I’m a little late on getting the results out, so I’ll summarize as best I can.

Stage 5:

Germany’s Andre Greipel (Team High Road) took his third stage win, as well as the leader’s jersey on the penultimate day of the TDU.

Early attacks were expected, but the day started out with the peloton setting a quick pace of 70 km/h, so it was difficult to make any stick.

It wasn’t until the race drew close to the coastal section of the course that Greg Henderson (Team High Road), Carlos Westphal (Gerolsteiner) and Aitor Galdos Alonso (Euskaltel-Euskadi) were able to get clear of the pack and hold on to a lead. Renaud Dion (Ag2r-La Mondiale) and Julien Mazet (Astana) chased, eventually expanding the breakaway to five.

The lead extended to over 2 minutes by the 27 km mark, then to over 4 minutes by 47 km.

The first sprint of the day came at kilometer 58, with full points being taken by Westphal.

Back in the peloton, there was a crash which took down several riders. As they regrouped, they gave more active chase to the breakaway, cutting their lead in half on towards the Willunga climb. The break stayed together long enough to once again capture the sprint points, then were taken over by the peloton.

As the peloton hit the short but intense Willunga climb, they split into two. Andre Greipel was in the first group of about 40 riders; leader Mark Renshaw was in the second group. Greipel’s High Road teammate Adam Hansen “time-trialed” the lead group over the last 15 km, trying to eat away at Renshaw’s lead as much as possible.

Greipel crossed the finish line a bike length clear of GC Allan Davis (UniSA - Australia) and Jose Alberto Benitez Roman (Saunier Duval-Scott) to win his third ProTour stage this week.

Stage: 

1 Andre Greipel (Ger) Team High Road                         3.26.46
2 Allan Davis (Aus) Unisa - Australia                             �
3 Jose Alberto Benitez Roman (Spa) Saunier Duval-Scott 

G.C.: 

1 Andre Greipel (Ger) Team High Road                        16.55.18
2 Allan Davis (Aus) Unisa - Australia                           0.07
3 Jose Joaquin Rojas Gil (Spa) Caisse D’Epargne                 0.20
4 Mickael Delage (Fra) Francaise Des Jeux                       0.24
5 Mickael Buffaz (Fra) Cofidis Le Credit Par Telephone             �
            

Stage 6 (Final):

Stage 6 was a circuit race in the streets of Adelaide, consisting of 16 laps of a 5.5 km course. 

After the first five laps, Allan Davis (UniSA - Australia) took first sprint from Greg Henderson (High Road) and Stuart O’Grady (Team CSC) who was being very active up front with his team-mates.

With seven laps remaining, Team CSC were once again very active on the front coming into the second intermediate sprint. This time it was Greipel who took out the sprint from Davis and Michael Albasini (Liquigas), giving the German a near-impossible to beat five second lead over Davis in the general classification.

With a little under five laps to go, a group of five riders consisting of Koen De Kort (Astana), Nicolas Portal (Caisse D’Epargne), Luis Leon Sanchez (Caisse D’Epargne), Wim Vansevenant (Silence - Lotto) and Francesco Gavazzi (Lampre) pulled to a 13 second lead. They maintained their lead for three laps before Teams CSC and UniSA reeled them in in order to get their sprinters into position.

In the final two laps, all of the sprinters were moving to the front. It looked to be anyone’s stage, but Greipel once again ended up in front and took the stage and the overall win of the 10th Tour Down Under. Robert Forster (Geronsteiner) was second and Graeme Brown third.

Stage:

1 Andre Greipel (Ger) Team High Road                        1.51.13 (47.474 km/h)
2 Jan Robert Forster (Ger) Gerolsteiner                          �
3 Graeme Brown (Aus) Rabobank                                    �
4 Jose Joaquin Rojas Gil (Spa) Caisse D’Epargne                  �
5 Robbie McEwen (Aus) Silence-Lotto   

G.C.: 

1 Andre Greipel (Ger) Team High Road                       18.46.18
2 Allan Davis (Aus) Unisa - Australia                          0.15
3 Jose Joaquin Rojas Gil (Spa) Caisse D’Epargne                0.33
4 Mickael Delage (Fra) Francaise Des Jeux                      0.37
5 Mickael Buffaz (Fra) Cofidis Le Credit Par Telephone           �