory ambitions days ago but they were among many favorites caught out by Wednesday’s break.
Gerrans, who led from start to finish last year, admitted he was using the race to find form ahead of more prestigious races in Europe later this season.
"It's all part of the bigger picture. It's really a build-up race for the European season," he said. "But today was just like last year, the GC (general classification) has been pretty well wrapped up."
Despite O'Grady virtually losing all chance of a third overall win in the race, CSC is now in a good position, as is Elmiger, who rides for Gerrans' Ag2r team.
CSC has Bak and Roberts inside the race's top nine. Roberts, a former Olympic track champion, was delighted ahead of Thursday's second stage over 150km of undulating terrain from Mannum to Hahndorf.
"It was part of our plan to have me, Stuart and Lars up there and we've got two out of three (in contention)," said Roberts. "There are two of us sitting in the top 10 so it's definitely looking good for us at this stage."
