2010 Tour Down Under – Stage 5 Results

January 22nd, 2010 by Ron Callahan View Comments

AP Photo/Rob Griffith

Luis Leon Sanchez survives a late break with Cadel Evans, Alejandro Valverde and Peter Sagan to take the fifth stage of the 2010 Tour Down Under.

Today’s stage of the 2010 Tour Down Under takes us from Snapper Point to Willunga, covering a distance of 148km. There is one intermediate sprint and two batches of KOM points on offer on the summit of Old Willunga Hill, which is covered twice. The weather was a little more forgiving today, only 72F at the start of the race.

Attacks started early today, with Anthony Roux (Francaise des Jeux) going out solo, then being joined by several others, including Ludovic Turpin (Ag2R La Mondiale), Matt Wilson (Garmin-Transitions), Martin Kohler (BMC Racing), Mickael Delage (Omega Pharma-Lotto) and Micahel Matthews (UniSA). That early group was reeled back in, but several members of that initial attack went on to form the break of the day: Michael Matthews (UniSA), Ludovic Turpin (Ag2R La Mondiale), Eduard Vorganov (Katusha), Cameron Meyer, Matt Wilson (both Garmin-Transitions), David Gutierrez (Footon-Servetto) and Valeriy Dmitryev (Astana).

Valeriy Dmitryev (Astana) followed by Eduard Vorganov (Katusha) won the intermediate sprint. The breakaway, as always, should be applauded for their competitiveness, but the biggest gap they ever manage is just under 2 minutes. By the feed zone, with just a little under 87 km to go, the gap was sitting around 1:40.

Dmitryev and Vorganov repeated themselves at the second intermediate sprint and the gap was holding steady. The peloton was led by HTC-Columbia, obviously intent on keeping their man Andre Greipel in the leader’s jersey. As the break passed through McLaren Vale, they had opened a little more of a gap, stretching their lead out to 2:17. With Willunga Hill in their sights for the first time, however, they had to know that their time in the sun was not long for this world.

Sure enough, Thomas Rohregger attacks out of the peloton and is able to catch the break on the first pass of Willunga, but not before Dmitryev and Gutierrez grab the KOM points. The leaders plowed down Penny’s Lane road at speeds approaching 90 km/h trying to hold onto the lead for as long as they can.

Quick Step’s Thomas Kvist made an attack as well, and no one seemed all that interested in bringing him back.

As the peloton started to make their second round at Willunga Hill, the pace stepped up. BMC Racing, Francaise des Jeux and Radio Shack awoke and started to string out the peloton. Cadel Evans (BMC Racing) and Wesley Sulzberger (FDJ) broke clear of Gorka Izaguirre (Euskaltel Euskadi) and were able to pull clear of the peloton, but Alejandro Valverde & Luis Leon Sanchez (Caisse D’Epargne) and David Gutierrez (Footon-Servetto-Fuji) attacked soon after.

Valverde, Sanchez and Evans capture the KOM points on the second pass of Willunga. With a gap of 37 seconds, Evans is the virtual leader for now, but HTC-Columbia is really pushing things back in the peloton. Alejandro Valverde, Luis Leon Sanchez (Caisse d’Epargne), Peter Sagan (Liquigas) and Cadel Evans (BMC Racing) were now in control of the race. With about 5 km to go, they led by 33 seconds. Cadel Evans was 26 seconds behind Andre Greipel and could move into the lead today.

By the final kilometer, the break could see and feel the peloton breathing down their neck. Andre Greipel was in position at the head of the peloton, but the break persisted and it was Luis Leon Sanchez that took the win. Greipel will retain his jersey, but going into tomorrow’s final stage, Cadel Evans sits very close to the lead.

Brief Results: