Tour Down Under Stage 3

Dutch young gun Tom-Jelte Slagter won his first pro race today as he claimed victory in the beautiful town of Stirling on the third stage of the Santos Tour Down Under. He led-out with 350m remaining and even the likes of Thomas, Goss and Gilbert couldn't come around him on the uphill finish.

The roads around Stirling are sensational and the race coming through town for six laps made it a great day out for the spectators. It always astounds me how massive time gaps can open up in this stage every year. The climbs aren’t overly difficult, but it was a ripping pace which split the peloton to pieces. It’s a difficult course with long drags, dead roads, and absolutely no rest. Andy Schleck lost nearly 17 minutes and Martin Kohler lost 20 minutes on this scorching hot 38C day.

The cool change comes in tomorrow and it’ll be a fast pace with a tailwind which means there probably won’t even be a breakaway. Watch out for Greipel, Gossy, Kittel, Bossan Hagen and Renshaw duke it out for their second last chance of a sprint finish.

See full race results and report here.

: Bernard Sulzberger (UniSA) came in 22nd in today’s stage and shared his data to Strava. Check it out here. Many pros tell me that Bernie is one of the most underrated riders in the peloton and is one of these stories where things just haven’t gone his way. Sulzberger is now back racing in Australia with Drapac.

: The voice you hear at the rider sign during the start of every stage is of Jimmy Jacques.

: Phillipe Gilbert’s spare BMC SLR01 in black with the rainbow stripes.

: Geraint Thomas (Team Sky) starting stage 3 in the leader’s jersey.

: Initial breakaway of riders approaching the KOM on Eagle on the Hill

: Surviving breakaway consisting of William Clarke (Argos-Shimano) and Simon Clarke (Orica-GreenEdge).

: Jens Voigt (RadioShack Leopard) attempting to peel away from the peloton to join the small breakaway group that had formed on the third lap.

: During the third lap into Aldagate, Timothy Duggan (Saxo-Tinkoff) crashed badly near the roundabout. He said on twitter, “Can’t decide what was worse part of my day… Crashing into a curb at 70kph or getting a catheter installed?” “hairline fracture on tibial plateau. Likely minimal surgery to put 2 screws in. And we’ll plate the collarbone @ same time.”

: Tom Jelte Slagter (Blanco Pro Cycling Team) winning stage 3 ahead of Matt Goss (Orica-GreenEdge) and Phillipe Gilbert (Team BMC).

[rrsumm raceid=906]

http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=10509837 Nathan Danger Ong

wow he took up the sprint from the front. impressive
D

jeez, Duggan looks a bit crook! He usually does after a race, so I’m hoping he is ok?
- http://www.cyclingTipsBlog.com cyclingTips
  
  Hey said on twitter, “Can’t decide what was worse part of my day… Crashing into a curb at 70kph or getting a catheter installed?” “hairline fracture on tibial plateau. Likely minimal surgery to put 2 screws in. And we’ll plate the collarbone @ same time.”
- http://www.cyclingTipsBlog.com cyclingTips
  
  Hey said on twitter, “Can’t decide what was worse part of my day… Crashing into a curb at 70kph or getting a catheter installed?” “hairline fracture on tibial plateau. Likely minimal surgery to put 2 screws in. And we’ll plate the collarbone @ same time.”
Emma

That’s me with Andy! One for the memory bank for sure (and a better quality photo than the one on my iPhone!) thanks heaps!
Chadwick

Philip Gilbert is racing a Team Machine SLR01. The Time Machine is TMR01 if its the road and TM01 if its the TT. Come on Wade get your stuff together. You messed up Hendos Lotto Belisol in the Melbourne Sprint races and called it Lotto Omega Pharma Quickstep.
- http://www.cyclingTipsBlog.com cyclingTips
  
  Thanks Chadwick. I don’t write the captions in many of these photos (the photographer does) but I’ll be more careful to read over with a fine tooth comb.